The work carried out from the beginning to the end of the project falls into three categories, leading to diverse results:
1) Ethnographic work
During the project, the researcher has conducted ethnographic fieldwork with housing groups in three cities (Montreal, Barcelona, and Lyon). She conducted 90 interviews with housing activists, residents, and public officials. She has also produced press and social network data sets, which were deposited in an open-access repository.
2) Analytical work
Fieldwork data has been analysed in several steps and through various activities. Discussions with the scientific supervisors of this Action (Julie-Anne Boudreau and Jean-Yves Authier), as well as with other colleagues who have progressively become monitors of the action. The analytical work has also benefited from the organisation of several events at which the project’s results were presented and discussed.
Three analytical results stand out. The first one concerns the variation of contentious repertoires among protest sites. The manner in which housing activists oppose displacement and housing oppression in working-class gentrifying neighbourhoods differs between cities, particularly with regard to direct and disruptive action. This is prevalent in Barcelona and Lyon, but marginal in Montreal. The second analytical result concerns the variation in the type of relationship established between housing activists and the local administration. In Montreal, the development of collaborative forms of public management involving housing groups contrasts with the more defiant attitudes observed in Barcelona and Lyon. The third analytical result concerns the variation in the spatial imaginaries constructed by housing activists in the three cities.
3) Dissemination work
The project has involved a continuous dissemination work. A website (
https://www.nomad-outcome.info(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)) was created before the end of the first period. Throughout the project, the researcher has participated in four international conferences and five outreach activities. She has also organised three scientific events. The project’s results will be disseminated through three scientific papers in open access journals and two books. The project has produced three open datasets and other documents, which have been deposited in Recherche Data Gouv and HAL.
Finally, the work carried out in the three categories has also led to training outcomes for the researcher. Throughout the project, she has expanded her theoretical knowledge in the field of urban sociology and critical geography. She has also improved her technical skills in areas such as filming, editing, and web development, as well as her organizational skills in leading international scientific events and publication projects.
