Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cycles of the Copenhagen Squatter Movement: From Slumstormer to BZ Brigades and the Autonomous Movement

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements

Part of the book series: The Contemporary City ((TCONTCI))

Abstract

Copenhagen has a vibrant history of squats and spaces for alternative forms of living. This is most visible with the continued existence of Freetown Christiania. The Copenhagen squatters’ movement is examined in five consecutive cycles. This analysis is based on a database of incidences of public squatting within the City of Copenhagen and Fredriksberg from 1963 to 2014. Steiger interprets the cycles of squatting in light of their different locations, their connections with autonomous movements and autonomous social centers, and, in particular, the mobilizations following the eviction of the Youth House in 2007.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The free town’s Mission Statement as formulated by Sven, Kim, Ole and Jacob with the right to improvements on November 13, 1971.

  2. 2.

    http://www.tvstop.dk/om-tv-stop/tidslinje/

  3. 3.

    DIY: Do It Yourself. DIT: Do It Together.

  4. 4.

    Loose network of radical-left autonomists in Denmark and Germany.

  5. 5.

    E.g., Café Under Konstruktion (1.Floor of Folkets Hus, Stengade 50), Demos (Radical Book Shop and Printing Press, Elmegade 27, 2200 CPH-N), Poesiens Hus (Gothersgade 89, KBH-K), Retshjælpen Rusk (Baggesensgade 6, 2200 CPH-N, offering legal assistance).

References

  • Anders, L. H. (2010). Forty years of system change: Lessons from the free city of Christiania. In L. A. Sandberg & T. Sandberg (Eds.), Climate change—Who’s carrying the burden (pp. 217–230). Ottawa: DLR International Printing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, H. T. (2008). The emerging Danish government reform—Centralised decentralised. Urban Research & Practice, 1, 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, J., & Hovgaard, G. (2003). Welfare and urban planning in transition—A Copenhagen case study (Research paper no. 8/03). Roskilde University. Retrieved from http://rudar.ruc.dk/bitstream/1800/1230/1/Welfare_and_urban.pdf

  • Birke, P., & Holmsted-Larsen, C. (Eds.). (2007). Besetze Deine Stadt!—BZ din By!: Häuserkämpfe und Stadtentwicklung in Kopenhagen. Berlin: Assoz. A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bisgaard, H. (2012). Fra konfrontation til Samarbejde. In S. Andersen & M. Toft-Jensen (Eds.), Byen bliver til – en urban håndbog. Copenhagen: Forlaget PB43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blankholm, L. (2011). Æh Bæh Bu—Børnehus Nu!. Modkraft. Retrieved from http://modkraft.dk/node/16141

  • Brauner, J., & Skjærbæk-Jensen, S. (2012). En, To, Tre Bolsjefabrikker. In S. Andersen & M. Toft-Jensen (Eds.), Byen bliver til – en urban håndbog (pp. 10–16). Copenhagen: Forlaget PB43.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Autonome. (1995). En bog om og af den autonome bevægelse (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Autonomt Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dyck-Madsen, S. (2004). Kampen om Byggeren på, Nørrebro 1980. Retrieved from http://www.folketshus.dk/byggerbogen/Byggerbogen-webudgave.PDF

  • Eriksen, L., & Topping, A. (2011). Christiania, one of Europe’s most famous communes, faces last stand. The Guardian World sec. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/28/Christiania-copenhagen-squat-last-stand

  • Freston, T. (2013). You are now leaving the European Union. Vanity Fair. Retrieved from http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2013/09/christiana-forty-years-copenhagen

  • Haagerup, J., & Danielsien, M. (2015). “Bumzen” er hovedmistænkt for Nørrebroballade. Berlingske. Retrieved from http://www.b.dk/nationalt/bumzen-er-hovedmistaenkt-for-noerrebroballade

  • Hansen, H. (Director). (2006). BZ [Documentary Motion Picture]. Denmark: Det Danske Filminstitut. Retrieved from http://filmcentralen.dk/grundskolen/film/bz

  • Holmbäck, M., Feiring, B., & Volden, M. (1982). Ungdomshus Nu! Copenhagen: Tiderne Skifter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, C. (1982). BZ Europa: Ungdomsbeveagelse i 80’erne. Copenhagen: Tiderne Skifter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Justitsministeriet. (1987). BZ-sikring Af Bygninger. (Justitsministeriet BE1ÆNKNING nr. 1147) Copenhagen: Stougaard Jensen. Retrieved from http://www.statensnet.dk/betaenkninger/1001-1200/1147-1988/1147-1988_pdf/searchable_1147-1988.pdf

  • Karpantschof, R. (2009). Kampen Om Ungdomshuset: Studier I Et Oprør. 1. Udgave, 1. Oplag ed. Copenhagen: Frydenlund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karpantschof, R. (2011). Bargaining and barricades – The political struggle over the Freetown Christiania 1971–2011. In H. Thörn, C. Wasshede, & T. Nilson (Eds.), Space for urban alternatives?: Christiania 1971–2011 (pp. 38–67). Vilnius: Gidlunds Förlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karpantschof, R. (2015). Violence that matters! Radicalization and de-radicalization of leftist, urban movements in Denmark 1981–2011. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression., 7(1), 35–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karpantschof, R., & Mikkelsen, F. (2001). Youth as a political movement: Development of the squatters and autonomous movement in Copenhagen, 1981–95. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 25(3), 593–628.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karpantschof, R., & Mikkelsen, F. (2002). Fra slumstormerne til de autonome. Husbesættelse, ungdom og social protest i Danmark 1965–2001. In F. Mikkelsen (Ed.), Bevægelser i demokrati: Foreninger og kollektive aktioner i Danmark. Århus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karpantschof, R., & Mikkelsen, F. (2014). Youth, space and autonomy in Copenhagen: The squatters’ and autonomous movement, 1963–2012. In B. Van der Steen, A. Katzeff, & L. Van Hoogenhuijze (Eds.), The city is ours: Squatting and autonomous movements in Europe from the 1970s to the present (pp. 179–206). Oakland: PM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katsiaficas, G. N. (2006). The subversion of politics: European autonomous social movements and the decolonization of everyday life. Oakland: AK Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katzeff, A. (2014). Tag Byen Tilbage: Autonome Zoner i den Neoliberale By. Doctoral dissertation, Københavns Universitet, Copenhagen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kering, M. (Ed.). (1995). De Autonome – en bog om og af den autonome bevaegelse. Copenhagen: Autonomt Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauritsen, P. W. (2002). A short guide to Christiania. Aschhoug: Danske Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manjikian, M. (2013). Securitization of property squatting in Europe. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez, M. A. (2014). How do squatters deal with the state? Legalization and anomalous institutionalization in Madrid. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 38(2), 646–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mølgaard-Mariager, R., & Schmidt, R. (Eds). (2009). PET-Kommissionens Beretning PET’s Overvågning Af Protestbevægelser 1945–1989: Fra Atomkampagnen Til BZ-Brigaden. [1. Oplag] ed. Copenhagen: Justitsministeriet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plovsing, J. (1975). Sanering på Nørrebro = slum clearance in the Nørrebro District of Copenhagen. Copenhagen: Socialforskningsinstituttet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pruijt, H. (2013). The logic of urban squatting. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(1), 19–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rytter, M. (2013). Family upheaval: Generation, mobility and relatedness among Pakistani migrants in Denmark. New York: Berghan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sæhl, M. (2013, November 1). Den dag politiet fik en lang næse. Politiken. Retrieved from http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE1864411/den-dag-politiet-fik-en-lang-naese/

  • Statistics Denmark. (2015). Statistikbanken. Statistikbanken Folk1. Retrieved from https://www.statistikbanken.dk/statbank5a/default.asp?w=1440

  • Steen, B. V. D., Katzeff, A., & Hoogenhuijze, L. V. (Eds.). (2014). The city is ours. Squatting and autonomous movements in Europe from the 1970s to the present. Oakland: PM.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thörn, H., et al. (Eds.). (2011). Space for urban alternatives?: Christiania 1971–2011. Vilnius: Gidlunds Förlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vall, N. (2012). Doing their own thing. Squatting movements in Copenhagen and Stockholm during the 1970s. Moving. The Social Journal of Social History and the History of Social Movements, 48, 89–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Zee, B., & McKie, R. (2009). Hundreds arrested at Copenhagen Protest Rally. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/dec/12/hundreds-arrested-copenhagen-protest-rally

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 4CITIES Urban Studies, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Tina Steiger

Authors
  1. Tina Steiger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Miguel A. Martínez López

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Steiger, T. (2018). Cycles of the Copenhagen Squatter Movement: From Slumstormer to BZ Brigades and the Autonomous Movement. In: Martínez López, M. (eds) The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95314-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95314-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95313-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95314-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation