Knowledge production and learning in housing struggles

Abstract This article examines the impact of advocacy for non-housing issues and its spillover onto housing movements. Adopting the viewpoint that activism is a social practice that generates knowledge, this study analyses how activists in social movements produce, share, and disseminate knowledge through fieldwork research conducted in Dublin, Ireland. The findings reveal that knowledge transmission, critical thinking, and innovation are crucial for fostering productive dialogue among groups engaged in strategic housing action. Moreover, the research demonstrates that housing movements contribute to the development of novel cognitive and epistemic solutions through their practical and discursive interactions with other non-housing social movements. These results make a meaningful contribution to housing studies and social movement studies by shedding light on the political and social dynamics that give rise to new knowledge and innovative housing practices.