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PUBLICATIONS
The FICA, since its inception, has generated several social technologies and accumulating experience about what it is to be an ethical landlord. We have managed to format part of this knowledge in publications and articles, which we make available to you here.
PUBLICATIONS
Want to know more about the history of FICA? In the publications below, we tell you everything you need to know about our major projects developed so far. The sale is made by Pistache Editorial, and the value is reverted in donations for the purchase of new flats.
from FICA
Land and property are scarce resources concentrated in thehands of a few, a fact that limits social and responsible usewhen driven by the market and private interests. Nonetheless,there are alternatives to the speculative market for land andreal estate.This publication builds a debate about social and ethicalownership, and presents experiments led by agents from civilsociety in different countries. Institutions that protect realestate from the market and speculation-mainly related tohousing - and guarantee that its use is affordable, just andsustainable.
Here is a collection of a few such experiments,particularly that of FICA in Brazil, a unique organizationfounded to safeguard properties and use them for socialpurposes. This book provides an insight on the processes, challenges, and possible partnerships with public authorities or private landlords. The debate and approach herein is necessary for sharing solutions and multiplying projects in search of better and more just land use.
from FICA
The book begins by telling a little about the origin of FICA and the experiences with the first flat. It then shows the ways of working, the challenges, the possible partnerships with public authorities or private owners - a necessary conversation and approach to share solutions and multiply projects in search of better and fairer territories.
In addition, it builds a debate on social and ethical property, bringing experiences led by other civil society actors in different countries. It presents institutions that protect properties from the market and speculation - mainly linked to housing - guaranteeing their use in an economic, fair and sustainable way.
from FICA
In partnership with FICA, the Goethe-Institut and the Ibirapitanga Institute, the workshop Access to Land for Fair Agriculture discussed and proposed solutions for access to land for fair agriculture, based on the shared experience of the participants.
This publication brings the systematization of the workshop and the results generated. It also brings together experiences from around the world that have managed to protect land for agriculture in a permanent way, ensuring that its use will always be geared towards sustainable forms of production and work.
ARTICLES
The FICA has accumulated experience and knowledge in the typification of social ownership in Brazil. In this section we have gathered some texts written both by authors who work inside the organisation and those who are external, but have dedicated themselves to studying the case of FICA. If you have also developed an article or publication on FICA, please contact us.
- by Renato Cymbalista and Marcos Venancio Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Lui
The article brings a literature review of the most significant literature published about tenements, focusing on the city of São Paulo. In analyzing the production, it was divided into three main categories: the tenement as a complaint; the tenement as a potentiality; and the tenement as reality. From this analysis the authors bring possible directions for future research.
- by Renato Cymbalista and Marcos Venancio Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Lui
Tenements have been a housing option for the poor in downtown São Paulo since the 1870s. Studies about tenements in the city have been done for over a century, but the major subject missing from the literature are the intermediaries or tenement operators, the articulating agent of the whole scheme. The text is based on seven interviews with landlords and intermediaries of tenement operators in the central region of São Paulo.
- by Renato Cymbalista and Marcos Venancio Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Lui.
The article resumes the history of Bom Retiro, a neighborhood in the central region of São Paulo that concentrates multiple functions and social classes, showing how tenements and boarding houses structured urbanization in the past and present. At the same time, it presents the results of a survey on rent relations and residents' perception of housing.
- by André Paiva, Thiago Tartarini and Gabriel Ramiro, under orientation of professor Giovana Cruz.
In this publication, students from the Architecture and Urbanism course at ESDI-UERJ (Petrópolis/RJ) translate into an accessible language some of their findings on the theme of housing in the country, highlighting the actions of FICA and MTST.
"Crowdfunding property in downtown São Paulo: The case of FICA fund", 2021.
- by Renato Cymbalista, Fabiana Endo, Roberto Fontes and Rodrigo Millan.
Article published in the international magazine Radical Housing Journal tells about the formation and evolution of the fund and its unique experience in Brazil.
Master's thesis, 2018.
- by Marina Sanders Paolinelli.
Dissertation submitted to the Master's Course at the School of Federal University of Minas Gerais, in the concentration area of Theory, Production and Experience of Space. Theory, Production and Experience of Space . Advisor: Profª. Drª. Jupira Gomes de Mendonça.
Chapter 8, "Operating Alternative Ownership: The Case of the FICA Fund in São Paulo," 2021.
- by Renato Cymbalista and Bianca Antunes.
In the chapter, the authors start from the problematic of private property and studies on social renting to situate the experience of FICA.
READING TIPS
There is a world of possibilities between individual private property and state property. Learning about these possibilities broadens our horizons of knowledge and utopia. To help you choose one (or more) books, we have curated works that address alternative models of ownership.
By accessing Amazon's website from one of the links below, any book purchased generates a donation to FICA. For each book purchased, 10% to 15% of the value will be donated to our fund for the purchase of more properties. Take advantage!
org. Anna Grear and David Bollier
The book is a collection of essays on recent collaborative practices in various fields: law, agriculture, internet, city, politics and philosophy. These practices, understood under the conceptualization of Commons, from the authors' perspective, indicate the emergence of a post-capitalist world.
by Eric T. Freyfogle
And if the land were nobody's private property, if it were a common good, how would it be managed? What would the world be like? It may seem like a very distant utopia, but the author of this book does not think so. The land was once a common good and every day we see more movements and discussions seeking to recover this status of collective property of the land.
by Selma dos Santos Dealdina
When speaking of collective ownership of land and alternative forms of property, we cannot fail to think of the quilombos of black peoples who, in the midst of extreme violence, managed to preserve a collective way of life, brought from their lands. The book is part of the Sueli Carneiro label, coordinated by Djamila Ribeiro.
by Rangel Donizete Franco
Rangel Donizete delves into the legal issues of regularizing quilombola territories. It is not a book for beginners, but it is relevant for anyone who is a researcher or who wants to delve into the legal challenges that quilombos face today.
by Andreia Macedo Barreto
It addresses the legal issues of collective land ownership - in this case, of the riverine peoples. The book studies the Brazilian and international legislation on the subject.
by J. K. Gibson Graham.
Written by two feminist geographer-economists, who innovated the theoretical milieu with this book in the 1990s. The book draws on feminist and post-structuralist theories and shows that the economic landscape in which we live is highly complex and diverse, permeated with non-capitalist relations.
by Erik Nordman
Perfect for those who are coming to grips with the works of the brilliant economist Elinor Ostrom, Erik Nordman's book takes up the context of the author's discussions on the subject of the commons, and how far those revolutionary ideas have come.
edited by John Davis
The Community Land Trust is a land management instrument that was first applied in the USA in the 1980s. In Portuguese it translates as Termo Territorial Coletivo or Fideicomissio. There are currently hundreds of Community Land Trusts instituted in various countries, designating land for community ownership and in many cases providing protection mechanisms against property speculation. John Emmeus Davis' book is an anthology on the subject, bringing together 46 articles and classic texts that trace the origins of this collective form of land ownership, the ways in which it is implemented, challenges and risks.
by Lee Anne Fennell
The book shows that the boundaries of property are less rigid than one might think. Dispute within neighbourhoods and communities - such as the attempt by neighbourhood associations to control what can influence the price of your home - poses the need to debate new forms of ownership.
by Elinor Ostrom
Award-winning economist, Elinor Ostrom argues that the management of the commons and natural assets by local communities (rather than the state or the market), can bring ingenious and effective solutions. Elinor puts collective ownership as a central concept in this discussion.
by Elinor Ostrom
In the wake of other books by the author, one of the leading experts on the subject of the commons, this book discusses how collective organisation comes about in practice. It is a reference for all researchers interested in alternative models of property.
by J. K. Gibson Graham.
When speaking of the economy as a system of production and human reproduction, we cannot avoid talking about private ownership of the land. Rethinking our organization as a society, as the book proposes, involves rethinking new forms of property and access to land. In the book, the authors urge readers to take back control of our economy and organization through small actions.
by John Emmus Davis, Line Algoed and Maria E. Hernández-Torrales
Community Land Trusts (CLT) are solutions to secure good land uses in perpetuity. The basis of CLTs is the separation of land and property ownership, the permanent withdrawal of land from speculative markets and community engagement in management. The first experiments date back to the 1970s in the United States, and there are now hundreds of CLTs in several countries. The book On Common Ground is the first assessment of the experiences of CLTs on an international scale. One of the book's editors is the foremost authority on the subject, John Emmaus Davis. Examples from various countries, such as Puerto Rico, Kenya, Canada, Belgium and England, are discussed. The book also brings a text by Tarcyla Fidalgo and other Brazilian authors, showing the ways for the legal and administrative feasibility of this model in Brazil.
by Amanda Huron
In the book, researcher Amanda Huron shows how housing cooperatives based on collective ownership and "limited-equity" have functioned for decades in Washington, USA, with constraints on real estate gains. She reveals that alternative ownership models can subsist for decades offering cheap, good quality and well located solutions.
edited by Ash Amin and Philip Howell
The concept of the commons - the idea that resources essential to life can exist without being parceled out and sold, and can offer varying degrees of collective access - seems to evoke a pre-capitalist world. This book seeks to look at this concept through the instruments we have today, from current practices and digital technologies. The book includes 12 articles by various specialists on the subject.
edited by Yesomi Umolu, Sepake Angiama and Paulo Tavares
The 2019/2020 Chicago Architecture Biennale catalogue features articles, interviews and visual dossiers on architecture's relationship to land, memory, human rights and popular participation. The book is divided into four parts: 'No Land Beyond'; 'Appearances and Erasures'; 'Rights and Claims' and 'Common Ground'. Private land ownership is problematised at several points. One of the projects presented is FICA.
of Osvaldo Martins de Oliveira
Osvaldo Martins de Oliveira, a great scholar of black cultures and quilombos, brings in this book the point of view of leaders who today seek to defend and preserve the quilombos. The book is important for anyone interested in the subject of collective ownership of land in Brazil.
by Derek Wall
Another book that looks at the entire work of Elinor Ostrom. Another option for those who want to approach an extensive bibliography on a perspective of sustainable and collective use of natural resources.