ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the criminalisation of squatting as a case study for analysing the structure of political discourse and its relationship to legislative change. The criminality of the squatters is highlighted through the opposition drawn between them and the audience or potential victims. A key tactic in response is depersonalising empty properties, discussing the 'number of properties left empty' in the passive, which has the effect of obscuring moral responsibility. Political communication takes place in 'the public sphere', which means that an analysis of the principles which speakers draw upon provides indicators of the contours of general moral consensus, or the dominant ideologies. There are numerous other players involved in the public sphere, in particular the media and the array of civil society organisations. The chapter concludes that the success of the rhetorical strategies as deployed by politicians was a crucial condition of possibility for criminalisation.
