TERRITORIAL FORMATION ON THE MARGIN - URBAN ANTI-PLANNING IN BROOKLYN

Theorists of social movements have identified a growing number of 'new social movements' which seek to 'bypass the state' in their pursuit o f social power. This article proposes that one way to appreciate the c hanging opportunity structure for such 'new social movements' is to di rect one's attention to changes in the degree and nature of state terr itorial control. it is argued that political-economic transformation i s resulting in a situation in which margins are emerging: areas which are clearly within the boundaries of nation-states but in which the in tensivity of state political-territorial control is limited. Social mo vements are gathering residual sources of social power in these suppos edly 'emptied' margins in an effort to construct alternative forms of territorial control. 'Their attempts to redefine territory challenge t he construction and uses of territoriality which enable capitalist use s of space. An analysis is undertaken of one particular movement from the margin-the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area (ATURA) Coalition, a grass-roots urban planning/community control movement in Brooklyn, New York City.