The squat is basically a constrained form of “self-organisation” of the homeless.
Hidden behind a poorly informed reality and representations more obstinate than justified, squats do also reveal how the limitations on the resources in place condition the enclosure of individuals, and even of social groups, in a survival mode which is both painful for them and the community. In fact, the justice system, the social sector and the executive all contribute (lacking adequate working tools and coherent guidance principles) to prolong individual case situations, which are shuffled around but not solved – while also depriving those mainly concerned of their individual initiative possibilities. For people to be able to take part in improving their situations, involves some transformation of their institutional environment – and more than the technical reforms, an extension of those logics guiding the work of the various actors concerned.