Radically Legal: Berlin Constitutes the Future

by Joanna Kusiak

Right in the middle of the German constitution, a group of ordinary citizens discovers a forgotten clause that allows them to take 240,000 homes back from multi-billion corporations. In this work of creative non-fiction, scholar-activist and Nine Dots Prize winner Joanna Kusiak tells the story of a grassroots movement that convinced a million Berliners to pop the speculative housing bubble. She offers a vision of urban housing as democratically held commons, legally managed by a radically new institutional model that works through democratic conflicts. Moving between interdisciplinary analysis and her own personal story, Kusiak connects the dots between the past and the present, the local and the global, and shows the potential of radically legal politics as a means of strengthening our democracies and reviving the rule of law. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

202 pages, Hardcover

Published June 6, 2024

Reviews

[Catarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone curious about the Berlin housing referendum and its broader implications. It blends legal theory, activism, and housing policies, all set against a backdrop of Berlin and European culture and history.

The author's personal journey, the creativity in the narrative style, and the informal tone of the text have made it a very pleasurable reading experience. It excelled in making complex ideas accessible without losing their depth.

Overall, very inspiring.
Extra points for being open access.

[Erik Lovicsek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly compelling book on an innovatively democratic way to fight back against the financialization of housing. The narrative style doesn't neglect the emotional aspects and personal impacts of the status quo, and the various themes and metaphors were expertly woven together, which made it a very engaging read!