PUSHBACK Talks

It's been over 7 years since the Jubilee Party of Kenya set out the ambitious Big Four Agenda to address affordable housing, affordable healthcare, food security, and manufacturing. As part of this ambitious plan, the City of Nairobi aimed to deliver 1 million housing units by 2022, with that number later being lowered to 500,000 to make the goal more attainable. 

But now, all these years later and more than halfway to the Big Four deadline of 2030, barely 9,000 units have been built. The government has done little to address the shortfall or to rebuild the confidence of Kenyan citizens that they can accomplish the task. At the same time, residents of informal settlements are being evicted en masse to make way for new development, sometimes tens of thousands of people at a time.

Fredrik and Leilani meet with Pauline Vata, founder, and lead lawyer at Pauline Vata & Associates Advocates, an expert in public policy advocacy, and former Executive Director of Kenyan human rights organization Hakijamii, to talk about informal settlement evictions, the importance of comprehensive domestic law in realizing the right to housing, and how more Kenyans are becoming empowered to fight for adequate housing.

To learn more about Pauline's work, check her out on Twitter @VataPauline.

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Breaking Social made its big debut at the CPH:DOX International Film Festival, but the conversation is far from over. In this gripping episode, Fredrik sits down with Matthew Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist who has spent years taking on ultra-wealthy people and corporations to uncover corruption. As the creator of the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Matthew fights for justice for his mother, a Maltese journalist who was assassinated in 2017.

Matthew shares the story of how he and his colleagues made the decision to pursue this dangerous work, despite the risks. He explains how these corporations intentionally create confusing networks to mask their corruption, and the grave dangers journalists face when they try to expose the truth.

Join us for an eye-opening conversation about the critical role of investigative journalists in holding the powerful accountable, and the sacrifices they make in the name of the truth. Don't miss this chance to hear firsthand from a hero of Breaking Social and learn more about Matthew's ongoing fight against corruption.

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There's a new addition to the WG Film catalog! Fredrik's latest film, Breaking Social, is about the social contract we live by in society -- and the ways that the social contract is subverted and abused by the ultra-wealthy to undermine democracy and give them control of the world we live in. From Chile to the Netherlands, Breaking Social explores our upside-down economy while asking the question: 'Can we afford the rich?'

The film, which features many previous guests from Pushback Talks, made its debut on March 16th at the CPH:DOX International Film Festival. Now, join Fredrik and Leilani as they discuss the making of the film and how Fredrik hopes Breaking Social will help turn people's anger into hope, and help us find a way beyond cynicism and despair.

Let's change the conversation, and start talking about the society we want to build.

Learn more about Breaking Social, and support the film on Kickstarter here!

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From 2012-2022, and in the midst of a major construction boom, Turkiye fell nearly 50 places on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, from 54 to 101 out of 174 countries. The country has been praised for its ability to do infrastructure quickly, but the level of damage caused by a recent 7.8-magnitude quake has drawn greater attention to the amount of corruption in Turkiye's construction industry. With more than 45,000 dead, over $100 billion in damage, and 25,000 buildings reduced to rubble, Turkish citizens are outraged at the disorganized government response and the lack of proper preparation and are calling for greater government accountability. Just three months before a scheduled election, President Erdogan and his government are under intense scrutiny for the amount of damage, with a spotlight on the corrupt policies that allowed developers to cut corners on safety.

Fredrik and Leilani sit down for two separate conversations on these recent events. First, they meet with Professor Gönül Tol, founding director of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey Program, senior fellow for the Frontier Europe Initiative, and author of "Erdogan's War: A Strongman's Struggle at Home and in Syria," to recount her experience on the ground during the earthquake and to discuss how Erdogan instituted an autocracy that weakened Turkiye's vital institutions.

Then, they speak with Cihan Uzuncarsili Baysal, a member of Istanbul Urban Defense and an independent researcher, to discuss how Turkiye's economic and political history brought us to this moment.

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Apartments in Serbia are selling fast. But the average income in Serbia is about 640 euros and the average price of an apartment is 2000 euros, so who is buying the apartments?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a domino effect around the world in a multitude of areas. Serbia, one of the few countries openly accepting Russians is facing an unprecedented housing crisis linked to the influx of people since the conflict first broke out. As more Russians buy property, the cost of living in Serbia has skyrocketed, and supply is growing short. Anger and resentment about landlords and about Russians has led the social situation to worsen as tensions grow.

Fredrik & Leilani meet with Jovana Timotijevic & Marko Aksentijević of Serbia's Ministry of Space to discuss how the country's history of communism and the current influx of wealthy Russians & Ukrainians fleeing the war is taking things from bad to worse.

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Despite a high per capita GDP, the UK has the worst economy in western Europe. With tons of austerity measures being implemented, finance as one of its major industries, prime ministers in and out non-stop, and accusations of racism in housing coming to the fore yet again, the behemoth nation is staring down a difficult road in realizing the right to housing. How does one rights-based politician face such a mountain of issues?

Fredrik & Leilani speak with Tom Copley, London's Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development about the tools available to local government to fight for affordable housing, Blackstone declaring the UK the best investment destination of 2023, and giving people the language to fight for their rights.

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The neoliberal prioritization of profit in the development of cities is drastically impacting the appearance and function of cities worldwide. Social and government housing providers are told to follow the lead of private housing providers, taking away the government's ability to innovate and push the envelope in the housing space. At the same time, in some countries, private developers rely on commercial and retail space in apartment buildings being rented out to stable, high-earning tenants like banks and corporations, limiting cities' potential for growth and space optimization.

For decades, more than 50% of architects worked for the public sector, but today that's down to just 0.2%. Where did all the architects go? How can we balance the urgent need for more housing with the need for more intentionally designed, community-oriented spaces? How can architects help us create the future we want to see?

Fredrik & Leilani sit down with architect, strategic and philosophical designer at Dark Matter Labs, and author of REopening of a city, Jenny Grettve, and Finn Williams, city architect of Malmö and co-founder of Public Practice to discuss the role of architects in designing cities that improve our quality of life.

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All across the world we’re witnessing a crisis of democracy and a sense of increased polarization. How can we engage in conversations that call others in rather than out? How can we seek to win over those who currently refuse to agree with us? And how do we create visions for the future that make our movements irresistible?

Leilani and Fredrik talk to American journalist and writer Anand Giridharadas about the art of persuasion and the need to engage in conversations that pull people in rather than push them sideways. In this episode we ask, how do we start talking to others at their level of humanity? How do we bring emotional intelligence into our pro-democracy movements?

In his book The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy, Anand Giridharadas advocates for a politics of love that is both strategic and irresistible, and tells the stories of those who are continuously changing people’s hearts and minds in favor of democracy and justice.

Anand argues that our movements become stronger when we not only resist the darkness but actively describe the light. “We can't be demoralized”, he says. “We have to stand up and insist on the kind of world we want and then invitingly pull people into those visions, so that they become shared visions and shared dreams.”

Anand Giridharadas' website: http://www.anand.ly/

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Did you know that approximately 22 million Americans live in mobile homes? 

Mobile homes have long been one of the most affordable types of dwelling but, because the homes are usually situated on rented land, mobile homeowners suffer from a unique type of housing precarity. Mobile homeowners are often low-income, with less access to infrastructure because trailer parks are situated outside of urban areas. 

Cue the vultures: While private equity and other real estate investors have long been in the mobile home market, there has been a dramatic uptick in the use of predatory practices designed to extract profit.  As more financial actors move into this space, these already-at-risk people are being priced out of one of the few types of affordable housing left in the country.

Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Paul Bradley, President of Residence Owned Communities to discuss the ways mobile homeownership has changed in the last few decades and why, and how his organization has helped over 17,000 owners of manufactured homes in 17 states come together to buy their parks and escape the vultures.

• More information about the film A Decent Home can be found here.
• Learn more about Residence Owned Communities here.
• Listeners who are interested can join the I’M HOME (Innovations in Manufactured Homes) Network at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy.  It’s a network of U.S. organizations and people interested in innovating in the mobile home sector.  Info and sign-up are here.

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For years, the Athens neighborhood of Exarcheia Square has been under attack by right-wing politicians. The area, along with nearby Strefi Hill, is a long-standing bastion of political resistance full of cafés, squats, and social centers, and the last remaining free public space in the neighborhood.

Now, the City has begun construction on a metro station without the proper permissions and against the will of the residents – who have taken to the streets in protest. As the people fight to preserve this cultural landmark and the way of life it represents, Fredrik and Leilani sit down with Eva Betavatzi (European Action Coalition), Nikolaos (No Metro in Exarcheia Assembly), and Christina (Defense of Strefi Hill Assembly) to discuss how gentrification is used as a political tool, and the power of a community that pushes back.

Sign the petition to save Exarchia Square

You can learn more about our guests and support their cause using the links below:

• European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City : Twitter, Facebook 
• Open assembly for the Defense of Strefi Hill : Twitter, Blog (in Greek)
• Open assembly "No Metro in Exarcheia Square" : Twitter, Facebook (in Greek)

Learn more about the Strefi Hill area of Athens (in English): 

• Athens, Greece: Interview on the battle for Strefi Hill - Corporate Watch

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