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Grass Roots Urbanism: An Overview of the Squatters Movement in West Berlin during the 1970S and 1980S

Kramer, Joshua L
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522764873720766

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, German.
In “Grass Roots Urbanism,” I attempt to examine the phenomenon of squatting during the era between the 1970s and 1980s in West Berlin and how this simple, illegal act transformed into an entire movement. I begin with the student movement in West Berlin and the politics and ideals behind that movement, from overcrowding at the Free University to large, student-led protests against various issues, and how that movement inspired the squatters to organize themselves. I divide the squatters movement into two separate waves: I begin the dialogue pertaining to squatting by discussing the first wave, which was rather short and only lasted a few years at the beginning of the 1970s, and how that wave served as the foundation for the second wave, which was more prominent in the West Berlin political and alternative scene and ultimately had more of an impact on the West Berlin public and government. I discuss the political and social effects of the movement as a whole and how the squatters built an alternative lifestyle and culture for themselves during a time of housing shortages and an economic crisis. In my last chapter, I discuss the direct implications of the movement and how it ultimately had an effect on the urban landscape, both physically and politically, and how the movement itself is important in the overall context of German studies. I also bring the movement into a modern context by briefly discussing squatting in Berlin today and how those squats are organized and what they are trying to accomplish.
Edgar Landgraf (Advisor)
Christina Guenther (Committee Member)
79 p.
European Studies; History
West Berlin; squatting; social movements; West Germany; FRG; Federal Republic of Germany; protest; protesting; squatters

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kramer, J. L. (2018). Grass Roots Urbanism: An Overview of the Squatters Movement in West Berlin during the 1970S and 1980S [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522764873720766

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kramer, Joshua. Grass Roots Urbanism: An Overview of the Squatters Movement in West Berlin during the 1970S and 1980S. 2018. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522764873720766.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kramer, Joshua. "Grass Roots Urbanism: An Overview of the Squatters Movement in West Berlin during the 1970S and 1980S." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522764873720766

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.