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University of California Press
Open Access

Indefensible Spaces

Policing and the Struggle for Housing

by Rahim Kurwa (Author)
Price: $34.95 / £30.00
Publication Date: Jun 2025
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 269
ISBN: 9780520401754
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 16 color figures, 8 b/w figures, 1 map, 1 table

About the Book

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

Indefensible Spaces examines the national crisis of the policing of housing through the story of Black community building in the Antelope Valley. Tracing the history of Los Angeles County's northernmost outpost from its segregated development in the postwar aerospace boom through its evolution into a destination for those priced, policed, and evicted out of Los Angeles, Rahim Kurwa tells the story of how the valley resisted racial integration through the policing of subsidized housing­—and how Black tenants and organizers have worked to overcome it. This book sheds light on the intersection of the nation's policing and housing crises, offering powerful lessons for achieving housing justice across the country.

About the Author

Rahim Kurwa is Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law, and Justice and of Sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago.