Tensions around housing in the collaborative economy: Resisting against platform capitalism in Athens

Abstract

In this chapter, we explore how different sets of practices that have been framed as 'sharing' and 'collaborative', coexist in the central Athenian district of Exarcheia. We mainly focus on issues related to housing and touristification and the ways the 'platform capitalism' side of sharing economy (through digitally mediated short-term rentals) operates in tension with grassroots, anti-gentrification initiatives that rely upon the rich political landscape of the district and involve the sharing of materials, knowledge and experiences, while evolving around the notion of caring for the most vulnerable parts of local population that are facing direct and indirect displacement. More specifically, we look into the sharing praxis itself: what is shared, by whom and how, while further elaborating on the labour and gendered dimensions of sharing. We argue that, despite their common framing as parts of the sharing (and/ or collaborative economy), 'platform capitalism' and grassroots collaborative practices constitute the materialization of different, often contrasting, broader visions concerning the organization of production, consumption and social reproduction, providing engaged actors with different capacities and possibilities of empowerment.