Comrades what are your thoughts on housing politics for the here and now as well as for future vision of communism?
Lately I've been trying to sketch out for myself and others what a strategic platform and program of policy demands could be and overall vision of housing under communism. I'm curious what folks think here?
Overall I think the last few years have seen a rise in tenants/renters unionism which roughly fits with a syndicalist strategic approach to housing. Reading Colin Ward I came back to the idea of tenant or "dweller control" of housing and state funded cooperatively managed housing.
There's a lot of talk on the broad left of capital about "social housing" and "decomodifying housing" that seems to mostly amount to state/public seizure or construction of new public/council housing or things like community land trusts or tenant opportunity to purchase legislation in the US specifically. This however does not seem to line up with a more maximal vision of "social ownership" or "community control" where housing is owned by everyone and no-one that I assume most of us here would ultimately prefer.
What should we demand now to inspire those we organize with and help connect the work we do now to a libertarian communist vision?
It is a pretty basic text
It is a pretty basic text from the SPGB in 1984 but you might find bits of it helpful
https://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2006/11/building-profits-versus-building-homes.html
Probably a bit obvious, but
Probably a bit obvious, but there's this: http://libcom.org/library/housing-monster-proleinfo
The 'proleinfo' text is a
The 'proleinfo' text is a good starting point. I was going to recommend an old article we wrote in the 'Social Revolution' journal No4 but unfortunately the only online version has been cut up and isn't easily readable. Any 'programmatic approach' from a communist perspective can only really be part of the whole exercise of working class power to contest and then take over all of societies productive forces. Sectional efforts by groups of workers to carve out a more cooperative provision and management of our housing can be worthwhile but are not available to everyone and are subject to their own stresses and strains. I have had some past involvement with a local cohousing project and related community land trust but its time consuming and isn't able to resolve the material and social inequalities associated with those involved.
Sorry double post.
Sorry double post.