housing
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UK: The Police, Squat Evictions and Housing Precarity By Izzy Köksal
A recent tweet by Lambeth MPS brags about the eviction of a squatted doctors surgery in Brixton on a rainy January morning: ‘another crime generator closed down!’ they exclaimed. Happily, the twitter account was met with a barrage of abuse, but this tweet shows how the police are often found intervening in what is a… Continue reading
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The modern return of Vagrancy Law By Joe Hermer
The crime of ‘being suspicious’ seems to be making a return as the state seems ever more keen to police the poor and vulnerable. The recent case of ‘stolen food’ from Iceland is a perfect example. Continue reading
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People’s Inquiry – a grassroots vision for our NHS? By John Lister
Campaigners fighting hospital closures, cutbacks and the erosion of mental health and other services have years of bitter experience of presenting solid, evidence-based arguments in “consultations” that ignore them and press ahead regardless. I know. In almost 30 years, I’ve been there with them too many times. Continue reading
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Eviction Brixton: creating housing insecurity in London By Hannah Schling
On Monday 15th July, 75 people were evicted from Rushcroft Road, a long-term community of squats and former short-life housing co-ops in central Brixton. The eviction represents a major step by Lambeth Council towards the further gentrification of the area. Determined to realise the (high) financial value of the Rushcroft Road properties, Lambeth Council has… Continue reading
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The Gentification of the Left By Mike Wayne, Deidre O’Neill
The post-colonial philosopher Gayatri Spivak once famously asked: ‘Can the subaltern speak?’ Colonialism though is not just about race, it is also about that great unmentionable, class. And class colonization is one of the most central features of British social and political life. Continue reading
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How we are impoverished, gentrified and silenced – and what to do about it By John Pilger
Surveillance is normal in the Age of Regression – as Edward Snowden revealed. Ubiquitous cameras are normal. Subverted freedoms are normal. Effective public dissent is now controlled by police, whose intimidation is normal. Continue reading
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China – Avoid the West’s Debt Overhead: A Land Tax is needed to hold down Housing Prices By Michael Hudson
How can China avoid the “Western financial disease” – a real estate bubble followed by defaults and foreclosures? The U.S. and European economies originally sought to avoid this fate by taxing the location’s site value. A rent tax was the focus of Progressive Era reforms. Continue reading
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After Mubenga unlawful killing verdict: Could asylum seekers have a worse landlord than G4S?
• Unlawful killing verdict • Jimmy Mubenga died after ‘restraint’ by three G4S guards • G4S gave disputed evidence to Parliamentary committee about restraint techniques • Lately executive Stephen Small dismissed allegations about abuse of asylum seekers housed by G4S Continue reading
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Video: How Class Works – Richard Wolff Examines Class
Richard Wolff is an economist who has studied class issues for more than 40 years. In this animation and audio presentation, Wolff explains what class is all about and applies that understanding to the foreclosure crisis of 2007–2011. He argues that class concerns the “way our society splits up the output [and] leaves those who… Continue reading
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Google’s Spymasters Are Now Worried About Your Secrets By Robert Scheer
What is truly frightening is that the techniques of the totalitarian state are the same ones pioneered by so-called democracies where commercial companies, like Google, have made a hash of the individual’s constitutionally guaranteed right to be secure in his or her private space. Continue reading
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Protests, Disturbances, and Violence Continue in Venezuela, General Strike a “Failure” By Tamara Pearson
This afternoon president Maduro said the opposition’s call for a general strike today had “failed”. He also blamed the losing candidate in Sunday’s elections, Henrique Capriles, for the seven deaths last night. Continue reading
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Death of Margaret Thatcher Reopens the Debate Over Her Cruel Legacy By Roger Annis
The death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on April 8 has renewed an intense political debate in Britain and internationally over her legacy. For her ruling class sycophants, Thatcher was a heroine, “one of the greatest” prime ministers Britain ever had. Continue reading
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Demise of Britain’s Welfare State: Largest ever Welfare Cuts. Millions of Families Affected By Paul Mitchell
For the next three years, most welfare benefits will be limited to just a 1 percent rise a year—well below the expected inflation rate and equivalent to a 4 percent cut in real terms. Other benefits have been frozen including Child Benefit and the Working Tax Credit available to low-paid workers. Over nine million families… Continue reading
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Audio: Economic Policy Deception By Michael Hudson
Another in the series of interviews on the Renegade Economists radio show (Australia), a wide ranging analysis of the advantages to wealth that money printing and poor tax policy produce. Topics include land and housing policy, German gold repatriation, Occupy, Bradley Manning, Iran, Obama and Kruegar. Continue reading
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Video: The End of Squatting in the UK?
Calls from within government to fully criminalise squatting gather momentum. It could have serious implications for political occupations, and will it backfire on the government’s plans to reduce its welfare budget? (inc. transcript) Continue reading
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Video: Venezuela's Housing Revolution
“Great Housing Mission” seeks to address soaring housing deficit, democratize city space Continue reading
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Blowing Up the Past, Destroying the Future By by Sarah Glynn
Since 1990, Dundee has demolished over 10,000 homes. We also have thousands of people waiting for social housing because they don’t have adequate accommodation. Their house may be unfit to live in, or overcrowded, or they may be having to sleep on a friend’s sofa. Most of the homes that have been destroyed were fundamentally… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 