‘Squat City’: Dublin’s temporary autonomous zone. Considering the temporality of autonomous geographies

Abstract

‘Squat City’ was an autonomous social centre and squat that was open for nearly three years in Dublin, Ireland, and the space played a key role in the development of autonomous and anarchist politics in the city. In framing my research, I began with the concept of ‘temporary urbanism’, a well-developed area in urban studies, cultural geography, and planning, that focuses on the temporal aspects of short-term places and spaces. I noted that the concept of autonomous geographies was important to understanding the politics and culture of short-term uses of space like squats, direct actions, protests, and social centres, but that temporary urbanism was not discussed in tandem with autonomous geographies. Using Squat City as the case study, I bring these two ideas together, to create a meaningful discussion based on the similarities between them. The reasons why urban actors are motivated to create these short-term projects can vary greatly, including the urban actors involved in squats, autonomous social centres, direct actions, and protests. What can we learn about city residents’ motivations and politics, how urban spaces are used in the city, and how can we consider the timeframes of autonomous geographies? By focusing on the everyday scale and use value of cities, how do alternative urban practices challenge what we may understand as the normal workings of cities? In this article, I discuss Squat City as a temporary autonomous zone to think about the temporality of radical practices.