Instituting civics: the Spanish social mobilization for housing justice

Although the right to housing has been recognized in the Spanish Constitution since 1978, there have been more than two million household evictions since the 2008 financial crisis. Faced with this housing emergency and the institutional incapacity to respond to this situation, Spanish civil society has mobilized, leading to the emergence of the Platform of People Affected by Mortgages (PAH) in 2009 and the Tenants’ Unions (SIs) in 2016. This research analyses the ‘instituting process’ carried out in Spain through these ‘civic institutions’ (PAH and SIs) and their capacity to promote greater housing justice. It is shown how the organizational capacity of these movements responds to different cycles of accumulation by dispossession. Both movements have transcended individual demands, acquiring a collective dimension, popularizing their claims, and leveraging different political junctures to press regional and national governments. They have achieved the transformation of various legislative frameworks, including the approval of the first National Law for the Right to Housing in 2023. Finally, this work demonstrates that promoting housing justice implies promoting a post-neoliberal policy of decommodifying housing, that ends the subordination of housing's use value to its exchange value. Ultimately, the research seeks to highlight collective struggles and promote instituting processes.