It’s ‘business as usual’ as glass prisons continue to be constructed in London, encasing the ruins of the 1980s in an attempt to put a gloss on the failings of the system.  After all, they say, ‘Economic growth is key’. The rest of us have a better handle on reality, […]

“Sarah” (not her real name) gets ready for work with her normal care and attention.  With a last check of her phone she leaves and, closing the door behind her, fixes the special blinkers that mean she can easily avoid catching anyone’s eyes (should, for a moment, she forget to […]

The demand for “the right to the city” addresses the state in two ways. Firstly, it appeals to the state to grant or uphold a right. Secondly, it is concerned with the privatisation of public spaces or housing i.e., places within the state’s domain. These provide reason enough to ask what […]

Throughout the course of Mathieu Kassovitz’s seminal realist film, La Haine, the writing on a billboard in the streets of Paris is altered. What at first promised “The world is yours” is reappropriated, with spray paint, to counter-propose: “The world is ours.” Our considerations of these statements explore the basic assumptions, […]

“We are gone and yet we remain.” As tensions continue to rise surrounding housing and right-to-the-city issues in Switzerland, one squat’s struggle was derailed at a critical moment by violence.  How the Schoch Family of Zurich’s Binz responded, and what we can learn from their equanimity. May 31st was the expected […]

Sean Bonney’s Urban Commons Since Los Indignados, OWS and the Arab Spring, symbolic popular occupations of urban space have once again asserted themselves as important ways of expressing dissent in cities. Recent marches in Sao Paolo and the occupation of Taksim Gezi Park, Istanbul, took place, whether they were articulated […]

There were celebrations in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and across this huge nation yesterday as Brazil won the Confederations Cup, comprehensively beating reigning world champions Spain three-nil at the famous Maracanã Stadium and, in the process, raising hopes that Brazil can be victorious when they host the World […]

Tucked away down a small, anonymous side street in the Lapa district of Rio a prominent sociologist, Luiz Edoardo Soares, was about to give a talk in a social centre about recent events in Brazil. First he gave a brief interview to a BBC camera crew, the reporter dressed in […]

A wage, these days, is increasingly hard to come by, and increasingly precarious when found. The proliferation of agency work, zero-hours contracts and underemployment is well-documented. Microtasking, where people are paid per task to work from home for tech giants like Amazon, is perhaps the most developed form yet of […]

I am a salesman, I sell things for a living. What I sell has no importance. Selling is always the same process, with only minor adjustments according to whether you sell cars or paintings, films or hams. What remains the same is the distinctive manner in which the consciousness of […]