This collection of critical essays considers the criminalisation of squatting from a range of different theoretical, policy and practice perspectives. While the practice of squatting has long been criminalized in some jurisdictions, the last few years have witnessed the emergence of a newly constituted political concern with unlawful occupation of land. This collection explores the significance of measures to criminalize squatting, both in Engand and in other jurisdictions, for squatters, owners and communities. It also uses these measures as a point of departure from which to interrogate wider themes relating to political philosophy, social policy, criminal justice and the nature of ownership. Overall, then, this book consider how the assimilation of squatting to a contemporary punitive turn is shaping the political, social, legal and moral landscapes of property, housing and crime.

Lorna Fox O'Mahony and David O'Mahony are based at the University of Essex. Robin Hickey is based at Queen's Univerity, Belfast.

Introduction - Criminalising squatting: setting an agenda Lorna Fox O'Mahony, David O'Mahony and Robin Hickey, Part I. The state: critical perspectives on criminalisation in the neo-liberal state 1. The Political Economy of Trespass: Re-visiting Marxist Analysis of the Law's Response to Squatting Neil Cobb, 2. Crime as property: a restorative perspective on the criminalisation of squatting and the 'ownership' of unlawful occupation David O'Mahony and Lorna Fox O'Mahony, 3. Criminalisation of Squatting: Scottish Lessons? Bonnie Holligan, Part II. The squatter: vulnerability, lifestyle, protest and political rhetoric 4. The Role of Rhetoric in the Criminalisation of Squatting Theodora Middleton, 5. The criminalisation of squatting: discourses, moral panics and resistances in the Netherlands and England & Wales Deanna Daduscand ETC Dee, 6. Criminalising the poor: squatting, homelessness, and social welfare Kesia Reeve, Part III. The land owner: protecting property and adverse possession 7. A property law critique of the criminalisation of squatting Robin Hickey, 8. Adverse Possession: Relativity to Absolutism Emma Waring, 9. The changing architectures of adverse possession and a political aesthetics of squatting Lucy Finchett-Maddock, 10. Conclusions - Developing critical perspectives on the criminalisation of squatting Lorna Fox O'Mahony, David O'Mahony and Robin Hickey