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by Michael AllanWhat is the right to assembly? Is it a right conferred by a government to its people? Or is it a right independent of any and every government? Can the people defy a government that confers its right to assembly? And can a government attack the people for exercising the right to assembly that it is meant to protect? Judith Butler explores these fundamental political-philosophical questions in her lecture delivered this past September in Istanbul. Her remarks are set against the backdrop of the protests in Gezi Park and link together Hannah Arendt, Tahrir Square and Occupy Wall Street as sites crucial for thinking contemporary political formations. As we endeavor to explore the meaning of publics, space and protest, in our Summer Academy, Butler's remarks furnish a framework and vocabulary for thinking about collectivities, dissent and political transformation.&#160;