7. Occupying the City

Providing a close examination of the strategy of building occupations, the chapter gives particular attention to the question of legality and the sophisticated discourse of rights that movement leaders have developed to defend their actions. While the act of entering and taking over abandoned buildings breaks the civil and penal codes, the housing movements draw on the constitutional right to housing and the concept of the right to the city enshrined in the City Statute to bestow legality upon occupations. The legal ambiguity of occupations is critical, and the chapter draws on debates around civil disobedience to highlight how the movements also use the act of occupation to draw attention to the illegality of the state’s own actions.