(Im)Material infrastructures and the reproduction of alternative social projects in urban vacant spaces

In recent years the ‘taking back’ of vacant spaces by urban social movements has been the focus of a growing body of scholarship. While most analyses have focused on the emergence (and failure) of these initiatives, the chapter focuses on what sustains the reproduction of these initiatives over time. It does so through a comparative analysis of initiatives emerged in two European capitals, Rome and Dublin, with very different legacies of autonomous politics. The analysis shows the political work involved in making vacant property into a resource for (im)material infrastructure. This work involves the articulation of a claim made in relation to specific properties; a vision for putting lives and infrastructure in common; and an apparatus for sustaining alternative social projects over vacant spaces.