Miguel A. Martínez
Professor in Sociology, especially Housing and Urban Sociology at Institute for Housing and Urban Research
- Telephone:
- +46 18 471 65 45
- E-mail:
- miguel.martinez@ibf.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Trädgårdsgatan 18
- Postal address:
- Box 514
751 20 UPPSALA
Download contact information for Miguel A. Martínez at Institute for Housing and Urban Research
Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor at Department of Sociology; Faculty
- E-mail:
- miguel.martinez@ibf.uu.se
- Visiting address:
- Engelska parken
Thunbergsvägen 3H - Postal address:
- Box 624
751 26 UPPSALA
Download contact information for Miguel A. Martínez at Department of Sociology; Faculty
- CV:
- Download CV
- ORCID:
- 0000-0001-5511-2390
Short presentation
My research mostly focuses on the analysis of urban movements and activism. In addition, I am interested in participatory processes about urban planning. Other topics under the umbrella of urban sociology and urban politics, such as housing policies, socio-spatial segregation, use of public spaces, sustainable mobility, local governance and gentrification, are part of my research work as well. More broadly: social movements, political sociology and qualitative methods.
Keywords
- social movements
- urban studies
- housing
- urban sociology
Biography
My first interests focused on Participatory-Action-Research methods and processes. These were applied to the study of citizen participation in urban planning and urban movements, which nurtured my PhD dissertation in 2000. Afterwards, I held teaching positions in different universities of Spain, Portugal and Hong Kong. In parallel to my academic career I also worked professionally at the Municipal Housing Department in Vigo (2000-2002) and occasionally as a consultant in several urban plans across Spain. I mainly study social movements and urban phenomena from a sociological perspective. Some of the topics I have covered in my research are urban segregation, housing, migration, density, globalisation, urban mobility, urban politics, governance, sustainability, labour, and social structures. These concerns were developed in different cities (mainly Porto, Vigo, Madrid and Hong Kong, but also during short stays in Medellin, Chicago, Beijing, Berlin, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, Belo Horizonte, Sofia, etc.). In addition, I have often participated in various social movements which, in turn, became one of my main research subjects.
Research
Current projects:
2020-23, Principal Investigator, ‘The intersectional and sustainable impacts of housing movements: the Spanish case’, FORMAS (Swedish Program for Sustainable Spatial Planning).
2019-24 Urban Struggles for the Right to the City and Urban Commons in Brazil and Europe. Funded by: STINT-CAPES. PI: Miguel A. Martínez and Dominika V. Polanska.
Media
Academic webpage
Academic webpage

Publications
Selection of publications
Part of Housing, Theory and Society, p. 657-677, 2024
- DOI for The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
- Download full text (pdf) of The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
Part of Sociology, p. 832-850, 2024
- DOI for Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
- Download full text (pdf) of Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
Part of Urban Studies, p. 2060-2079, 2024
- DOI for Accommodating 'generation rent': Unsettling dominant discourses on rental housing reform in Catalonia and Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of Accommodating 'generation rent': Unsettling dominant discourses on rental housing reform in Catalonia and Spain
Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
Part of Housing Studies, p. 1516-1536, 2024
- DOI for Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
Part of Journal of Urban Affairs, p. 65-83, 2023
- DOI for The outcomes of residential squatting activism in the context of municipalism and capitalism in Madrid and Barcelona (2015–2019)
- Download full text (pdf) of The outcomes of residential squatting activism in the context of municipalism and capitalism in Madrid and Barcelona (2015–2019)
State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
Part of Housing, Theory and Society, p. 1-21, 2023
- DOI for State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
Part of Social Movement Studies, p. 659-676, 2022
- DOI for Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
- Download full text (pdf) of Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
Part of Encrucijadas, 2021
Reclaiming space for workers in the 21st century: A literature review on worker centers
2021
Mutating mobilisations during the pandemic crisis in Spain
Part of Interface, p. 15-21, 2020
Squatters in the Capitalist City: Housing, Justice, and Urban Politics
Routledge, 2020
- DOI for Squatters in the Capitalist City: Housing, Justice, and Urban Politics
- Download full text (pdf) of Squatters in the Capitalist City: Housing, Justice, and Urban Politics
European squatters' movements and the right to the city
Part of Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements, p. 155-167, Routledge, 2020
Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
Part of PArticipation and COnflict, p. 1390-1410, 2020
- DOI for Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
- Download full text (pdf) of Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
Framing Urban Movements, Contesting Global Capitalism and Liberal Democracy
Part of Contested Cities and Urban Activism, p. 25-45, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
Introduction: citizenship as inhabitance? Migrant housing squats versus institutional accommodation
Part of Citizenship Studies, p. 521-539, 2019
Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
Part of Housing Studies, p. 1588-1611, 2019
- DOI for Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
- Download full text (pdf) of Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
Recent publications
Part of The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Twentieth-And Twenty-First Century Spain, p. 49-62, Routledge, 2025
Looking forward: a research agenda for contemporary urban sociology
Part of Research Handbook on Urban Sociology, p. 583-607, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
Research Handbook on Urban Sociology
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
Part of Housing, Theory and Society, p. 657-677, 2024
- DOI for The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
- Download full text (pdf) of The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
Desmontando los discursos dominantes en el mercado del alquiler
2024
All publications
Articles in journal
Part of Housing, Theory and Society, p. 657-677, 2024
- DOI for The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
- Download full text (pdf) of The Housing Struggle of Working-Class Migrant Women in Spain Through a Double Horizon of Political Temporality
Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
Part of Sociology, p. 832-850, 2024
- DOI for Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
- Download full text (pdf) of Activist Research as a Methodological Toolbox to Advance Public Sociology
Part of Urban Studies, p. 2060-2079, 2024
- DOI for Accommodating 'generation rent': Unsettling dominant discourses on rental housing reform in Catalonia and Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of Accommodating 'generation rent': Unsettling dominant discourses on rental housing reform in Catalonia and Spain
Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
Part of Housing Studies, p. 1516-1536, 2024
- DOI for Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of Grassroots struggles challenging housing financialization in Spain
Part of Journal of Urban Affairs, p. 65-83, 2023
- DOI for The outcomes of residential squatting activism in the context of municipalism and capitalism in Madrid and Barcelona (2015–2019)
- Download full text (pdf) of The outcomes of residential squatting activism in the context of municipalism and capitalism in Madrid and Barcelona (2015–2019)
State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
Part of Housing, Theory and Society, p. 1-21, 2023
- DOI for State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of State-Led Actions Reigniting the Financialization of Housing in Spain
The configuration of a multi-pronged housing movement in Barcelona
Part of PArticipation and COnflict, p. 63-86, 2023
- DOI for The configuration of a multi-pronged housing movement in Barcelona
- Download full text (pdf) of The configuration of a multi-pronged housing movement in Barcelona
The struggle against home evictions in Spain through documentary films
Part of International journal of housing policy, p. 371-394, 2022
- DOI for The struggle against home evictions in Spain through documentary films
- Download full text (pdf) of The struggle against home evictions in Spain through documentary films
Part of Encrucijadas, 2022
Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
Part of Social Movement Studies, p. 659-676, 2022
- DOI for Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
- Download full text (pdf) of Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: alliances, tensions, and achievements
Part of Encrucijadas, 2021
Part of Journal of Urban Affairs, p. 175-175, 2020
Mutating mobilisations during the pandemic crisis in Spain
Part of Interface, p. 15-21, 2020
Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
Part of PArticipation and COnflict, p. 1390-1410, 2020
- DOI for Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
- Download full text (pdf) of Urban Commons from an Anti-Capitalist Approach
Part of Journal of Urban Affairs, p. 241-256, 2020
- DOI for Dancing with shackles?: The sociopolitical opportunities, achievements, and dilemmas of cycling activism in Guangzhou, China
- Download full text (pdf) of Dancing with shackles?: The sociopolitical opportunities, achievements, and dilemmas of cycling activism in Guangzhou, China
Just rekindle hope?: Social and political impacts of the 15M movement in Spain
Part of Estudios de la Paz y el Conflicto, Revista Latinoamericana, p. 13-38, 2020
- DOI for Just rekindle hope?: Social and political impacts of the 15M movement in Spain
- Download full text (pdf) of Just rekindle hope?: Social and political impacts of the 15M movement in Spain
Squatting and Urban Commons: Creating Alternatives to Neoliberalism
Part of PArticipation and COnflict, p. 1244-1251, 2020
- DOI for Squatting and Urban Commons: Creating Alternatives to Neoliberalism
- Download full text (pdf) of Squatting and Urban Commons: Creating Alternatives to Neoliberalism
Part of menelique, p. 92-99, 2020
Part of Culture Unbound, p. 165-189, 2019
- DOI for Good and Bad Squatters?: Challenging Hegemonic Narratives and Advancing Anti-Capitalist Views of Squatting in Western European Cities
- Download full text (pdf) of Good and Bad Squatters?: Challenging Hegemonic Narratives and Advancing Anti-Capitalist Views of Squatting in Western European Cities
Introduction: citizenship as inhabitance? Migrant housing squats versus institutional accommodation
Part of Citizenship Studies, p. 521-539, 2019
The autonomy of struggles and the self-management of squats: legacies of intertwined movements
Part of Interface, p. 178-199, 2019
Street Occupations, Neglected Democracy, and Contested Neoliberalism in Hong Kong
Part of Social Justice, p. 101-124, 2019
Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
Part of Housing Studies, p. 1588-1611, 2019
- DOI for Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
- Download full text (pdf) of Bitter wins or a long-distance race?: Social and political outcomes of the Spanish housing movement
Squatters and migrants in Madrid: Interactions, contexts and cycles
Part of Urban Studies, p. 2472-2489, 2017
Mapping the Movement: Producing maps of squatted social centres in Western Europe
Part of Trespass Journal, p. 84-102, 2017
Occupy the squares, freeing buildings
Part of ACME, p. 157-184, 2015
How Do Squatters Deal with the State?: Legalization and Anomalous Institutionalization in Madrid
Part of International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, p. 646-674, 2014
The Squatters' Movement in Europe: A Durable Struggle for Social Autonomy in Urban Politics
Part of Antipode, p. 866-887, 2013
- DOI for The Squatters' Movement in Europe: A Durable Struggle for Social Autonomy in Urban Politics
- Download full text (pdf) of The Squatters' Movement in Europe: A Durable Struggle for Social Autonomy in Urban Politics
AUTONOMOUS ACTIVIST-RESEARCH The case of the squatters' movement in Madrid
Part of Revista Internacional de Sociologia, p. 165-184, 2012
- DOI for AUTONOMOUS ACTIVIST-RESEARCH The case of the squatters' movement in Madrid
- Download full text (pdf) of AUTONOMOUS ACTIVIST-RESEARCH The case of the squatters' movement in Madrid
Participación ciudadana en las agendas 21 locales: cuestiones críticas de la gobernanza urbana
Part of Scripta Nova, p. 1-11, 2011
Part of International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, p. 147-171, 2011
Dimensiones múltiples de la participación ciudadana en la planificación espacial
Part of REVISTA ESPANOLA DE INVESTIGACIONES SOCIOLOGICAS, p. 21-41, 2011
Complexity and participation: the path of strategic invention
Part of ISR. Interdisciplinary science review, p. 153-177, 2008
The squatters' movement: Urban counter-culture and alter-globalization dynamics
Part of South European Society & Politics, p. 379-398, 2007
Books
Chapters in book
Part of The Routledge Hispanic Studies Companion to Twentieth-And Twenty-First Century Spain, p. 49-62, Routledge, 2025
Looking forward: a research agenda for contemporary urban sociology
Part of Research Handbook on Urban Sociology, p. 583-607, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
Introduction to the Research Handbook on Urban Sociology
Part of Research Handbook on Urban Sociology, p. 1-24, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
Social and critical features of urban sociology
Part of Research Handbook on Urban Sociology, p. 26-49, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
The Autonomy of Struggles and the Self-Management of Squats: Legacies of Intertwined Movements
Part of Subverting Politics, Black Rose Books, 2024
Impactos sociales y políticos del movimiento por lavivienda liderado por la PAH
Part of La Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca, p. 275-300, Edicions Bellaterra, 2022
Paraguas amarillos a la sombra de China: el movimiento por la democracia en Hong Kong
Part of Diez años construyendo ciudadanía en movimiento(s), p. 203-212, Edicions Bellaterra, 2022
Acción colectiva durante la crisis pandémica en España (2020-2021)
Part of Anuariode Movimientos Sociales 2020, Fundación Betiko, 2021
European squatters' movements and the right to the city
Part of Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements, p. 155-167, Routledge, 2020
Part of Comparative Approaches to Informal Housing Around the Globe, p. 110-129, UCL Press, 2020
- DOI for Squatting activism in Brazil and Spain: Articulations between the right to housing and the right to the city
- Download full text (pdf) of Squatting activism in Brazil and Spain: Articulations between the right to housing and the right to the city
Framing Urban Movements, Contesting Global Capitalism and Liberal Democracy
Part of Contested Cities and Urban Activism, p. 25-45, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
Part of The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies, John Wiley & Sons, 2019
Introductory Remarks and Overview
Part of Contested Cities and Urban Activism, p. 3-24, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
Part of Contested Cities and Urban Activism, p. 123-146, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
Shifting Socio-Spatial Contexts and the Space of Social Movements: Squatting in Seville
Part of The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements, p. 75-97, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Part of Skłoting w Europie Środkowej i Rosji , p. 5-20, European Solidarity Centre, 2018
A Short Talk on Squatting in Spain
Part of Fighting for spaces, Fighting for our lives: Squatting Movements today, p. 308-312, Assemblage, 2018
La PAH y la emergencia habitacional
Part of Movimientos sociales y derecho a la ciudad, p. 54-70, Icaria, 2018
Autogestión de equipamientos y espacios urbanos: los centros sociales okupados y autogestionados
Part of Movimientos sociales y derecho a la ciudad, p. 88-102, Icaria, 2018
Introduction: The Politics of Squatting, Time Frames and Socio-Spatial Contexts
Part of The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements, p. 1-21, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Socio-Spatial Structures and Protest Cycles of Squatted Social Centres in Madrid
Part of The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements, p. 25-49, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Part of The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements, p. 229-245, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Squatted Social Centres and the Housing Question
Part of The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements, p. 271-288, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Part of Crisis and Social Mobilization , Routledge, 2018
Urban emptiness, ghost owners, and squatters' challenges to private property
Part of Contested Property Claims, Routledge, 2018
Converging movements: occupations of squares and buildings
Part of Crisis and Mobilization in Contemporary Spain, Routledge, 2017
Beyond solidarity: Migrants and squatters in Madrid
Part of Migration, Squatting and Radical Autonomy, p. 189-206, Routledge, 2017
Collections (editor)
Research Handbook on Urban Sociology
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024
Resisting Citizenship: Migrant Housing Squats Against State Enclosures
Routledge, 2021
Contested Cities and Urban Activism
Palgrave Macmillan, 2019
The urban politics of squatters' movements
Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Skłoting w Europie Środkowej i Rosji
European Solidarity Center, 2018
Conference papers
Urban movements and municipalist governments in Spain: tensions and achievements
2020
Grassroots struggles against housing financialisation
2020
Mortgaged Lives: On Activist Documentary about the Spanish Housing Movement
2019
Social movements and the democratisation of local government in Spain (2011-2018)
2019
2018
Origins, development and strategies of the Spanish housing movement
2018
More than just housing. The squatters’ production of the city
2018
Detachment and Co-optation: Joint Outcomes of Anti-Austerity Movements in Spain
Part of Ecpr Joint Sessions Integration Or Cooptation? Dynamic Interactions Between Social Movements And Institutions, 2017
Empty properties and legitimised Squatting: on class and classification struggles
2017
Squatting and the politics of self-management
Part of Squatting Europe Kollective Conference, 2017
Occupy and self-manage: squatters' approach to deal with urban voids and displacement
2017
Against All Private Property?: On the Various Forms of Political Squatting
2017
Cycles, waves and stages of squatting for housing and social centres in European cities.
2017
Space, social control and resistance
2017
Urban and territorial governance, conflicts and social movements
2017
Comments on Nicholls, W. & Uitermark, J.´s “Cities and social movements” book. Authors Meet Critics.
2017
Reports
El mercado de alquiler: fuente de desigualdad social
2024
La PAH: un movimiento popular contra la financiarización de la vivienda
2024
¿Cómo afectará el control del precio de los alquileresa los caseros?
2023
Reclaiming space for workers in the 21st century: A literature review on worker centers
2021
Other
Desmontando los discursos dominantes en el mercado del alquiler
2024
Boca Sur (Chile): activismos autónomos desde la periferia urbana
2024
Making a Scene: Urban Landscapes, Gentrification, and Social Movements in Sweden
Part of Acta Sociologica, p. 468-469, 2023
Part of Sociologisk forskning, p. 197-200, 2023
- DOI for Elton Chan. The Last Urban Frontier. Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong. Lund University, 2023. PhD Thesis.
- Download full text (pdf) of Elton Chan. The Last Urban Frontier. Commodification of Public Space and the Right to the City in Insurgent Hong Kong. Lund University, 2023. PhD Thesis.
Part of International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, p. 577-579, 2021
Part of International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, p. 396-398, 2021
Part of International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, p. 812-814, 2019