Care Favors the Rebels: Spatial, Temporal, and Communal Perspectives on Queer Care within the Dutch Squatting Scene
2025 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
My thesis explores how queer individuals enact and experience care relationships in the context of Dutch squats, through communal, spatial, and temporal dimensions. The analysis further explores the roles of the squats’ spatial (im)permanence in the development of queer care practices and relationships, also speculating on the challenges arising within these contexts. I used the concept of infrastructures of care as the main theoretical framework, understanding care as a redistributive, generative, and communal practice, embedded within urban spaces. This is also supported by the integration of social reproduction theory, which defines care as a kind of labor, often underrecognized and gendered. Regarding the methodological choices for primary data collection, I conducted thirteen semi-structured online interviews, paired with photo-elicitation to provide both narrative and visual data. In addition, I put together the visual material gathered through photo-elicitation in the format of a zine, following the thesis’ narrative flow. The results see queer care enacted in squats as both personal and collective practice, focused on reciprocity, mutuality, and intentionality. Furthermore, the squats’ spatial (im)permanence allows for the formation of networks of care that originate within the squatted space, yet expand beyond it, lasting over the life of the physical squat. Overall, this thesis sees queer care in squats as necessary to sustain communal and personal well-being, however, its recognition as a kind of emotional and physical labor also unveils aspects of fragility within squats. This concerns mainly the gendered nature of care, which often connects to the reproduction of patriarchal structures within squat communities.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025. , p. 65
Keywords [en]
Urban squatting; Queer; Alternative Urbanism; Care
National Category
Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-76473OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-76473DiVA, id: diva2:1965205
Educational program
KS US Urban Studies
Supervisors
Examiners
2025-06-122025-06-082025-12-02Bibliographically approved