Abstract

This paper aims to provoke a reflection on some recent episodes in which Regional and Municipal authorities have opposed the repressive measures adopted by the central Government to fight the squatting movement. By means of a case-study approach, the research has detected the arguments that local institutions have used to “disarmµ the criminal provisions for trespassing, as, for example, the recognition of the offenders’ “state of necessityµ. A further perspective is offered by the cooperation agreements between local institutions and citizens, which have looked beyond the housing emergency as they pursue the renewal, shared management and collective access to specific buildings, according to the theories of commons. This last profile will be explored by highlighting episodes in which Mayors and Regional Governments, under the pressure of the squatters’ movement, have borrowed the militants’ language and terms to preserve – and, so, “legalizeµ – the social and cultural activities offered to the community by the occupiers.