Legalizing the Occupation: The Teatro Valle as a Cultural Commons

This essay explores the legal and political dimensions of the occupation of the Teatro Valle in Rome and the transformation of the theater into a common goods foundation. The theater workers, acting together as a social movement for the protection of cultural commons, utilized the legal entity of the foundation to ensure its common as opposed to public or private ownership. The foundation serves not only to protect the theater from privatization but also structures its governance in such a way as to encourage and stimulate the collective process of cultural production.