Learning How to Squat: Cooperation and Conflict between Refugees and Natives in Rome

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between refugees’ integration and residential segregation by analysing Eritreans’ participation in local squatting practices in Rome. While it has often been assumed that residential concentration is linked to lack of participation in wider society, this case study points to counterintuitive implications of integration and segregation dynamics. After revisiting the relevant debate with specific focus on socialization and agency, I illustrate that, on the one hand, these housing practices are instances of cooperation between refugees and natives—specifically, within the frame of the local housing rights movement. On the other hand, I highlight how Eritrean involvement in squatting practice has also led to spontaneous segregation and ongoing mistrust towards local society. Considering refugees’ own agency, even under deprived circumstances, is of crucial importance to understanding both how different aspects of housing segregation and local integration are produced and, the conditions under which cooperation between refugees and local squatters is established and, in some instances, interrupted.