Radical difference in ‘transitional commoning’: hidden histories of London’s squats to co-ops

Abstract

The wave of organised mass squatting that started in 1969 had a profound impact on London’s geographies, transforming the built environment and enacting different imaginaries and practices of home. Groups excluded from existing housing provision or seeking unconventional forms of collective dwelling turned to occupying publicly owned empty properties and setting up collectively managed homes as a form of precarious housing commons. Infrastructures of mutual support, local alliances and knowledge-sharing made possible for some of them to become formalised into ‘short-life housing co-operatives’ which provided affordable community-led housing for tens of thousands of individuals. Drawing on archival research and in-depth interviews, in this article I take a critical historical perspective to revisit the little-known case of squats that became short-life co-ops in London. I outline how squats and co-ops enabled and responded to the emergence of plural needs and desires at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression and struggles for women, gay and lesbian and Black liberation. I conclude by arguing the need for a research agenda that addresses radical difference in fluid processes of ‘transitional commoning’, to acknowledge and amplify powerful articulations of feminist, queer, and anti-racist reimagining of urban inhabitation.