Author and anti-gentrification activist Andrew Lee is joined in conversation by Vicky Osterweil.

Lee's new book Defying Displacement: Urban Recomposition and Social War investigates gentrification from the perspective of those fighting it. Based on interviews with activists from around the country and the experiences of neighborhoods in struggle around the world, Defying Displacement explores how a profound transformation of global cities transforms the possibilities for liberation and revolt.

Andrew Lee participated in a multi-year fight against the construction of a Google campus in San José, California that culminated in the creation of the first community land trust in the so-called Silicon Valley. He currently lives in Philadelphia and is a member of the No Arena in Chinatown Solidarity group opposing the planned 76ers arena. Lee supports grassroots social movements as managing editor for The ARD and Dismantled Magazine and his work has previously appeared in Yes! Magazine, The New Inquiry, Teen Vogue, and ROAR Magazine.

Vicky Osterweil is a writer, editor, and agitator and a regular contributor to The New Inquiry. Her book In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action was released in 2020 by Bold Type Books. Her writing has also appeared in The Baffler, The Nation, The Rumpus, Real Life, and Al Jazeera America.