This is a CTP of initiative: ICA/CCVQ (Argentina)
The present CTP is when the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing and the Municipality of Quilmes its legal capacity, establishes the cooperative mode and bought the land where the houses will be built. The process took place in 1984 in a more complex social context, characterized by the return of the democracy, which promote the development of cooperatives experiences in the country. Initially, the neighbors registered themselves in a program of Social Affairs of the Municipality of Quilmes, which objective was to find answer to the problem of access to housing. So in the 1984 they legally created the Cooperative. After few years, the neighbors take the conduction of the Cooperative and for different perspectives regarding the original conduction, created by public servant of the Municipality of Quilmes and persons related to it. The distance between the group pf neighbors and the Municipality was due to a contraposition of two diverse logics, on the one hand the settler adding efforts to access to housing, and on the other hand, the Municipality tried to use them to as political tool in favor of a political party. The members identify that, meanwhile the group of neighbors is created responding to the necessity of access to a house, what moved to leaders of the Cooperative connected to the Municipality is related with political parties objectives. In others words, the main purpose it was not to help people to access to their own house, it was to “attract” people to the political party. There was an implicit logic of power, of the “accumulation” of power. So, in 1987, after several disputes, the neighbors decided to leader the Cooperative themselves and started the construction using the auto-construction system.
The processes of co-production of this Critical Turning Point can be grouped from the interactions of the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing with the offices of the municipal and the provincial government:
1) With the municipality were linked to recognize the cooperative as an experience of social interest, in order to not hinder the work of self-building and the social activities carried out in the neighborhood. This ordinance involved several visits to the Municipality and talking to several councilors until the proposal reaches the City Council to be treated. At every stage of the Council they have had relations with some councilors by the trajectory of experience and because most of the members are historical inhabitants of Quilmes. Thus, for the cases mentioned, they achieved the necessary votes.
2) Regarding the provincial government, given the existing regulations on construction materials, have been linked to the regularization of the neighborhood. Initially, when they presented the plans, the provincial government would not approve them because of the size of the block and the number of homes per acre, was not consistent with the provisions of Law 8912/77 (Decree Law of Territorial of set Organizations and Land Use). After several interviews in the then Ministry of Public Works and Services (Ministerio de Obras Públicas, in its Spanish), was validated by decree, the subdivision of each of the plots enabling the deeding of the 90% of the households. The contacts with the provincial government were achieved by members of social organizations with whom they shared land and housing encounters. The provincial officials were the ones who incited the Deliberative Council of Quilmes to treat the regularization of the neighborhood and that the ordinance was approved. Thus, obtaining legal status, the delivery of land and the regularization of the subdivision of plots where houses were built are the result of interactions among these three social actors: the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing, the Municipality of Quilmes and the government of the province of Buenos Aires. Several of these interactions are the result of previous relationships of the members of the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing; others are the result of the participation of the institution in meetings with other organizations seeking to build solutions to housing problems.
The events related to the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing are, in part connect to the structural characteristics of Buenos Aires province and, in other part, to the political dynamics in the early return of democracy since 1983. The scenario of formation of the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing, with the launch of a program for access to housing.
1) The housing characteristics of the Municipality of Quilmes: Quilmes, does not escape from its context, it is a town where live 500,000 inhabitants; the proportion of people with unsatisfied basic needs arising from the 2001 Census is 17.6%. Approximately 21,000 households live in poverty and insecurity. The type of housing, overcrowding and services in Quilmes show similar variables, although somewhat better than those of Buenos Aires province. According to information from the Department of Housing of the Buenos Aires province, in March of 2005 there were 12 shanty towns and 14 settlements. Among the most characterized “villas” or shanty towns, we must mention the "Villa Itatí", its neighbor the "Villa Azul", smaller than Itatí, that a part of it belongs to Avellaneda and other part to Quilmes. Then, "El Monte" and "Mataderos", very near from the center and "Villa Luján", near the river. We should also mention the "Villa Primavera", "Villa Los Álamos" and "Villa Los Eucaliptos". 2) The partisan bickering within the Municipality of Quilmes: Relations became tense over the years. According to the current president of the Cooperative, "a large group of partners we realized that this was only a partisan purpose, Quilmes was “radical”[1], the Province of Buenos Aires was “radical”, the country was “radical” in a district like Ezpeleta that were clearly “peronista”, was then when we realized that here were others intentions, and was then when we decided to run the conduction of the Cooperative”. Thus, from 1987, residents are in charge of the conduct of the organization.
[1] The Radical party and the Peronist party are the two biggest and more important political parties of Argentina.
In this critical turning point, the activities of the cooperative consumption and housing Quilmes Ltda., come into conflict with the Municipality of Quilmes about the internal organization of the cooperative, its system of rules and the degree of autonomy of the cooperative relation of the Municipality. Once registered, the Cooperative begins to show a strong need for independence and therefore begins clashes with the Municipality, which tried to influence the internal organization. They are differentiated from other institutions of the territory by this dispute between the local government; a process of selecting members of the group in terms of this struggle for autonomy arises. "A large group of partners we realized that this was only a partisan purpose, Quilmes was radical, the Province of Buenos Aires was radical, the country was “radical” in a district like Ezpeleta that were clearly peronist, was then when we realized that here were others intentions, and was then when we decided to run the conduction of the Cooperative”. The interviewee identifies the conflict as a "lack of commitment" by the actors that were looking to contribute from the Municipality. “We desisted from that and then we grabbed the construction of the project, the one we were working on the construction because otherwise this was handled with people who “part” belong to the cooperative and people that not belong “so much”, but that they cooperate from the Municipality even not having too much knowledge”. For these reasons the members of the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing they differ from the actors of the Municipality of Quilmes by political differences partisan level that according to partners this influence in the form of participation in the resolution of the definition of problems and solutions, as the objectives of the organization. On another level of dispute, choosing a model of auto—construction with money and work from the members are part of these disputes with the Municipality. They realize the importance that the autonomy has for the partners. At the same time this choice led them to seek financing for the purchase of land which strengthened the group dynamics and the commitment of its members with the aim: "...we did festivals to raise money, “peñas[1]” in the Rodeo to raise funds but sometimes we did not gather what we needed, we did raffles, but people relied heavily on the project without having a pot. Because the issue was that we had to do it".
[1] A peña in Spanish it is a party at a local club, with local people, in which mostly they dance folklore, the traditional dance of Argentina.
In terms of anticipation, members of the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing were observing that the various processes described in this CTP converge in obtaining legal status and the purchase of land, allowing them the self-building of their homes. As they were advancing and fulfilling the objectives that had been raised as to raise the money to buy the materials for the construction and purchase of land, they were planning how the houses that wanted to build, would be: “I was 19 and I did not lead the group, I was just a partner in the beginning. We made of the Constitutive Act at the meeting on 10 August 1984 and began to see what was coming. And we began to see how we were doing to have our home and we noted at that moment in the secretary of social action in Quilmes, or something like that, and was there that we write down our names and there was a list of those who had no housing and we become 60 and we had a meeting and said “we want to make a home”. Some said I do not want "because" we did not have even a pot, but we raved, some from the youth others from the maturity… and then came a person who later became treasurer and said he saw a land in Ezpeleta (because he was a municipal inspector), it was full of reeds and rushes… they told me that was being sold. When this situation happened, we were at the end of the year. So well, we started to pay a fee for housing and decided that the quota would we to buy materials and if there was land on sale, to buy land. When we have the land, we were going to work the land among all the neighbors. That was that we had spoken”. Thus, the anticipation of this CTP is understood in terms of the configuration of a strategy, in which different tactical episodes -obtaining legal status, purchase of land- are aligning and making possible the self-building strategy of housing.
The learning processes in this CTP are related to: the organization of the neighbors in a cooperative, obtaining resources for development of different activities, such as buying and prepare the land previous to the stage of construction, purchase the materials for the construction and carried out the management of these resources. These learnings are part tacit and part codified. There are learnings processes that produce as a result of social practices, insofar that are events that happens while the situation is taking part. “A central quality that has this experience is that it involves a complex process of auto-urbanization by neighbors. In this manner, collective work, the generation of resources by the neighbors themselves and the self-managed community practices, resulted in modalities of urban management and the construction of a neighborhood for access to decent housing conditions”. Other learning process by the Quilmes Cooperative Limited of consumption and housing in this CTP, and continues to set its activities, is the adoption of the cooperative form and its values. The knowledge gained at this stage is part of the accumulated capital of the cooperative and are embodied in the regulations governing their current activities. The values that guide the daily practices of the organization are self-management, mutual aid, mutual respect, trust, participation, harmony, autonomy, solidarity, justice, equity, self-effort, legitimacy, competence and transparency. Note that the explicit values is consistent with the corporate purpose of the cooperative understood holistically.
Stay informed. Subscribe for project updates by e-mail.
