The Need for Patience: The Politics of Housing Emergency in Buenos Aires

In this paper I explore the attempt to organize in order to secure permanent housing among poor urban families in Buenos Aires who reside temporarily in government-subsidized welfare hotels. My aim is to examine the passage that appears to take place between the ever-present tropes of “need” (and be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current anthropology 2015-10, Vol.56 (S11), p.S55-S65
Main Author: Procupez, Valeria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Buenos Aires Argentina
Cities
Evictions
Government programs
Hotels & motels
Housing
Housing subsidies
Living conditions
Low income groups
Mortgage loans
Political participation
Politics
Public assistance programs
Social programs
Social services
Subsidies
Urban poverty
Welfare
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:In this paper I explore the attempt to organize in order to secure permanent housing among poor urban families in Buenos Aires who reside temporarily in government-subsidized welfare hotels. My aim is to examine the passage that appears to take place between the ever-present tropes of “need” (and being assisted) and of “patience” (and being an activist in an autonomous and project-oriented movement) in the families’ experience of time as they embark collectively in this endeavor. I argue that as activists strive to move away from the subject position of asistido into which social programs seem to place them, they assume a political engagement that requires “patience,” a kind of work necessary for overriding the feeling of urgency often connected with a condition of need.
ISSN:0011-3204
1537-5382
DOI:10.1086/682240