ABSTRACT
The chapter brings together new relevant material for the discussion of austerity and social inclusion from an urban perspective. It explores urban resilience and spontaneous solidarity emerging in Naples, Italy, as a response to a growing social demand for social and economic inclusion at the city level in the aftermath of the Great Recession. It does so by analysing the role of the OPG, a squatted structure at the centre of an important action of bottom-up informal welfare in the heart of Naples. The chapter draws upon original material obtained during a field research conducted at the OPG between 2016 and 2017 through non-participant observation and interviews with users accessing the help desks and laboratories put in place by the activists inside the structure. The study highlights the role of informal but organised forms of self-help as collective coping practices at times of crisis which may also produce effects in terms of civic engagement and political action at the city level.
