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69051-01 - Practical course: Real Estate City: Financialization and the Fight for Housing Justice in Basel (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2023 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Jacob Geuder (jacob.geuder@unibas.ch)
Lea Marie Nienhoff (l.nienhoff@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | “Financialization” has become a popular concept to highlight the power of financial actors in shaping urban development. Housing, land, and inhabitants are increasingly treated as mere assets. We will study the concept of “financialization” and discuss the social relations of property in Basel. Short-term expectations of returns and land speculation regularly affect people’s livelihoods and create new urban inequalities. The course introduces methods to investigate shifting property relations in Basel as well as tenants’ experiences and local forms of contestation. Thus, the course will (1) introduce students to qualitative and quantitative research methods to study the effects of housing financialization in Basel; (2) document the displacement of low-income households through mass cancellations of rental contracts; (3) connect with grassroots networks and emancipatory initiatives. Through collaborations with the association Stadt für Alle and other civic initiatives the course is embedded in a process of collective knowledge production rooted in the city. In our course we want to act in respect for and solidarity with affected residents and produce a set of documents, films, and maps to communicate the findings to a larger public. |
| Learning objectives | (1) Engaging with the theory of the financialization of housing and understanding the commodification of land in historical context. (2) Analyzing current urban developments in Basel and reflecting on real estate imaginaries as well as alternatives. (3) Applying research approaches such as urban ethnography, data analysis and visualization, historical and narrative analysis. |
| Bibliography | Atkinson, Rowland. “Losing One’s Place: Narratives of Neighbourhood Change, Market Injustice and Symbolic Displacement.” Housing, Theory and Society 32, no. 4 (2015): 373–88. Balmer, Ivo and Bernet, Tobias. “Housing as a Common Resource? Decommodification and Self-Organization in Housing – Examples from Germany and Switzerland.” In Urban Commons: Moving Beyond State and Market (Berlin, München, Boston: Birkhäuser, 2022), 178-195. Fields, Desiree, Raymond, Elora Lee. “Racialized geographies of housing financialization.” Progress in Human Geography 45, no. 6 (2021): 1625 –1645. Maharawal, Manissa M. and Erin McElroy. “The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project: Counter Mapping and Oral History Toward Bay Area Housing Justice.” Annals of the American Association of Geographers 108, no. 2 (2018): 380-389. Rolnik, Raquel. “Late Neoliberalism: The Financialization of Homeownership and Housing Rights.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 37, no. 3 (2013): 1058–66. Theurillat, Thierry, Jose Corpataux, and Olivier Crevoisier. “Property sector financialization: the case of Swiss pension funds (1992–2005).” European Planning Studies 18.2 (2010): 189-212. |
| Comments | In-class teaching: September 4, 10-13h; 14-15:30h September 5, 10-13h September 6, 10-13h; 14-15:30h September 7, 10-13h Group work: September 8, 10-16h September 11, 10-16h September 12, 10-16h September 13, 10-16h Language: English and German Non-German speakers are invited to join the course. We will deal with limitations (for example materials only available in German or interview partners who do not speak English) pragmatically and aim to create an inclusive learning environment that accommodates different language skills. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block | See individual dates | ||
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 04.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Tuesday 05.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Wednesday 06.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Thursday 07.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Friday 08.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Monday 11.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Tuesday 12.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Wednesday 13.09.2023 | 10.15-17.00 | Alte Gewerbeschule, Studio 357 |
| Modules |
Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Students are expected to hand in one response paper before the beginning of the course. Further, students will complete a group project. Part of the group project is (1) active research and data collection, (2) a group presentation on your approaches and case studies, and (3) a portfolio with the results and multi-media products from the research process. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Urban Studies |