Against a de-politicized DIY urbanism: Food Not Bombs and the struggle over public space

Abstract

Cultivated by non-professionals, do-it-yourself (DIY) interventions in urban space are gaining serious credibility in the professional design fields. But as these professionals take up the flag of small-scale and social justice-inspired action in design handbooks and art exhibits, what happens to the struggles that informed the tactics? This article presents the DIY urban tactics of Food Not Bombs as a counter case study that problematizes the recent professional attention given to DIY, tactical or spontaneous urbanism. Forged in a struggle against the structural violence of capitalism, and based in the use of public space for community meals, Food Not Bombs challenges de-politicized notions of tactical or DIY urbanism.