The current wave of “Occupy” movements across the world invoke the time honored resisting heritage of reclaiming space. Public spaces in the city are occupied as a form of political protest, of expressing dissent, as a strategy to influence the government of the city/nation.  People have also occupied spaces in the city as a strategy to access shelter or carve out spaces for themselves in otherwise unaffordable and unwelcoming places. At stake in this politics of the city is the “right to the city” (Lefebvre): to imagine and shape the life of the “city” according to one’s (own or collective)  desires. The act of occupying property is political, aimed at enabling alternatives. How do these different forms of occupying space fit together? How do Occupy protests tie to the million-person marches both historically and more recently (e.g., Hizballah’s demonstrations and encampments in central Beirut)?  How should we approach and consider acts of demarcatjng territory, the mobilization of neighborhoods and communities—for self-policing for example—outside actual arenas of resistance, and the resulting new lines of demarcation inscribed on the urban fabric, whether in Tahrir Square,  Zucotti Park, or informal settlements.

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