The Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH)

The PAH has been one of the strongest social movements in Spain since 2011, fighting for fair access to housing and social rents through a politics of networked mutual aid and campaigning. 

This entry focuses on the specific campaigns and organizational ways in which the PAH works, and briefly outlines the complex entwinings of different levels of crisis (housing, financial, sovereign debt, ...) in Spain as well as the legal situation surrounding mortgages (which involves host of old and new laws and many ongoing levels of contestation and reform). For now a summary description of the PAH from 15MPedia:

The Platform of People affected by mortgages / the subprime mortgage crisis, or PAH, is a social movement and platform struggling for decent housing, which emerged in Barcelona in February 2009 and now extends across the Spanish territory. It surged in response to the real estate crisis of 2008 that triggered the bursting of the Spanish housing bubble and became a strong part of the movements that later emerged in response to the sovereign debt crisis and austerity politics. It's part of the 15M movement, which kicked off in 2011.

The PAH brings together people who find it difficult to pay back their mortgages or find themselves in a process of eviction due to unpaid mortgages, and people in solidarity with this problem. It defines itself as 'a group of people who, unaffiliated with any party, recognizes that […] the current legal framework is designed to guarantee that banks cash in on debt, while at the same time the law gives no protection to the people with mortgages who are unable to cover their payments due to reasons such as unemployment or rising fees/interests'. It's a horizontal, non-violent and assembly-based movement unaffiliated with political parties.The PAH meets in assemblies that go through the different cases of people affected by the mortgage crisis and laws, to offer advice and mutual aid in order to give both practical and emotional support.In January 2013, the PAH was awarded the national prize for human rights. [i]

We are very interested in the organizational and everyday dimensions of the PAH, not just because struggling around housing is to struggle around a key dimension of social reproduction, but also because this is a movement that brings together collective care and popular support in a political practice that is both situated and widely networked.

Video-introduction to the PAH’s work (2013 [es/en

Territorio Doméstico: tools for organizing and collective/self- care

[EN]    This entry presents translated materials from the group Territorio Domestico, a collective of  domestic workers (most of them migrants) active in Madrid. They shared a presentation of their work with us in April 2013, as well as doing a workshop in which we explored their tools for organizing, mutual support and collective care. Amazing stuff, a great time. Below are bits of their working materials translated into German and English, as well as audio recordings and videos - hopefully they can be useful for your organizing practice!

[DE]    Dieser Eintrag beinhaltet uebersetzte Materialien der Gruppe Territorio Domestico, einem in Madrid arbeitenden Kollektiv von Haushaltsangestellten dass sich grossteils aus migrantischen Frauen zusammensetzt. Territorio Domestico haben im April 2013 bei uns ihre Arbeit praesentiert und auch einen workshop gemacht, in dem wir ihre Werzeuge zur Selbstorganisierung, gemeinsamen Fuersorge und Unterstuetzung kennengelernt haben. Mehr Infos zu diesen Tagen findet sich im untenstehenden Link. Hier findet ihr also ausgesuchte Materialien, die wir vom Spanischen ins Deutsche und Englische uebersetzt haben, wie auch Ton- und Videoaufzeichnungen. Das Material kann für vielerlei Organisierungspraxis nützlich sein!

[ES]     Ahí va una compilación de materiales traducidos del grupo Territorio Domestico, un colectivo de mujeres en su mayoria migrantes que trabajan como empleadas domésticas en Madrid. El grupo estuvo en Viena en Abril 2013 presentándonos su trabajo y haciendo un taller presentando sus herramientas de autoorganización, cuidado colectivo y apoyo mutuo. Más información sobre esos días está en el enlace inferior. Aquí encontrarás materiales selecionados traducidos al inglés, alemán y también en su versión original en español. Esperamos que sirvan de inspiración para otros procesos de organización y lucha!"

More info on the presentation and workshop of April 2013.

[Materials in ENGLISH]

ABOUT TERRITORIO DOMESTICO

Territorio Doméstico is a space of encounter, relation, care and struggle for women and their rights, especially as migrants. The demand for the recognition of the rights of domestic workers is our point of departure, as well as the devalorization of this labour in a system that degrades care and personal assistance and makes it invisible and precarious – because care is vital for the sustaining of our societies! Hence our slogan: BECAUSE WITHOUT US, THE WORLD WOULDN’T BE MOVING and the image of a woman spurring a large and complex system of cogs. We are a space for the struggles and mutual support of women. A space wherein relationships, listening to each other’s realities and the care for the self as well as for others are very important.

>>> Advice for powerful domestic workers

1. What we do is worth a lot. Don’t forget that and don’t let others forget it.

2. We give each other information and support, especially in bad times. Those who are in the same situation as us have a lot of knowledge - and also strategies. You can also get free information via support facilities, NGOs, radios and so forth.