'We'd Hoped That the Flat Would Be Ours One Day': The Fight for Fair Privatisation in the Moje Pisnice Initiative

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the conditions behind the formation of the tenant initiative Moje Písnice, which existed in Prague between 2016 and 2020. In the theoretical part, we explain the concepts of urban movements and tenant movements in Central and Eastern Europe and emphasise the role of everyday life and emotions in the genesis of a collective actor. We use qualitative methodology based on an analysis of 12 in-depth semi-structured interviews with members and one supporter of the Moje Pisnice Initiative. This initiative provides an illustration of the formation of collective actors in the urban space in Central and Eastern Europe. We focus specifically on the historical and social conditions behind the initiative's development and the emergence of a shared identity and shared housing expectations and the disappointment resulting from unfulfilled hopes. Other important factors that we discuss are the intersubjectivity of emotions and the emancipatory potential of the initiative's organisational structure, which enabled the participation of people with no prior experience with activism. We also focus on the public's sense of disillusionment with civic engagement and with the political system in general since 1989. This research contributes to the study of tenant movements in postsocialist countries, which are often an overlooked actor in one of the most important processes in the post-1989 transformation -privatisation. In contrast to previous research, we focus on the role of shared emotions and the subjective experience of historical processes.