Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NOMAD-Outcome (Not for sale! Explaining the Outcomes of Neighbourhood Mobilisations Against Displacement)
Reporting period: 2024-09-01 to 2025-08-31
The NOMAD-Outcome project (“Explaining the Outcomes of Neighbourhood Mobilizations Against Displacement”), explores the dynamics of collective organization for housing justice in working-class neighbourhoods in Barcelona, Montreal and Lyon.
It addresses the collective responses to housing insecurity, which is a critical source of social inequality.
The project creates knowledge around two questions: first, what are the outcomes of these mobilizations? Second, what role does the neighbourhood, understood as a space of proximity, play in the dynamics of protest? Said differently, how are the resources provided by the neighbourhood used in collective mobilizations? Do interpersonal space-based relations influence protest dynamics?
The project has three operational objectives. The first one is documenting collective struggles and activist practices around housing issues in Parc-Extension (Montreal), Poble-Sec (Barcelona) and La Guillotière (Lyon) through qualitative research encompassing diverse techniques (interviews, participant observation and document analysis) and producing sociological analysis which is to be delivered through scientific communications and publications. The second objective is producing materials allowing knowledge transfer beyond academic circles, and a fruitful conversation between researchers and housing justice groups. The third objective is acquiring, as a researcher, new theoretical and technical, transferable skills.
After 36 months of work, the project has been achieved its objectives, as well as most of its planned deliverables and milestones.
It addresses the collective responses to housing insecurity, which is a critical source of social inequality.
The project creates knowledge around two questions: first, what are the outcomes of these mobilizations? Second, what role does the neighbourhood, understood as a space of proximity, play in the dynamics of protest? Said differently, how are the resources provided by the neighbourhood used in collective mobilizations? Do interpersonal space-based relations influence protest dynamics?
The project has three operational objectives. The first one is documenting collective struggles and activist practices around housing issues in Parc-Extension (Montreal), Poble-Sec (Barcelona) and La Guillotière (Lyon) through qualitative research encompassing diverse techniques (interviews, participant observation and document analysis) and producing sociological analysis which is to be delivered through scientific communications and publications. The second objective is producing materials allowing knowledge transfer beyond academic circles, and a fruitful conversation between researchers and housing justice groups. The third objective is acquiring, as a researcher, new theoretical and technical, transferable skills.
After 36 months of work, the project has been achieved its objectives, as well as most of its planned deliverables and milestones.
The work carried out from the beginning to the end of the project falls into three categories, leading to diverse results:
1) Ethnographic work
During the project, the researcher has conducted ethnographic fieldwork with housing groups in three cities (Montreal, Barcelona, and Lyon). She conducted 90 interviews with housing activists, residents, and public officials. She has also produced press and social network data sets, which were deposited in an open-access repository.
2) Analytical work
Fieldwork data has been analysed in several steps and through various activities. Discussions with the scientific supervisors of this Action (Julie-Anne Boudreau and Jean-Yves Authier), as well as with other colleagues who have progressively become monitors of the action. The analytical work has also benefited from the organisation of several events at which the project’s results were presented and discussed.
Three analytical results stand out. The first one concerns the variation of contentious repertoires among protest sites. The manner in which housing activists oppose displacement and housing oppression in working-class gentrifying neighbourhoods differs between cities, particularly with regard to direct and disruptive action. This is prevalent in Barcelona and Lyon, but marginal in Montreal. The second analytical result concerns the variation in the type of relationship established between housing activists and the local administration. In Montreal, the development of collaborative forms of public management involving housing groups contrasts with the more defiant attitudes observed in Barcelona and Lyon. The third analytical result concerns the variation in the spatial imaginaries constructed by housing activists in the three cities.
3) Dissemination work
The project has involved a continuous dissemination work. A website (https://www.nomad-outcome.info(opens in new window)) was created before the end of the first period. Throughout the project, the researcher has participated in four international conferences and five outreach activities. She has also organised three scientific events. The project’s results will be disseminated through three scientific papers in open access journals and two books. The project has produced three open datasets and other documents, which have been deposited in Recherche Data Gouv and HAL.
Finally, the work carried out in the three categories has also led to training outcomes for the researcher. Throughout the project, she has expanded her theoretical knowledge in the field of urban sociology and critical geography. She has also improved her technical skills in areas such as filming, editing, and web development, as well as her organizational skills in leading international scientific events and publication projects.
1) Ethnographic work
During the project, the researcher has conducted ethnographic fieldwork with housing groups in three cities (Montreal, Barcelona, and Lyon). She conducted 90 interviews with housing activists, residents, and public officials. She has also produced press and social network data sets, which were deposited in an open-access repository.
2) Analytical work
Fieldwork data has been analysed in several steps and through various activities. Discussions with the scientific supervisors of this Action (Julie-Anne Boudreau and Jean-Yves Authier), as well as with other colleagues who have progressively become monitors of the action. The analytical work has also benefited from the organisation of several events at which the project’s results were presented and discussed.
Three analytical results stand out. The first one concerns the variation of contentious repertoires among protest sites. The manner in which housing activists oppose displacement and housing oppression in working-class gentrifying neighbourhoods differs between cities, particularly with regard to direct and disruptive action. This is prevalent in Barcelona and Lyon, but marginal in Montreal. The second analytical result concerns the variation in the type of relationship established between housing activists and the local administration. In Montreal, the development of collaborative forms of public management involving housing groups contrasts with the more defiant attitudes observed in Barcelona and Lyon. The third analytical result concerns the variation in the spatial imaginaries constructed by housing activists in the three cities.
3) Dissemination work
The project has involved a continuous dissemination work. A website (https://www.nomad-outcome.info(opens in new window)) was created before the end of the first period. Throughout the project, the researcher has participated in four international conferences and five outreach activities. She has also organised three scientific events. The project’s results will be disseminated through three scientific papers in open access journals and two books. The project has produced three open datasets and other documents, which have been deposited in Recherche Data Gouv and HAL.
Finally, the work carried out in the three categories has also led to training outcomes for the researcher. Throughout the project, she has expanded her theoretical knowledge in the field of urban sociology and critical geography. She has also improved her technical skills in areas such as filming, editing, and web development, as well as her organizational skills in leading international scientific events and publication projects.
Progress beyond the state of the art can already be noted with regard to three aspects.The first aspect concerns the political effect of neighbourhood mobilizations against displacement. The research conducted in Montreal reveals that local representatives perceive housing groups as legitimate partners. At the same time, the former is very sensitive to the protests performed by housing groups. It is possible to observe a “radical flank effect” within the local administration, wherein some political actors evoke the possibility of protests to gain leverage and advance their position within the administration. A second aspect concerns the influence of the neighbourhood in the dynamic of protest. In contrast to research that states that collective action in neighbourhoods depends on the characteristics of the latter, the research conducted in Montreal and Barcelona reveals that the “neighbourhood” constitutes a multidimensional resource (political, symbolic and relational) that housing activists use strategically. A third aspect concerns the production of knowledge within groups. The research conducted in Barcelona has allowed us to shed light on a marginal dimension of the epistemic practices of social movements: the power relations and inequalities involved in these practices.
During the first 24 months of the implementation of the project, the researcher developed and improved her theoretical, technical, organizational, and communication skills. Her original analytical toolkit being formerly based on political and social movements sociology, today it has been enlarged with an expertise grounded in urban sociology and critical urban studies. This enhanced theoretical expertise will be applied to the writing of a book, scheduled for submission in 2026. This submission will be important in terms of career because it as a prerequisite for attaining the “habilitation à diriger des recherches”, which is in turn necessary for strengthening her chances to successfully apply for another European funds. With respect to technical and communication skills, the period has seen the acquisition of competences in filming and editing footage, and website development. In terms of organizational skills, the researcher has augmented her proficiency in conceiving, overseeing and animating international scientific events.
During the first 24 months of the implementation of the project, the researcher developed and improved her theoretical, technical, organizational, and communication skills. Her original analytical toolkit being formerly based on political and social movements sociology, today it has been enlarged with an expertise grounded in urban sociology and critical urban studies. This enhanced theoretical expertise will be applied to the writing of a book, scheduled for submission in 2026. This submission will be important in terms of career because it as a prerequisite for attaining the “habilitation à diriger des recherches”, which is in turn necessary for strengthening her chances to successfully apply for another European funds. With respect to technical and communication skills, the period has seen the acquisition of competences in filming and editing footage, and website development. In terms of organizational skills, the researcher has augmented her proficiency in conceiving, overseeing and animating international scientific events.