ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the theoretical framework for analysis, from the criminalisation of squatting as evidence of relentless expansion of criminal law, to Christie's theory on ownership of conflict and analytical tools offered by a restorative justice perspective. One effect of separating the criminality of squatting from the housing context of the squatter and the wider community interest in affordable housing and effective use of housing stock was to enable the owner of the empty residential property to be identified as a character deserving the protection of the criminal law. The new 'national resource' protected by section 144 is the capital investment in property, not the use of that property; the new model of 'ideal citizen-owner' is clearly not tied to stewardship of the land itself, but to capital investment. In developing policies which are based around partnership with local communities, multi-level governance and civil society may be developed and a sense of 'democratic space' may act to revive democratic politics.
