The City is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Mov ements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present Bart van der Steen, Ask Katzeef, and Leendert van Hoogenhuijze (eds.) [Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2014. (336 pp., 65 b&w illus.)]The City is Ours is a collection that provides engaging glimpse into localized, subversive, political, and performative praxis. The book brings together activists, anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, historians, cultural and historical geographers, and others, where each author attempts to complicate simplistic understandings of squatters and autonomous movements by exploring several European locales. More specifically, the book focuses on the unique historical contexts of these movements, mapping their countercultural actions (and reception), and critically reflecting upon the work done by members of these movements. Contributors to The City is Ours cover Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Brighton, Copenhagen, London, Poznan, and Vienna in charting national, European, and neoliberal influences on these locations and radical movements. The chapters offer a rich collection of specific cultural studies and histories which taken together greatly contribute to broader discussions of squatting, autonomous movements, and urban issues of homelessness.The primary contribution of this collection is its detailed evidence against preconceptions that insurgencies such as the Occupy movement of 2011 seem to arise from nowhere (IX). The chapters provide accessible cultural and historical contexts for each unique, localized swell of insurgence. From these narratives, the authors examine contacts between the activists and the institutions they resist as well as communication among the activists themselves. United under European left-Libertarian politics, each chapter approaches the relationship between squatters and autonomous movements as often inherent, though not without tension.As a point of entry, readers should consider a primary issue with squatting: the dominant images of squatters often fail to reflect the reality of squatting populations, neglecting the racial and ideological diversity, issue explored in Nazima Kadir's chapter on myths in squatter representation. Kadir's contribution is particularly enlightening and foundational to the rest of the volume. Her engaging description of the on-the-ground organizational labor required to squat a building grows from her first-hand experiences. Kadir's accounts illustrate tensions that occur within these groups, aiding readers in understanding the diversity within them as integral reminder to avoid over-generalization. Through defining some of the archetypal categories squatters may occupy - wild squatters, crusty punk s, baby punks, hippie activists, student squatters, and campaigners - Kadir illustrates a youthful and varied assemblage of participants working in tandem to locate, research, squat, and maintain occupancy of buildings. She describes the Amsterdam movement as an amalgamation of anachronistic and myopic European youth subculture, housing activism, and a trajectory of individual self-realisation in a high-pressured urban space (59). This useful and engaging portrait serves as a basis for approaching each of the succeeding chapters and would function as excellent primer on the topic of performing localized activism.Emblematic of the historicizing moves made by most of the authors, Gregor Kritidis' writing offers a detailed timeline of the anarchist and libertarian movements of Greece, identifying specific blocks of time and their contexts across the country to better understand how a movement develops and is received in different political and economic climates. Kritidis establishes specific periods of development, linking to culturally significant trends in music as well as effects of major political events. Kritidis' work is impressive in its ability to isolate moments where the culture at large shifted even slightly. …