Occupy: The spatial dynamics of discourse in global protest movements

Large-scale protests have recently transformed urban common spaces into sites of resistance. Squares and urban places, monumentally designed as political and economic centres, have been reclaimed as places for discussion and decision-making, for increasing participation and intervention in the governance of the community. Through banners and signs, open assemblies, and other communicative practices in the encampments and interconnecting physical and virtual spaces, participants permanently reconfigure the spatial context discursively. The attempt to account for on-going social phenomena from the moment they first happen, and with an international perspective, undoubtedly represents a theoretical and methodological challenge. This special issue focuses on this complex interplay between social, spatial, and communicative practices, drawing on complementary and alternative methods. Keywords: Occupy; large-scale protests; urban spaces; social movements; sites of resistance; communicative practices; desterritorialisation; reterritorialisation