Date: 22-23 June, 2023.

Time: 9 am – 18.30 pm (CET)

Location: Erasmus School of Philosophy, Polak building 1.20

Join us on the 22nd and 23rd of June for a conference on Spatial Justice at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

The event is organized by Elisabetta Gobbo (EUR) and Niklas Dummer (TU Dortmund) and sponsored by the Erasmus School of Philosophy and the Erasmus Journal of Philosophy and Economics.

Conference description:

The current housing crisis is shaping the lives of many people. Housing protests are unraveling in most big European cities at the beat of chants such as huizen voor mensen niet voor winst (houses for people not for profit) and Deutsche Wohnen Enteignen (Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen). These slogans highlight that citizens perceive an injustice in the way in which housing is allocated. But what, if anything, is wrong about it?

Questions concerning the allocation, use and production of urban space, including housing allocation, have been extensively investigated by urban geographers. Scholars in the field highlight that space should not be considered merely as a container of human activities but as a generative force of (in)justice. Even though philosophers have not paid much attention to the role of space in their normative analyses there is a growing body of literature filling this gap.  

The aim of this conference is to facilitate the discussion and development of spatially laden considerations of justice. In doing so, it wishes to engage with scholars and practitioners who deal with justice in space, especially, but not exclusively, focusing on the urban dimension. We highly value taking an interdisciplinary approach for our conference. Indeed, we believe that the interaction of theoreticians and practitioners is necessary to develop an understanding of what justice in space is, and how we can achieve it. On one side, philosophers can contribute with clarifying characterizations of the phenomena in question, normative assessments and thought-provoking analyses. On the other side, practitioners’ knowledge and expertise are crucial to understand the current legal framework and how it developed, the power relations within it and the possible strategies we can adopt to bring ourselves closer to justice in space. 

Line-up

Thursday 22nd June 2022

Room: Polak 1-20

09.00 Welcoming coffee and tea

09.15-10.15 Talk {Manuel Aalbers, KU Leuven} 

“The Colonization of Lifeworld and System by Finance”

Chair: Savriel Dillingh

Comment: Daniel Halliday

10.15-10.30 Tea and Coffee Break

10.30-11.30 Talk {Avner de-Shalit, Hebrew University of Jerusalem} 

“City of Equals”

Chair: Nicholas Vrousalis

11:30-11.45 Tea and Coffee Break

11.45-12.45 Talk {Katy Wells, Warwick}

Chair: Akshath Jitendranath

12.45-13.45 Lunch (Erasmus Pavilijoen)

13.45-14.45 Talk  [Merav Kaddar, Rotterdam IHS]

“My City as a Battle Ground: (Re-)Narrating National Conflicts Through Urban Activism – 3 Examples from Tel Aviv-Jaffa”

 Chair: David van Putten

14.45-15.00 Tea and Coffee Break

15.00-16.00 Talk [Elisabetta Gobbo, Erasmus University]

“Housing allocation and spatial inequality: relational injustice in the city space.”

Chair: Mans Abrahamson

Comment: Dick Timmer

16.00-16.15 Tea and Coffee Break

16.15-17.15 Talk [Daniel Guillery, LSE]

“Transport, Roads and Exclusion”

Chair: Erica Yu

Comment: Juri Viehoff

17.15-17.30 Tea and Coffee Break

17.30-18.30 Talk {Matilda Carter, Glasgow}

“Dementia and the Problem of Mediating Claims Over Space”

 Chair: Ana Barbosa Mendes

18.30 Dinner (Leaf Vegetarian)

Friday 23rd  June 2023

Room: Polak 1-20

09.45-10.45 Talk [Pilar Lopez Cantero, Tilburg University]

“Urban Displacement and Affective Injustice”

Chair: Benjamin Mullins

Comment: Huub Brouwer

10.45-11.00 Tea and Coffee Break

11.00-12.00 Talk {Boram Kim, TU Delft}

“Housing Injustice and the Capability Approach”

Chair: Cian Higgins

Comment: Willem van der Deijl

12.00-13.00 Lunch (Erasmus Pavilijoen)

13.00-14.00 Talk [Niklas Dummer, Dortmund]

“Housing and Equal Self-respect”

Chair: Gideon Frey

14.00-14.15 Tea and Coffee Break

14.15-15.15 Talk [Bart van Leeuwen, Radboud University]

“How is Gentrification a Threat to Human Space?”

Chair: Thijs Heijmeskamp 

15.15-15.30 Tea and Coffee Break

15.30-16.30 Talk [Anitra Baliga, Rotterdam IHS]

“The Real Estate Turn in the “Slum”: Land Monetization and In-Situ Redevelopment in India’s Urban Core”

Chair: Lee Elkin

Comment: Manuel Aalbers

16.30-16.45 Tea and Coffee Break

16.45-17.45 Talk [Melissa Koutouzis, WoonProtest TNI, Amsterdam]

“Just Housing Policies – Strategies on how to Mobilisation & Implementation”

  Chair: Elisabetta Gobbo

17.45-18.30 Final plenary discussion

18.30 Dinner

For more information, contact gobbo@esphil.eur.nl or Niklas Dummer at niklas.dummer@tu-dortmund.de