Derrick O'Keefe
Derrick O'Keefe
Right to the City Transatlantic Roundtable
Right to the City Transatlantic Roundtable 22 Nov. 2019.
This year the discussant will focus on a comparative analysis of housing movements in Berlin, Vancouver, and New York City.
In recent years, both cities have been rocked by rising rents, increased displacement, and gentrification. Much of these changes have been linked to increased speculation of housing as well as weakening of tenant protections.
In response, activists and left policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic have developed creative movements that seek to protect existing affordable housing, while attempting to expand housing stocks. This is has taken the form of expanding rent control laws, the municipalization of housing stock, and challenging technological firms’ takeover of city owned land. These strategies have been augmented by a vibrant, robust movements that have amplified the voices of tenants against finance capital, while connecting the dots between housing, healthcare, and immigration to secure a vital sense of what is the right to the city.
This roundtable will allow for a deepening of shared analysis through case studies, field trips, and mapping exercises.
Participants
- Christian Petermann, Urban Strategy Department (Office of Katrin Lompscher)
- Helge Peters, Oxford University
- Derrick O'Keefe, tenant organizer/Left Municipal movements
- Ryan Alcoff, Rochester Tenants Union/Right to the City Coalition
- Dominic Moulden, ONE DC/Right to the City Coalition
- Oksana Mironova, Community Service Society of New York
- Cea Weaver, Democratic Socialists of America/Housing 4 All
- Susanne Blakely, Right to Counsel NYC
- Akilah Browne, New Economy Project
- Hillary Caldwell, City University of New York
- Kazembe Balagun Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office
- Andreas Gunther, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office[1]
Supporting Bolivian revolution
In September 2007 a statement was circulated by the blog Bolivia Rising in support of the revolutionary government of Bolivia;[2]
- The democratically elected government of Bolivia's first indigenous president Evo Morales Ayma, which is heading a process of democratic change, is Washington's immediate target in Latin America today. Bolivia is in Washington's sight, not only because it is viewed as the weakest link of the growing axis of hope in the region, but because of its role as a catalyst for inspiring the struggles of indigenous peoples, regionally and internationally, for real social justice...
- Now is the time for all intellectuals, union militants, solidarity activists, political parties and progressive minded individuals who believe in real justice and equality to raise their voices in defense of the Bolivian government and its people. No to US interference in Bolivia!
Signatories included;
- Australia - Federico Fuentes, Kiraz Janicke, John Percy, Rohan Pearce, Adrian Fuentes
- Peru - Hugo Blanco
- Chile - Marta Harnecker, Maria Eliana Astaburuaga
- Mexico - John Ross
- Bolivia - Georg Ann Potter
- Canada - Michael Lebowitz, Derrick O'Keefe, Sid Shniad, John Riddell, Roger Annis Susan Spronk, Nelson Rubio, Canadian Dimension editorial collective, Vancouver Bolivia committee, Vancouver Socialist Forum, Judy Rebick
- US - Gregory Wilpert, Michael Albert, Benjamin Dangl, Martin Hart-Landsberg, Michael Parenti, Walter Lippmann, George Ciccariello-Maher, Al Campbell, Kirkpatrick Sale, Chesa Boudin, Greg Grandin, Thomas Mertes, Ronald Christ, Chellis Glendinning
- Cuba - Camila Pineiro Harnecker
- Nicaragua - Felipe Stuart Cournoyer
- UK - Pablo Navarrete, Alfredo Saad Filho, Andrew J. Silvera, Janet Duckworth
- France - Susan George
- Sweden -Left Party of Sweden
- Norway - Marta Sanchez
- New Zealand - Grant Morgan, Vaughan Gunson, Mike Treen
- South Africa - Ighsaan Schroeder
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
O'Keefe is listed as an endorser of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy, as of March 15, 2010.[3]