"From Protest Marches to City Squares and Parks: The Fight for Urban Commons", Problématique: Journal of Political Studies, no. 15, 2013, pp. 3-15. (original) (raw)

Abstract

Over the past few years, we have witnessed the emergence of several social struggles that have reclaimed public spaces in a highly visible manner. Three of these struggles in particular, have attracted worldwide attention and interest, namely the Arab Spring, the Spanish Indignados, and Occupy Wall Street (OWS). This paper will argue that these movements have succeeded in capturing our imagination because they have demanded that we rethink the very meaning of the global commons in the aftermath of decades of neoliberal policies unleashed at the national and supranational levels. In fact, at the heart of each of the aforementioned struggles is a grassroots resistance to what amounts to a global enclosure movement-a regime of privatization, commodification, dispossession and disciplinary measures-which has deprived people of their right to the city. 2 Historically, public spaces are the place of assembly and politics. As such they are at the heart of any truly democratic society; and, increasingly, they are threatened by neoliberal governance. This is precisely why it is the form as much as the content of these recent waves of protest that is provoking debate, reaction and, oftentimes, state repression. From Tahrir Square and Puerta del Sol to Zuccotti Park and Taksim Square, reclaiming spaces is about the way we do politics. Challenging state control over urban spaces represents a powerful move to resist the alarming global trend toward dispossession.

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References (14)

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  7. How does Canada stand in this context of austerity has been studied by Éric Pineault and Simon Tremblay- Pépin in a research report entitled: "Cette fois est-ce different? La reprise financiarisée au Canada et Québec", Institut de recherche et d'information socio-économiques (June 11, 2013). Retrieved from http://www.iris- recherche.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Reprise-WEB-09.pdf.
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