Making sense of the protests in Turkey (and Brazil): contesting neo-liberal urbanism in ‘Rebel Cities’

The article is organised in five parts: first, we offer a brief overview of the protests and the concept of the ‘right to the city’; second, we discuss arguments about the role of democracy and representation, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian leadership style in relation to the cause of the protests; third, we put forward our case for comparing the protests with those which occurred in similarly rising economies, namely Brazil, rather than the demonstrations that occurred in countries experiencing a downward economic turn; fourth, we explore the role of young people in the protests; and finally, we look at where the movement is now.