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Kindness, in the Times of Guerrilla Altruism: The Twin Grammars of Infrastructural Residual Space

Author

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  • Barua, Srijon

    (Temple University)

Abstract

This article introduces "Guerrilla Altruism" a spatial practice and low-budget pedagogical method as a mechanism for contesting the rapid neoliberal commodification of urban commons. The research is grounded in "infrastructural residual space" (IRS): void space beneath or around urban transport viaducts. It identifies that IRS is governed by two coexisting spatial grammars: a hegemonic administrative grammar of regulation, and a subaltern grammar of lived care expressed through tactical acts of use. The article advances three arguments. First, IRS is an inherent feature of any transport infrastructure, not a commercial byproduct, a distinction that challenges its commodification. Second, infrastructural operators bear a custodial stewardship over these spaces. Third, it proposes "Guerrilla Altruism" as a radical pedagogical method for spatial resistance, establishing an empirical "kindness archive" to make subaltern care legible. Tested through 25 micro-interventions at Kyoto’s Fukakusa park, this approach shows how users can empathically share the urban commons to defend public ground without displacing existing infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Barua, Srijon, 2026. "Kindness, in the Times of Guerrilla Altruism: The Twin Grammars of Infrastructural Residual Space," SocArXiv ruwz8_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:ruwz8_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/ruwz8_v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kurt Iveson, 2013. "Cities within the City: Do-It-Yourself Urbanism and the Right to the City," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 941-956, May.
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