At a time of mass homelessness, deepening tenant precarity, and the criminalization of poverty, housing justice movements are pushing for a right to housing in California. In this convening, current and former UN Special Rapporteurs on Adequate Housing provide insight and guidance on key elements of such a right, how such a right can be informed by an international human rights framework, and how such a right can become an actionable government obligation. In conversation with prominent housing justice leaders, they will take up questions such as: What does the right to housing mean for those without a right to recognized housing, notably unhoused communities? How can the right to housing address the effects of global financialization on housing markets and housing systems? Is there a vision of social housing that can be a core part of such a right? How might the right to housing remake highly unequal relations of property and land?
Featuring UN Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Adequate Housing:
Leilani Farha, 2014 – 2020
Balakrishnan Rajagopal, 2020 – 2026
Raquel Rolnik, 2008 – 2014
With commentary by:
Gary Blasi, Tenant Power Toolkit
Clarissa Woo Hermosillo, ACLU Southern California
Christina Livingston, ACCE
Pete White, Los Angeles Community Action Network
Chaired by:
Ananya Roy, UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
