Ukraine is the largest country by territory within the European continent and a global geopolitical flashpoint. At a time of trauma and transition, Ukrainian cultural producers have begun to confront questions of Ukraine’s national identity and linguistic diversity with new urgency and fresh perspective. This chapter sheds light on the evolving dynamic between multilingualism and identity in contemporary Ukrainian culture by employing the practices of both sociological and literary analysis. Through semi-structured interviews and close readings of prominent artistic texts, we focus on the ways in which Ukrainian cultural producers embrace linguistic diversity while simultaneously privileging the Ukrainian language and promoting national consolidation in wartime. This ‘practical multilingualism’ is particularly evident in literary and cinematic dialogues that feature characters discussing their belonging to Ukraine across languages. In the field of nationalism studies, such ‘scenes of talk’ (Herman 2006) invite a reassessment of the almost exclusive emphasis on narrative in analyses of the role of culture in the life of the nation.

Chapter 2 presents the theoretical contribution of the argument: Successful organizers rely on an understudied and remarkably effective approach – experiential tools – activities designed to attract participants by offering transformative experiences. Often wielded by politically mobilized creatives, experiential tools come in four types – events, social archives, neighbourhood tours, and performances – with the goal of making the protest site the place to be.The chapter sets experiential tools in the context of the literature on social movements. It also discusses the role of networks and prior protest experience in effective mobilization. The chapter moves on to discuss the second outcome of interest: protest impact. It argues that when protestors have allies in city council and competition between local and higher level executives, mobilization has policy impact. The legal system and the variety of capitalismin each country influences the strategies of protest organizers, with important differences between liberal and coordinate market economies.

Chapter 11 examines Union de Vecinos, a group in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles that deployed a radical approach to fighting displacement: It directed its militant protest directly at art galleries, identified as the key culprits of gentrification. Alarmed by the negative publicity and the increasing inability to conduct normal business, gallery directors reached out to residents and activist groups. But the response was defiant, and in response some galleries closed. While the group had some success, it is too early to assess the overall impact of the strategy. Yet the approach merits examination because it is an innovative, ambitious, and analytically coherent response to the threat of displacement. The campaign questioned the role of cultural producers and experiential tools as it called for a radical approach to artistic practice, able to counter art's ties to a capitalist market. It also contributed to the debate on resistance against gentrification because of its harsh critique of the nonprofit sector, judged to be exceedingly accommodating and moderate in its demands.

Chapter 8 examines mobilization in three cases in Buenos Aires, where union support is strong. It also shows that when unions failed to support a neighborhood organization, residents shifted their strategy to experiential tools instead. The first two of the anti-displacement groups examined – the Movimiento de Ocupantes e Inquilinos Movement of Renters and Occupiers (MOI) and the Asamblea del Pueblo San Telmo – actually constitute official chapters in the national union, Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina (CTA). That link provided renters and squatters with exceptional organizational and mobilization resources. Despite this common linkage, the two organizations differed strategically. The MOI engaged in direct actions, rallies, occupations, and, above all, in extensive technocratic negotiations with authorities over Law 341 and its implementation. The Asamblea del Pueblo San Telmo, instead, focused on occupations and direct actions and pursued a strategy of subversive resistance, consciously serving a marginal population in order to discourage gentrification. In contrast, the Asamblea Parque Lezama lacked close institutional and political affiliation to unions, and, rather than resorting to militancy, it succeeded with experiential tools.