ABSTRACT

In the crisis of capitalism that post-industrial societies are now experiencing, proposals for degrowth and squatters’ activism offer viable solutions and alternatives. This chapter focuses on the intersection between the two and issues of housing justice in Barcelona. The optimal use and maximum occupation of the building stock constitutes a comprehensive measure and new left policy proposal for ‘prosperity without growth’. The chapter presents a definition of squatting and brief overview of relevant squatting studies that relate to degrowth, outlining relevant aspects of squatting movement politics and the author’s experience of squatting. The chapter considers how squatting empty houses contributes to degrowth through less material consumption and identifies some drawbacks, mainly related to the uncertainty of the duration of a squat that contributes to more material consumption than otherwise necessary. Squatting contributes to financial and monetary degrowth, including the relevance of housing issues, namely unaffordable housing and the mortgage crisis, both of which relate to the political dimension.