‘Together and entwined’ – housing movements and academic groups in collaborative resistance practices in São Paulo: territories,methods and contested paradigms

Abstract

This paper aims to critically examine the role of academic laboratories working in partnership with marginalized communities and housing movements, drawing on the experience of LabJuta – Territorial Justice Laboratory at the Federal University of ABC, Brazil. This engagement is grounded in socio-technical and political collaborations that emerge through extensão (university outreach projects), action research principles, collaborative strategies and popular education, all of which are geared towards resisting the forced eviction of families living in occupied, abandoned buildings. The paper discusses the characteristics of this collaboration, along with some outcomes and reflections framed through the lens of the right to housing, using a case referred to here as Frente das Ocupações (Occupations Front). Research findings indicate that, among other aspects, the coordinated mobilization of this front – bringing together diverse actors – supported the development and strategic use of socio-technical reasoning around risk management. This, in turn, enabled a more effective response to the eviction threat, with implications both for the broader struggle and for the collective learning process.