Reclaim the Streets

Reclaim the Streets, also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisation, and to the car as the dominant mode of transport.

Reclaim the Streets often stage non-violent direct action street reclaiming events such as the 'invasion' of a major road, highway or motorway to stage a party. While this may obstruct the regular users of these spaces such as car drivers and public bus riders, the philosophy of RTS is that it is vehicle traffic, not pedestrians, who are causing the obstruction, and that by occupying the road they are in fact opening up public space. The events are usually spectacular and colourful, with sand pits for children to play in, free food and music. At a minority of events, where the police have tried to violently shut down the event there has been violence between protestors and police.

Reclaim the Streets, as a collective, and by extension of all events that take this name regardless of their relationship to the original collective, often engage in non-violent direct actions of reclamation, events such as "invading" a road, highway, or freeway to hold a party.

Reclaim the Streets was originally formed by Earth First!