“In the spirit of Oscar Romero”?!

Abstract

As the sociologist Thomas F. Gieryn argues, buildings give structure to social networks and persistence to behavioural patterns. This essay focuses on the Oscar Romero House (ORH) in Bonn/Germany as a dynamic and historically changing space for networks of civic engagement from the Latin American solidarity movement to climate justice activism. The changes during the history of the house, as a mirror of socio-historical developments, are accompanied by negotiation processes about the question of the significance of the namesake of the house, Oscar Romero, and what Romero as a figurehead represents.