Grenfell Tower: Reading List

Gentrification, colonialism & other things missed

Mollie Hanley
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read

On the morning of the 14th of June 2017, London woke up to the grim consequences of over thirty years of policies that treat housing, first and foremost, as an investment opportunity. Nearly a month on, in a personal attempt to collect my thoughts on Grenfell and the London housing market, I’ve been compiled a reading list of responses that I think provide thoughtful insights to the events surrounding fire.

The list is by no means exhaustive, I intend to add more to it, and I encourage people to submit works.


Grenfell Tower — The KCTMCO Culture of Negligence
Grenfell Action Group, 19th June 2017

A blog post by members of Grenfell Action Group, accusing the the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organization, and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, of years of negligent practice. Importantly, GAG tie the fire at Grenfell in 2017 to a 2009 fire at Lakanal House in Camberwell, in which six people, including 3 children, died due to flammable cladding on the outside of the block allowing the fire to spread to the flat above in under five minutes.


‘The Grenfell Tower fire was the end result of a disdainful housing policy’
Pilgrim Tucker, The Guardian, 20th June 2017

Tucker argues the inferno at Grenfell tower reflects wider approaches to social housing and gentrification since the introduction of neoliberal housing policies, for example the right to buy scheme introduced by Thatcher in the 1980s. Tucker had previously organised with residents at Grenfell Tower as part of the Radical Housing Network. As she highlights, even at the first resident’s meeting, held in 2015, around 100 occupants of Grenfell spoke of

“the historical neglect of the building, of the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation… failing to undertake basic but vital maintenance or improvements”, and power surges causing appliances to ‘blow up’.


Would a White British Community have burned in Grenfell Tower?’
Dawn Foster, New York Times, 20th June 2017

Echoing Paul Gilroy’s work on race and class in the UK, Dawn Foster argues that the interaction between both is key to understanding Grenfell, and the redevelopment of public housing estates in London more broadly. She highlights that white residents of Grenfell commented while their concerns over housing were ultimately ignored, they at least felt listened to by officials. In contrast, Black and South Asian survivors said they felt the official response was:

“you are a guest in this borough, and a guest in this country, you have no right to complain.”

Despite this racism, Foster notes the importance of Muslims in providing support for the victims, not only through raising the alarm, but also in co-ordinating relief efforts.


‘The Colonial Logic of Grenfell’
Nadine El-Enany, Verso Books, 03 July 2017

Placing the events at Grenfell into the context of Britain’s colonial past, El-Enany eloquently argues that the “hyper-segregation” of North Kensington, and the

“confinement of people from former European colonies to high-rise buildings lacking the most basic safety measures”

reflects colonial attempts to divide and control space in the colonies and the metropole.


‘Why was a fundraising gig blocked? The Black Music Trap’
Awate, The Guardian, 6 July 2017

Awate, an Eritrean-born rapper who grew up on an estate in Camden, North London, argues that the cancellation of a fundraising gig for survivors of Grenfell Tower at Trapeze Bar in Shoreditch reflects a wider relationship between structural racism and gentrification in contemporary London. As he notes, the closure of venues known for supporting black artists to make way for luxury flats, and the 696 Risk Assessment form, the Metropolitan Police’s “bureaucratic barrier for UK grime, bashment, dancehall, drill, trap and rap” highlights the ways in which BME cultural spaces are particularly affected by gentrification.


‘Among the victims, my kind, funny friend Khadija Saye, and her mum’
Sanaz Movahedi, The Guardian, 17 June 2017

Movahedi’s sensitive tribute to Khadija Saye, 24 year photographer, who lived on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower with her mother Mary Mendhi, is an honest testament to the power of friendship. Mohavedi, who met Saye when they were working together as Gallery Assistants at PEER in Hoxton, recounts how her friendship with Saye provided space to talk, laugh and debate about how they using their heritage in their work, and the importance of projects providing space for women of colour in a predominantly white industry.

  • PEER are fundraising for the Khadija Saye Internship, which will support young BAME candidates with a 6 month internship in the visual arts.

‘I Can Taste the Smoke’
Mark Olden, London Review of Books, 29th June 2017

Olden relays the words of Dr Talwar, who responded to the fire, by urging the need to support survivors and local communities through their trauma in the following months and years. As Olden argues, the

“long-term psychological consequences of their trauma will vary, but it’s important to know that whatever form it takes, it will be a normal response to an abnormal circumstance and shouldn’t be pathologised”.

Mollie Hanley

Written by

Arts/Culture/Tech/Power. Community organiser @opencorporates.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade