Urban Social Movement Strategies in Times of Crisis: Evidence from the Movements for Housing in São Paulo

Urban Social Movement Strategies and the Impact of Crises

In urban areas throughout the world social movements have regularly taken to the streets and government offices to demand attention to the lack of secure, affordable housing for large swaths of the population. Movements also act in numerous ways to influence government officials behind the scenes, in addition to taking part in participatory institutions, engaging in electoral politics, and devising autonomous solutions to urban problems. What we don't know is how the most recent experiences of those living in cities – shifts in the means of everyday interaction, economic loss, and the global realization of the tremendous need for structural change – have impacted the ways in which social movements conduct advocacy and engage with members.

To date, most literature on the changing strategies of social movements has focused on shifts resulting from changes in political leadership and institutions (Tarrow 1994; McAdam et al. 2003). Most well-known, perhaps, is Sidney Tarrow’s (1994) work on political opportunities, in which he argues that shifts in the political context lead movements to examine the likelihood of success of changing their repertoires of collective action. From this research we might extrapolate lessons for shifts during a global crisis, but as Abers, Rossi and von Bülow (2021) argue regarding the current pandemic, not only do we need to consider the traditional political opportunities and threats, but we must also examine how movements navigate conflicts around the pandemic based on their own belief systems. In this vein, Blyth (2002) posits that in times of great uncertainty, ideas act as “blueprints” to ground the work of activists, confirming how they approach new challenges as they arise and proposing solutions that fit within their preexisting ideological positioning. Rossi (2017) also finds that the long history of collective action is largely determinative of the path taken by social movements, even in uncertain times.

Scholars of institutional change and the policy process have also dealt with questions of what happens in moments of crisis. For example, Baumgartner and Jones argue that “punctuated equilibriums” are events that disrupt the status quo and can lead to new ideas and policy solutions due to increased attention (1993; 2005). Public officials may be more likely to listen to the proposals of social movements, which challenge the status quo, market-led tradition. Collier and Collier (1991) also assess the role of “critical junctures” in which countries undergo fundamental transformation in political institutions with lingering effects for the long-term. Further, Haggard and Kaufman (1992) examine the role of exogenous economic shocks that force policy change. In Brazil, economic shocks over the last decade had already led to shifts in the political fortunes of the left and right, which subsequently reinforced the trend towards market-oriented development.

Ira Katznelson (2003), writing on “unsettled times,” further identifies the role that agency may play in defining change. He writes that during unsettled times “constraints on agency are broken or relaxed and opportunities expand so that purposive action may be especially consequential” (pg. 283). This last point relates directly to the shifting influence that social movements may take advantage of to push forward their agendas. During the pandemic we may expect that movements used the “unsettled” feelings of citizens and government officials to pursue new arguments and avenues for progressive change.

Both the approach to shifts in political opportunities and Blyth's argument on the role of ideas in times of crisis relate to the framework I established in Democratizing Urban Development: Community Organizations for Housing across the United States and Brazil (Donaghy 2018) on the role of social movements’ relationship with the state and ideology as critical factors in determining movement strategies. But I had not considered how crisis might lead to “unsettled times” and how unexpected events might trigger “critical junctures” or “punctuated equilibriums” that would change the political, economic, and societal environment, necessitating a sudden response in strategies from social movements.

In the framework I define strategies as not simply tactics or repertoires of actions, but rather the plans for action organizations make that involve goals, targets, and tactics. I argue that strategies can be categorized by the means by which groups seek to be empowered, either through inclusion in formal governance (inclusionary), persuasion of officials (indirect), overhaul of institutions and elected leaders, or exit from reliance on state resources (Donaghy 2018: 57–59). Movements vary by the strength of their relationships with the state and their radical to conservative ideological preferences, which I argue ultimately motivate their choice of strategies, similar to how Marcuse views movements’ interpretations of the right to the city discussed above. Based on the institutionalist arguments, it may be that crises upset the status quo in a way that leads to shifts for social movements, though the ultimate direction of that shift remains an empirical question for exploration.

Strategies in São Paulo's Housing Movement

The housing movement in São Paulo serves as a preliminary site for assessing the role of crises in social movement strategies. When writing about their activities from 2012–2016, I found that the UMM-SP exhibited strongly inclusionary strategies, in which they regularly sought to insert their voices within the institutions of government, enabled by a left-leaning administration and motivated by an ideology based around the right to housing and the right to the city. The right to housing is enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 and forms the basis for the claims to state resources to meet basic housing needs. I characterized the UMM-SP as having a strong relationship with the state and a mostly radical ideology, anchored around transforming institutions and societal relations while providing the basic necessity of housing. By 2020–2021, the mayoral administration in the city had shifted to the right, under the leadership of PSDB Mayor Bruno Covas (2018–2021) and João Doria before him (2017–2018). ¹ Though I was not following their activities as closely from 2017–2020, I know that the frustration with the slow pace of project implementation and a move towards public-private partnerships, led to a conflictual environment of constant protests and negotiating to persuade the municipal administration to move forward, particularly in implementing projects built under the Minha Casa Minha Vida – Entidades program for construction in “autogestão” (self-management) for which the UMM-SP has long-advocated. The movements’ strategies shifted toward a greater mix of inclusionary and indirect strategies as they did not have as much direct alliances with the administration in power.

Given the abrupt crisis brought about by the pandemic in March 2020, the growing public focus on inequality, and the need to stay home, there could have been an opening in political opportunities for the UMM-SP. Though still not allies in the traditional sense, the city government had more reasons to rely on the connections of the movements to provide emergency assistance and to promote secure housing as a public health measure. At the same time, the growing recognition of the need for structural changes to promote greater equality in the city has only re-ignited the ideological commitment of the UMM-SP to deepening citizen engagement and public control within government. This is to say that the current crisis and the current moment in urban politics could push the UMM-SP and other organizations fighting for social justice to engage in more inclusionary strategies for lasting change. Both the political opportunities brought about by a need to reflect on local and national dynamics combined with the movements’ ideational interpretation of the crisis and long-term strategies would suggest a need to “lean in” to inclusionary strategies, particularly at the local level of governance.

In Brazil, Abers, Rossi and von Bülow (2021) argue that the ideational role has been particularly critical within the environment of denialism flowing from President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration. In fact, they find that many social movements in Brazil have been limited in their impact in reconceptualizing long-term social policies because they have had to spend time and energy combating denialism rather than entering into more productive debates and advocacy. At the same time, movements in Brazil and elsewhere have viewed the consequences of the pandemic as largely a product of the existing inequalities along race, gender, class, and spatial lines, which are only exacerbated by unequal access to quality health care, education, and housing. Movements in Brazil have continuously pressed to link these broader structural issues to the government's response to COVID-19, though the fractionalization within the political system frustrates real reform at the federal level, in particular.

Evidence from the Housing Movement in São Paulo

The focus on strategies rather than tactics alone allows for a broader view of social movement activity and the ways in which groups seek to be empowered. By tracing the work of the UMM-SP over the course of the pandemic, which as of this writing poses a large but waning public health challenge for the entire country, several new sources of influence emerge. Though repertoires changed to some extent during this period, I do find the movements have generally maintained their commitment to inclusionary strategies in the midst of political roadblocks to progress. The following describes the activities of the movements that demonstrate the breadth of their strategies to promote access to dignified housing and the rights of citizenship for all.

Ensuring the Health and Well-Being of Members

First, as a direct response to the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic, the UMM-SP worked in solidarity with other groups and alone to protect their members from hunger and loss of income. In conjunction with the Cidade Solidária program, an initiative of a network of civil society organizations and the municipal government, the UMM-SP has distributed well over 50,000 basic food baskets to residents across the city and continues to do so. The program seeks to attend to the most vulnerable families in the periphery and most marginalized neighborhoods of the city, and the role of the movements is to coordinate lists of members in need of food and then to deliver the food baskets in the communities they serve. The UMM-SP also has had a campaign to solicit donations under the slogan “without home and with hunger” (sem casa e com fome), through which they distributed items including food, hygiene products, and masks. In April 2021, they also gave out Easter eggs donated by a chocolate company to children in their member communities across the city. All of these actions represented a pivot towards caring for the immediate needs of members struggling through the economic loss and grief of the pandemic. In fact, through the WhatsApp chat and other social media, the role of the movements in providing emotional support to each other is also quite evident. Though these activities increased during the pandemic, they were not unprecedented, however, and the long-term role of caretaking will likely continue in smaller ways.

In addition, the movements have participated in numerous advocacy campaigns and efforts to “fight to make sure the state fulfills their role” (UMM-SP 2020). They have been a part of networks to advocate for the creation and then extension of the Emergency Benefit (Auxilio Emergencial), which provides monthly stipends from the federal government to low-income families, and are involved in helping communities to access these funds. They took part in the Popular Movements against Covid-19, which sought to combat the crisis in order to move forward with total reform in politics, economics, and society, the National Forum for Urban Reform, which sought to combat Covid-19 in the context of the right to the city, and the Habitat International Coalition to discuss the effects of and solutions to the crisis across Latin America.

Moreover, because of the culture of denialism propagated by the Bolsonaro administration, the UMM-SP and many others engaged in information campaigns to combat fake news through social media and provide scientific-based evidence regarding disease spread and now the efficacy of vaccines. In May 2021, the UMM-SP joined with over 400 other entities in a letter to the national legislature calling for the impeachment of President Bolsonaro, accusing him of working against the interest of public health and committing genocidal acts against Brazil's citizens. Over the course of the year, they also participated in a number of car and street protests calling for the impeachment of Bolsonaro.

The movements sought empowerment through ensuring the well-being of their members, which also involved confrontation of the administration responsible for neglecting their needs. At times their actions also represented an exit strategy in which they sought to fill the role of the state in the face of the denialism of President Bolsonaro. However, they also refused to let the state off the hook in fulfilling their responsibilities, even as in the short-term their strategies had to pivot towards serving members directly. It was clear that direct assistance to families in need must be part of the response to the Covid-19 crisis, but the movements still looked to their long-term goals. In June 2020, the movement newsletter stated, “The road to well-being is the activation of rights only achieved through the fight. For this, we invite you to be even more united with us: with solidarity and collective action we will make this country democratic and popular” (UMM-SP 2020).

Electoral Strategies: Supporting Candidates and Running for Office

Elections in November 2020 brought opportunities to shift the political environment back in favor of the left. While the UMM-SP supported PT mayoral candidate Jilmar Tatto in the first round, after he lost they strongly supported PSOL (Socialist Party) candidate Guilherme Boulos in the second turn against Mayor Bruno Covas. For both candidates the UMM-SP brought out members to rallies and outdoor community meetings.

In addition, long-time leader in the UMM-SP, Evaniza Rodrigues, ran as part of a “collective mandate” ticket for city council. The collective mandate is a relatively new phenomenon in Brazil in which multiple individuals run on one ticket with one individual as the titular representative who will actually take office supported by the rest of the ticket. In this case, Ms. Rodrigues ran as the housing expert on the “right to the city” ticket with former city council member Nabil Bonduki as the titular representative and several other individuals representing various aspects of urban policy, including transportation and the environment. Though individual members of the UMM-SP have run for electoral office over the decades of their existence, this entry from top leadership into a new kind of electoral politics, representing housing policy and the right to the city directly, marked a shift in the strategy of the movements to seek empowerment from within the city council. In this regard, their efforts could be regarded as an inclusionary strategy within my typology, in that they were seeking to change the dynamics of representation within the system through a new means of governance in the collective mandate. Further, though he didn't win the election for mayor, supporting PSOL candidate Guilherme Boulos was also a departure from the movements’ commitment to the PT, though his running mate, Luiza Erundina, was a popular former PT mayor. In sum, then, the electoral strategy of the movements in Fall 2020 reflected the desire for a shift to the left in the administration and a move towards shared governance. In the long-term, however, it still remains to be seen how this election year's strategies might shape future decisions in terms of running and supporting candidates. What remains, however, is a deep commitment to electing leaders from the left in order to further the housing rights agenda.

Continued Advocacy and Negotiation for Housing Programs

As 2020 was an election year, even in normal times implementation and approval of housing programs would be limited. But at the end of 2019 Mayor Covas approved a new program called Pode Entrar (You Can Enter) for housing projects constructed in autogestão, in which housing associations manage construction alongside future residents and the municipal government provides financial and technical support. The program, however, was suspended by the city government, even after a solicitation for proposals had gone out, with the explanation that no new housing projects are allowed by law in an election year. In the early part of 2021, therefore, much of the energy of the UMM-SP went towards re-negotiating and pushing the government to re-start Pode Entrar. They did this through a mix of public debates, private meetings, street protests, and working within the participatory Municipal Council for Housing (Conselho Municipal de Habitação – CMH). The housing secretariat said that a working group of the CMH must draft a new protocol that will then go through the city council for approval, and council members representing the UMM-SP pushed to make progress in this regard. In essence, the struggle for implementation of Pode Entrar demonstrates the traditional strategies of the UMM-SP to work from within institutions of government, while also taking to the streets, informing people about what is going on, and keeping the pressure on bureaucrats to keep the process moving.

The commitment to getting Pode Entrar off the ground coincides with the movements’ ideological allegiance to the practice of autogestão. In 2020 they celebrated the 30^th anniversary of the first community they supported for construction in mutirão, which is defined by mutual assistance in which building is largely carried out by residents’ themselves. Celebrations happened through the release of a film documentary, Zoom meetings, Facebook Lives, and small in-person events. They also held a 7-part course through Facebook Live, led by Evaniza Rodrigues, on the history, experiences, and technical implementation of auto-gestão projects in São Paulo. Further, in April 2021 the movements presented a new bill to federal deputies that would enshrine the principles of cooperativism into law. As the pandemic wanes and federal elections are set for October 2022, the movement seeks to continue pressing for this law, hoping for a shift to the left at the national level.

Throughout the year, the UMM-SP also demonstrated their enduring commitment to participatory processes, including the Municipal Council for Housing and public meetings to establish a written plan for goals (Plano de Metas) of the city government for 2021–2024. In addition, they unified (virtually) with around 400 organizations for civil society in a group called “Frente São Paulo pela Vida” to stop the government from putting forward a revised Plano Diretor, or strategic plan, without public participation during the pandemic. As leaders said in Zoom calls, the Plan must be specific to each neighborhood to be worthwhile and participation of the population is fundamental in establishing plans. In this regard they did not regard the digital format during the Covid-19 crisis as sufficient as it could exclude the most marginalized members of the community from raising their voices.

Through these activities the movements continued to push forward with inclusionary strategies, in which they sought empowerment from within the formal system of governance. The practice of autogestão allows for autonomy of housing associations to manage projects themselves, and the UMM-SP has been pushing for years for resources from the multiple levels of government to enable new self-built construction projects. Again, the movements will not give up on holding the state accountable in supporting housing projects, but they believe that community-control of these resources better addresses the needs of low-income citizens. While this fight is usually also directed at the federal level, the pandemic and the Bolsonaro administration's refusal to prioritize vaccines and other public safety measures, along with the de-funding of Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV) program, has led the movements to primarily focus on the municipal level for support in this particular moment.

Working Through the Legal System

Through the years, leaders in the UMM-SP have also been instrumental in working through the legal system to fight against evictions and removals, seeking to enforce the legal protections established in the Constitution and the City Charter (Estatuto da Cidade), in addition to other federal, state, and municipal laws. Like cities and towns around the world, during the pandemic an increasing number of residents have been unable to pay rents and mortgages ² , and the UMM-SP was instrumental in working to secure an eviction moratorium. Attorney Benedito Barbosa, of the UMM-SP, the Campaign for Popular Movements, and the Gaspar Garcia Center for Human Rights, joined with civil society groups from around the country and the world for the Zero Evictions Campaign. Through Zoom calls and Facebook Lives the group has brought attention to the issues of evictions and allied PT legislators put forward bills to enact an eviction moratorium at both the municipal and federal levels. In May/June 2021, the federal legislature passed a law to suspend evictions during the pandemic due to the efforts of the campaign. In sum, the movements worked through networks and their allies in government office to protect residents during the crisis, and the strategy of using the legal system as a means of empowerment endured through this time of uncertainty.

Throughout this year, communication once seen as exclusionary through the Internet now in some ways seems more inclusive as people join online events without traveling long distances. While it remains to be seen how online events and meetings will continue into the future, the actions of the UMM-SP demonstrated how technology can be put to use to continue and expand strategies that promote empowerment from within and outside of the halls of government power.

Findings and Conclusions

In this research note I asked whether and how a crisis may shift the strategies of social movements, particularly in relation to the current pandemic, which has seemingly invigorated demands for redressing local and global inequalities and structural transformation. Through the experience of the UMM-SP I find that their strategies responded to the necessities of the health crisis, but in ways that reflects the core ideological commitment of the movement, their ever-evolving relationship with different administrations, and arising political opportunities. The two variables that influence social movement strategies according to my original typology are the ideology of the movement and its relationship with the state. I find that the ideology of the UMM-SP held constant or possibly strengthened in resolve towards the right to the city as transformational change during this period of crisis. The fight for the right to the city and the right to housing has guided their strategies as a “blueprint” even in trying and uncertain times.

The UMM-SP sought empowerment through assisting their members and each other, building coalitions that cross geographic and issue boundaries, running for office, continuing engagement in participatory institutions, and advocating for new laws. The movements’ conflictual relationship with the state over the past few years and the pandemic has expanded their use of various tactics. Here the institutional literature on change provides valuable explanation. Since the economic and political crises that began around 2014–15, Brazil has been experiencing a prolonged period of “unsettled times”. The Covid-19 crisis occurred at a pivotal moment of political fractionalization with conservative Jair Bolsonaro as president, and his administration's response has perhaps done more to solidify these cleavages by separating those who believe in Covid-19 as a serious health threat and those who deny the danger. Though the crisis provided some political opportunities for focusing the policy agenda on inequality, race, and access to quality housing and health care, the fractured political environment made working with the federal government towards reform largely impossible, except through a few allied legislators. The state-movement relations at the federal level are deeply strained, made worse by the denialism of the Bolsonaro administration.

At the municipal level, elections provided a window of opportunity for overhaul of political leadership and perhaps even a means of governing through the collective mandate. Though neither proved a viable pathway for change in 2020, continued conflict and stagnation in housing policies and programs may induce further bids for elected office. The UMM-SP found its voice as a contrast to the Bolsonaro administration and new ways to connect to their members during the crisis. As Katznelson predicted, unsettled times did enable space for the housing movement to expand its tactics and goals to combat the initiatives and narratives coming from the federal government at least by pressing for electoral and policy change at the local level.

Studies in other Brazilian cities show similar shifts of tactics as in São Paulo. In Rio de Janeiro, the network of movements working in the favelas – the Conselho Popular – also pivoted to provide basic staples, advocate around water and sewage, and host virtual teach-ins on strategies during Covid. Friendly (2020) describes the importance of insurgent planning in Rio de Janeiro's favelas in the context of an absent government response. An explosion of emergency solidarity initiatives, documented by Abers and colleagues at the University of Brasilía, required detailed knowledge of communities in order to reach the most vulnerable and social movements and local organizations were much better-positioned than most government agencies to contribute. Many of these solidarity initiatives were also then prepared to participate in other political campaigns, such as those against evictions, police violence, and lack of protections for health workers. In other cities it may be that the COVID-19 crisis occurred during a moment of greater stability than in Brazil and allowed for greater political opening at the federal level. But, in a review of collective action during the pandemic in informal settlements across Latin America, Franco et al. (2020) document a similar focus on immediate food security, Covid-19 prevention, sanitation, and income support.

In São Paulo, and perhaps in other cities including in the United States, COVID-19 denialism deepened the distrust in government and democracy to do what is right for the people. This added layer of dissatisfaction with government in combination with the UMM-SP's ideological commitment to the right to housing and citizen engagement in the process further entrenched their focus on de-centering the state through housing projects built in autogestão. The crisis and the concomitant distancing from the federal level, therefore, has served to reinvigorate calls for citizen control and community-led housing development. In this way the movement has not sacrificed ideology for practicality and we may view their strategies as aligning with Marcuse's interpretation of Lebrevre's ultimate goal for the right to the city as transformational change.

In this new, more virtual and uncertain environment, social movements including the UMM-SP have kept not only the conversation going around structural inequality and the obligations of the state, but have provided physical and emotional support to members while keeping up the pressure on the state to provide needed resources to low-income citizens, now and into the future. From this study of the housing movement in São Paulo, we can see that our previous theories on how social movements strategize, particularly in terms of political opportunities and ideology, provide the backbone for understanding how movements also react in times of crisis.

“Crisis,” therefore, may not be an independent variable for analysis on its own but may be an intervening variable that intensifies the focus of social movements on their original goals and strategies rather than generating new means of empowerment and direction. Further research is needed, however, to offer greater evidence as to how crises may impact movements that have more conservative preferences in terms of redistribution over transformation. Whether movements of all stripes become more radicalized by crisis is yet to be shown. In addition, the role of denialism should be studied further as a variable to determining strategies for the COVID-19 crisis, in particular. While this research note demonstrates the importance of rethinking our previous models to reflect the strain of abrupt change and how a movement’s ideology may be put to the test under unusual circumstances, additional analysis of the influence of the pandemic in diverse contexts will provide better understanding of social movement strategies as future crises erupt.