The "politics of the street" is booming, but also raises questions. Are assemblies as an expression of the sovereignty of the people to be welcomed from a radical democratic perspective or do they give cause for concern about the rule of the "mob"? And who is "the people" anyway? Judith Butler gets to the bottom of the dynamics and tactics of public assemblies under the current economic and political conditions. The vanishing point of this highly political book is an ethic of non-violent resistance in an endangered world in which the foundations of solidarity-based action are gradually disintegrating or being destroyed.