The City is Ours

In class societies, urbanization causes division, oppression, displacement, rendering uninhabitable, etc. The unsustainable tendency towards dehumanization arising from its characteristic features is among the main reasons for the urban-centered conflicts and fractures experienced in different periods of the history of capitalism. The city dream of the oppressed based on freedom, brotherhood and equality reminds us of the spring garden part in the lines of HH Korkmazgil, "One side of us sheds leaves, the other side of us is a spring garden." However, the city is not in a state of "maddening balance" as mentioned by the poet. On the contrary, it is a space of permanent imbalance. There are defenders of life who emerge with the demand to create alternative and new lifestyles in monster cities of different kinds, where civilized, settled, educated Western capital or, as in our geography, predatory, ignorant and lumpen capital are the chief designers. These have appeared in different forms throughout history; They have created permanent autonomous areas within cities, sometimes as squatter movements, sometimes as squatters, sometimes as mini-utopias established on collectively owned lands, or temporary autonomous zones that take over different spaces in different forms at different times.

The two squats - Don Quixote Squash House and Mahalle House - which are the legacy of Gezi, whose 3rd anniversary is celebrated today, were public spaces built collectively by life advocates who emerged with the demand to create the new lifestyles mentioned, although they cannot actually continue their existence as a result of authoritarian pressures. These squats were not completely blown out of the cities, but on the contrary, they existed as alternative living spaces in the centers where the heart of the city beats the strongest. The collectivity reached an international dimension with the cumulative effect of the Occupy movements; Istanbul also became a path for the squatters. These areas, which used consensus and forums as the greatest tools and where no racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory person could establish themselves, were able to live very actively for 1.5 years.

Our City is Ours, which includes local movements in eight different cities, the famous capitals of autonomous uprisings such as Amsterdam and Berlin, as well as Pozna... It also compiles the history of cities about which we know very little, such as Athens and Athens, and draws a very colorful picture of the historical development of the practice of occupation and autonomous movements in Europe. Each chapter focuses on a city and offers a lively chronological narrative and analysis of that city, accompanied by photographs and illustrations. The chapters center on the most important events and developments in the history of these movements. Moreover, while revealing what makes these local movements different, it also examines issues such as the relationship between politics and subculture, intergenerational transformations, the role of conflicts and violence, and changes in political tactics.

While Kent Bizim offers a section from the history of autonomous practices that make visible that an alternative life is possible, it also opens a discussion that includes criticism and reconstruction of local experiences regarding squatting in this sense. The struggle to create alternative living spaces and defend life, which started with the Gezi resistance, continues and will continue to exist in different forms.
And it's still as real as the first day: Reject! Occupy! Rebuild!
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 384

Year of Print: 2016


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Kafka

Number of Pages: 384

First Printing Year: 2016

Language: Turkish