Programme full

Occupy in Space: Making Nonsense Appear
Burgum, S.
(University of Warwick)
Thursday 16 April 2016 15:30 - 17:00
PAPER SESSION 6 / PECHA KUCHA SESSIONS
In what ways have post-crash resistances to neoliberal capitalism been limited through a foreclosure of possibilities
and did Occupy (in) London manage to challenge that foreclosure through their novel approach to resistance?
As the name of the movement suggests, the eponymous tactic of Occupy was the semi-permanent occupation of
space, which in practice involved the setting up of various camps, squats and meeting places in urban centres. In
London, this took the form of the infamous camp outside St Paul's cathedral, a camp at Finsbury Square in Islington,
and a 'nomad' group (who, in 2012, were camping at Mile End in Tower Hamlets), as well as a number of squatted
buildings.
Using the ideas of Jacques Ranciere, I argue that this semi-permanent occupation of public offline space ultimately
allowed Occupy to enforce the appearance of a 'nonsensical' position (that there could be an alternative to reestablishing
neoliberalism after the crash). Notwithstanding other problems with the movement, therefore, I suggest
that the occupation of space in-itself has the potential to be an effective tactic in challenging the hegemonic
'distribution of the sensible', allowing for the material appearance of (politically proper) dissensus. In other words,
precisely by occupying spaces where they are 'not supposed' to appear, occupy-type movements are able to
challenge the prevailing designation of their resistance as 'non-sense'.
This paper is based upon three years of research with Occupy (in) London, including interviews and ethnographic data
Cities, Mobilities, Place and Space 2
W702, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
The Residualisation of UK Local Government? The Impact of Austerity in Local Government on Deprived
People and Places
Hastings, A., Bailey, N., Bramley, G., Gannon, M.
(University of Glasgow)
Local government is one of the foremost casualties of the fiscal austerity which has characterised UK public policy
since 2010. There is particular concern that the cuts impact disproportionately on the most deprived cities and
authorities. However, much of the early research on the impact of fiscal austerity suggested that local councils had
largely been able to absorb budgetary pressures through service redesign, job losses and other 'efficiency' savings,
and that the impact on services and service users has been more limited than might have been expected.
This paper brings together a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence from the final stage of a major project for
the Joseph Rowntree Foundation designed to explore whether and how councils would be able to meet the needs of
more disadvantaged people and places in the face of unprecedented austerity. The paper triangulates detailed
analysis of the high level decisions made by four case study councils to balance budgets with the rich evidence
documenting the experiences of 'front line' council staff and service users of the impact of these decisions. The
findings challenge the conventional wisdom that austerity has not impacted significantly on the quantity and quality of
council services. It identifies a range of mechanisms which – despite intentions of strategic decision makers to the
contrary – visit some of the severest impacts of budget cuts on the poorest and most vulnerable service users. It
argues that this is an inevitable consequence of the residualisation of local government brought about by austerity.
'Commitment to Place, Precarity and the Threat to Social Housing Security Posed by the 'Bedroom Tax': A
Case Study of a Midlands Estate'
Bogue, K.
(University of Manchester)
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduced the 'removal of the spare room subsidy' from April 2013 commonly referred
to as the 'bedroom tax'. My qualitative doctoral research by a resident researcher sought to understand the full effects
of this policy on vulnerable residents on one predominantly white working class housing estate, adopting a holistic
approach that utilises biographical and ethnographic methods.
Emerging findings indicate that social housing tenants face stark and extremely stressful choices about leaving their
homes to avoid paying the increased rent, such 'choices' often limited due to the unavailability of smaller properties
199 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University