Rebel Cities-David Harvey

118 REBEL CITIESaction and revolt. The actual site characteristics are important, and thephysical and social re-engineering and territorial organization of thesesites is a weapon in political struggles. In the same way that, in militaryoperations, the choice and shaping of the terrain of action plays animportant role in determining who wins, so it is with popular protestsand political movements in urban settings. 2The second major point is that political protests frequently gaugetheir effectiveness in terms of their ability to disrupt urban economies.In the spring of 2006, fo r example, widespread agitation developed inthe United States within immigrant populations over a proposal beforeCongress to criminalize undocumented immigrants (some of whom hadbeen in the country for decades) . The massive protests amounted to whatwas in effect an immigrant workers' strike that effectively closed downeconomic activity in Los Angeles and Chicago, and had serious impactson other cities as well. This impressive demonstration of the political andeconomic power of unorganized immigrants (both legal and illegal) todisrupt the flows of production as well as the flows of go ods and servicesin major urban centers played an important role in stopping theproposed legislation.The immigrants' rights movement arose out of nowhere, and wasmarked by a good deal of spontaneity. But it then fell off rapidly, leavingbehind two minor but perhaps significant achievements, in additionto blocking the proposed legislation: the formation of a permanentimmigrant workers' alliance and a new tradition in the United Statesof celebrating May Day as a day to march in support of the aspirationsof labor. While this last achievement appears purely symbolic, it neverthelessreminds the unorganized as well as the organized workers inthe United States of their collective potentiality. One of the main barriersto the realization of this potentiality also became clear in the rapiddecline of the movement. Largely Hispanic-based, it fa iled to negotiateeffectively with the leadership of the African-American population. Thisopened the way fo r an intense barrage of propaganda orchestrated by theright-wing media, which suddenly shed crocodile tears for how African­American jobs were being taken away by illegal Hispanic immigrants.3The rapidity and volatility with which massive protest movements haverisen and fallen over the last few decades calls for some commentary. In