Civil disobedience in the campaign of the pah social program

Abstract

This paper examines the factors that led people without previous political activism to take part in the campaign of the PAH’s (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca). The context of this study is the mortgage crisis that led more than 580,000 foreclosures in Spain from 2009 to 2015. The analysis of the semi-structured interviews shows that interviewees build narratives that legitimize the use of civil disobedience as the final protest action to reclaim social housing. Having been evicted, with no place to live and the state’s inability to protect and fulfil their rights to housing are just some of the reasons given by interviewees to join the PAH. Finally, the interviewees embrace a discourse of good citizenship, showing their will to legalize their situation through affordable rent payment according to their income.