Homes for a Better Future:Ponzi Circulations and the Paradox of Alienable/ Inalienable Homes in

Postsocialist Albania

Smoki MusarajPostdoctoral Fellow

IMTFI, University of California, Irvine

View of Vlora’s New Housing Development from Hotel Bologna’s Roof, 2008

Lexicon

1993 1997

First kompani, VEFA Fajde collapse

Fajde (money lending/usury) Firma piramidale /piramida

(pyramid schemes/firms)

Two Types

kompani or kompani me pergjegjesi te kufizuara(limited liability companies)

fondacione/ fondacione bamirese (charities/charity foundations)

•Firma Piramidale:•Thresholds of Value Conversion

Trajectory I - Nafie’s Entrapment in the “Periphery”

Kombinat Lapraka

Former kreditor, Manushaqe, in front of “Vefa’s Apartments”Laprake, Tirana, 2008

Two Parallel Surges in Construction

View from Manushaqe’s balcony: post 1990s “illegal” houses build by rural

migrants

Post-1997 developments hide VEFA’s apartments from the Major Tirana-Durres Highway

Plans for a “European” CityThe “French” Model of Tirana’s Future Urban PlanTirana City Council Website

Trajectory II - Fatmira’s Relocations as Social Transformation

Village Fier Vlore

Shtepi socialiste (socialist apartments) Shtepi europjane (European homes)

•Manushaqe in her balcony cum aneks