Join us in conversation with Amanda Huron, Assistant Professor at the University of the District of Columbia, about her new book, Carving Out the Commons: Tenant Organizing and Housing Cooperatives in Washington, D.C.

In Carving Out the Commons, Dr. Huron theorizes what she calls “the urban commons” through investigating the experiences of tenants and co-op members as they struggle to create and hold onto their affordable cooperative housing in the midst of aggressive gentrification in Washington, D.C. Because of strong tenants’ rights laws, which were created by a city government dominated by civil rights activists, a commons of affordable, collectively-controlled limited-equity cooperative housing was able to emerge in Washington in the 1970 and '80s. The long-term maintenance of this commons has proven to be a substantial amount of work -- often performed largely by low-income women of color. But this commons has been able to survive and even thrive in the midst of the red-hot housing market of Washington, D.C.

The urban commons -- made up of diverse strangers, working in the context of super-saturated capitalist real estate markets -- should not be romanticized. This commoning is a messy and imperfect process. But the experiences of limited-equity co-op members in Washington, D.C. teach us that it is possible to practice commoning in the here and now, as part of the work of building freer, more just cities and worlds.

At this roundtable/seminar, Dr. Huron will present findings and concepts from this work with the aim of striking up a broader conversation about its potential applicability in context of urban struggles and transformations ongoing in Seattle, and beyond. 

For further details, please contact Christian Anderson at cmander@uw.edu