Envisioning an eviction-free city

Keywords: housing; eviction; migration; activism
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Focusing on New York, this paper asks "What would a city without evictions look like?" It provides a preliminary analysis of the activism of citizens and migrants in the South Bronx currently fighting to remain in their homes. Celebrated for its diversity, New York has been plagued by unaffordable housing and a residential segregation that historically marginalizes racialized citizens and migrants, especially those who are Black and Latinx. Organized tenants have been fighting for their right to remain in their homes and communities. They have succeeded in making New York the first US city to give the right to counsel to tenants facing eviction. But with the end of an eviction moratorium in early 2022 and a record-braking soar in rents, eviction filings have recently risen and overwhelmed legal aid services. Emboldened by pandemic-related calls to cancel rent, organized tenants now question the legitimacy of evictions in the first place. The paper explores the visions of transformation that are articulated in calls for an eviction-free city. It probes the practical and utopian implications of such calls. For example, is a city without evictions necessarily a city where private property is abolished? Is it a city where the Lefebvrian “right to the city” is realized? Is it by default a sanctuary city, where immigration controls cannot be used to remove people from their homes and country of residence?