The following text is offered by Sophie Gonick as a supplement to her Environment and Planning D: Society and Space article, Indignation and Inclusion: Activism, difference, and emergent urban politics in postcrash Madrid. In the piece, which is currently free to access, Gonick analyses two competing strands of activism around the housing crisis in Madrid from a feminist perspective that sees them as complementary, overlapping, and potentially collaborative.
When I set out to write this piece, Ahora Madrid was in its infancy. I was fairly skeptical about its chances of actually winning. I was clearly, however, proven incorrect—Manuela Carmena is now the mayor of Madrid. In Barcelona, Ada Colau has gone from spokesperson for the anti-evictions movement to the mayor’s office. Meanwhile, Podemos made tremendous strides in the December 2015 national elections; many in its highest ranks emerge directly from urban social movements.
As an addendum to this piece, I want to emphasize two ideas. One is contextual and historical, while the other is perhaps an orientation for future research and the role of scholars in articulating the horizons of possibility for radical democratic praxis.
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