| Abstrakt: |
This article investigates the development of house squatting in the Dutch city of Leiden as a means to challenge stereotypical images of squatting and squatter protest in the Netherlands and beyond. Squatting continues to evoke lively images of punk youths who confront (riot) police in spectacular conflicts over occupied houses and buildings. In reality, however, the group of people who squatted was much more diverse. Researching the phenomenon of squatting in Leiden creates possibilities to both question and move beyond this image. Empirical research into squatting in Leiden uncovers a highly diverse multitude of people, while at the same time showing that most squatter actions did not end in violent confrontation. The findings also challenge stereotypes of squatting being mainly a metropolitan phenomenon, as the much smaller city of Leiden had a lively squatter history. In fact, this fact challenges us to look at how diverse the identities of squatters and practices of squatting were in larger cities. Finally, the paper illustrates how images of militant squatting influenced activists in smaller cities and towns, revealing how important these images were to activists and movements at that time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
