A HOMELESS & HOUSING SOCIAL MOVEMENT
THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT
On the 1st of December 2014 a 43 year old homeless man named Jonathan Corrie was found dead in a doorway only feet away from Dáil Éireann. Only a few weeks previous a spike in the amount of people living rough on the streets of Dublin was recorded. The news of Jonathan’s death sparked outrage in the general public. The Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly convened an emergency homeless summit in order to address the issue.
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“Our ambition is that there will be no need for anyone to have to sleep rough in Dublin this Christmas unless they make that choice themselves, for whatever reason” -Environment Minister Alan Kelly.
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In the Winter of 2016 NAMA owned building Apollo House was occupied by dozens of homeless people and activists as part of the ‘Home Sweet Home’ campaign. During that time 200 people used the facility. They held protest rallies, attracted media attention and managed to get the question raised in the Dail.
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Four years later 9,724 people were recorded as homeless in October 2018 and there is an increase in families becoming homeless (The Journal 2018). This homeless crisis in Ireland has lead to the emergence of social movements based around seeking solutions, campaigning for change and raising awareness of the problem.
A SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN PRACTICE:
Take Back the City
‘Take Back the City’ (TBTC) is a movement of housing and community activists who are campaigning against the current system and seeking radical reform. The tactics that they use include occupation of houses that are not being used, organisation and mobilisation of people through social media and holding demonstrations to teach anti-eviction defences.
‘TBTC’ has occupied a number of properties in Dublin’s north inner city and held rallies to protest the housing crisis including a protest at Airbnb HQ when it was open to the public as part of the of Open House Dublin festival. They claimed Airbnb has ‘exacerbated the housing crisis in Dublin’ and that it ‘markets convenience by disruption’ delivering ‘nothing but chaos’ to the people of Dublin.
The ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign came about in order to raise awareness and demand action in regard to the housing crisis in Ireland. It was a collective of trade unions, political parties, housing agencies and community groups. It used social media and public demonstrations to rally support.
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TAKE BACK THE CITY USE HA'PENNY BRIDGE TO HIGHLIGHT HOUSING CRISIS.
FM104 (2018) report that Take Back the City have dropped a banner at the Ha’penny bridge. It's to promote the national housing protest this weekend. Around 80 people turned out for this afternoons event. Michelle Connolly is with the activist group. She says the Government is to blame for allowing the housing crisis to get this bad: "The government's response has been inadequate, but predictable," she said. "It's been very much focussed on making sure private enterprises are the ones dealing with this, which means they profit from this housing crisis. "It's not something that people should be profiting from, people should be sorting it out."
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WHAT THE THEORISTS SAY...
‘TBTC’ is the kind of grassroots mobilisation that is described by Manuel Castells. He sees the City as social product which created through the conflict between people’s values and social interests. Castells recognises a new kind of social movement that exists in a hybrid space between the digital and urban space. He describes this as an ‘autonomous space’ where ideas can be exchanged freely. In this way these grassroots social movements can challenge capitalist commoditization and domination of society (Castells, 2012).
Alain Touraine theorises how social movements like ‘TBTC’ and Raise the Roof, form out of conflict in society and should be examined within their social context. Social movements are therefore determined by their social conditions and in a ‘post industrial society’ power is the ability to control the production of knowledge. He would describe the social media activism and anti- eviction defence education as defending culture and Civil Society against the knowledge elite (Touraine).
The diversity of ethnic and ideological backgrounds in the people involved in the TBTC movement is described by Alberto Melucci. He explains how the construction of identity is an important factor in the development of new social movements. Social movements should be seen as networks of marginalised or ‘submerged groups’ that are joining forces over a particular struggle and constructing new identities in the process (Melucci).
TBTC is a collective of different groups such as Immigration activists, anarchists, LGBT advocates and left wing political groups who all share a common cause in tackling the homeless crisis. Raise the Roof is comprised of many community interest groups and political movements. This is reflective of Melucci’s observations around social movements.
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ARE THERE LIMITATIONS TO NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS?
McCarthy and Zald (1977) argue that shared frustration and discontent does not always lead to collective action and it would be better to focus on the incentives, cost reducing mechanisms or structures, and career benefits that lead to collective behaviour.
Resource Mobilization theory allows for outsiders with no grievance to participate and provide support and resources even if they do not share the same exact values that underpin the movement. It focuses on the resources that can be organised for the cause. This kind of collective activity requires an organisation structure to operate.
Other limitations include:
How the police or authorities react to the movement, they may not become involved in a movement but have the power to hinder or stop the movement from progressing.
A successful movement needs to bring everyone over to their side, it’s only when the majority want change that a movement really has a chance of success.
Social, political and economic problems that create opportunities for actors to mobilise. The presence of elected officials or bureaucrats prepared to work with those actors to advance the interests of the movement.
WHAT HAS THE MOVEMENT ACHIEVED?
Raise the Roof and ‘TBTC’ can however be said to have a shared grievance that motivates their activism. They are certainly mobilising people and resources from many different interest groups but we can see the analysis and theories as outlined by the ‘New Social Movement’ theorists played out in the struggle towards a fairer housing system in Ireland. Until the ambition of former minister Alan Kelly is fulfilled to have ‘no need for anyone to sleep rough unless they choose’ the movement will continue.
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use Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube as a online platform.
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Take Back the City has been able to demonstrate that the state has properties that can be used to house people while there are thousands of people and whole families out on the streets. This is a vital point that caused outrage in the general public.
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The housing movement networked and drew support from many different interest groups including immigrant and traveller rights advocates, and anti-direct provision organisations. Where the most success has been seen is the amount of awareness that the movement has raised around the issue. 6000 students marched for housing reform on December the 1st which is amazing for such a small country like Ireland. Thousands of people now have the will to act on this issue and that can only be a positive thing for the future of the movement.
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A significant win for a social movement in Ireland was the Right2Water Campaign to abolish the Water Charges that were put in place in 2015. On Saturday 8th of April 2017 10 to 15 thousand people turned up in Dublin City centre to demonstrate against the water charges. Soon after the billing regime was fully abolished with 96 votes to 48. Taoiseach Leo Varadker promised refunds before that Christmas. The Right2Water was an umbrella group that was comprised of ordinary people, unions, socialists and academics from all over Ireland. Their success demonstrated the power of collective action in Ireland and no doubt inspired the social movements today.
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Castells (2012) suggests that social movements start when emotion turns into action.
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Why I became actively involved.
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Attending college there was discussions about the homeless crisis, however I hadn't realised the full extent of the problem and like most people was unaware as it didnt't directly involve me. On realising the reality I decided I would like to help make a difference. On the 3rd October 2018 I alongside my fellow students took part in a march, organised through the Student's Union at the college. I found the experience to be exciting and fun and the journey up was filled with anticipation but the atmosphere was electric all the same. Being part of this process has enhanced my understanding and made me realise the need for social movements in order to allow for change. People need to rise up against the atrocities. This march changed me on many levels. It was an amazing empowering experience. It is hard to describe the feeling of being part of something bigger to help others caught in situations that you are not directly involved in. Reality bites as the saying goes. For me personally I feel as a nation we do not get involved unless it affects us on a personal level. This needs to change and people power proves results can happen. Get out and fight for basic human rights as everyone deserves a home.
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