Movements on the left are increasingly looking to build power at the local level. The question is how we can leverage municipal gains to transform the system at expanding scales. Photo: Hello I’m Nik 🇬🇧

The global movements of 2011 reconfigured urban space as a new interface of collective action and policy creation. The new political narrative of cities is serving to counteract prevailing neoliberal narratives.More than a phrase, “the Cities of the Commons vs. global neoliberalism” could be understood…

America’s cities and local leaders have emerged as the institutional frontline of resistance against the Trump administration.However, cities can be more than just a last line of defense against the worst excesses of an authoritarian central government: they have huge, positive potential as spaces from…

In 2015, a wave of social movements lifted left-wing mayors to power in Spain. Their experience in office shows the importance of linking institutional power to bottom-up mobilization. Fearless Cities, a recent book produced by BenComú activists, has sought to draw wider lessons from these…

A radical change is taking place. Cities around Europe – through platforms, movements and international networks – are creating paths for citizens to participate in and influence politics directly. Joan Subirats, one of the founders of Barcelona’s municipalist platform Barcelona en Comú, discusses how cities…

Founded in 2005, Ciudad Futura formed in response to increased land speculation by developers on the impoverished outskirts of the city of Rosario. In recent years, it has grown into a province-wide movement in Santa Fe characterized by its local community initiatives in the areas…