The battle for the commons in neoliberal Colombia
The local struggle to protect the Rio Blanco ecological reserve epitomizes the resistance against the destructive impact of decades of neoliberal development. Photo: Néstor Morales
Organising for the right to housing in London
Housing in London is a miserable experience for many, and it is most miserable of all for private renters. But London Renters’ Union has arrived! The article explains how the union works to transform individual difficulties into a collective struggle, which are the strategies, how…
Social ecology and the right to the city: Towards ecological and democratic cities
Cities are increasingly a major cause of, but also a potential solution for, environmental and social crises. Across the world, a new wave of urban social movements are arising: movements building economic, social, and political alternatives based on solidarity, equality, and participation. At the forefront…
New municipalism, new culture, new democracy
Today the forces of Municipalism and Culture are interdependent and merged to create a profound and sustainable shift in policy and politics and, most critically, in lived experience for the many and not the few in the journey towards a new democracy. This short paper…
Municipalism and culture: A cross fertilization for and with the people and the city
As part of the introductory speech made by activist and academic Elisabeth Dau in the Open Eyes Economy Summit held in Krakow on the 20th of November 2018, she explores the relationship between municipalism and cultural policies as “democratic culture.” Photo: Stephan Müller
Fearless Cities municipalism: experiments in autogestion
One of the common features of the experiences gathered around the notion of Fearless Cities is their will to decentralize power by bringing it closer to the people. More than about policies themselves, new municipalism is concerned about the construction of new forms of organization…
Becoming mayor to abolish the position of mayor?
Many social movements have created municipalist platforms, run for municipal elections, were elected and are now trying to change the game of traditional representative democracy from the municipality. This paper primarily intends to capture the tensions and paradoxes generated by the adoption by these movements…
Decentralising geographies of political action: Civic tech and placebased municipalism
“Place-based civic tech”, citizen engagement technology codesigned by local government, civil society and global volunteers, constitutes a priced tool for the decentralization of power and decision-making. Together with certain offline practices, it fosters the politicization of civil society and renews the infrastructure of democracy. In…
Dual power: a strategy to build socialism in our time
The Libertarian Socialist Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America has reached consensus as to the broad outlines of a revolutionary strategy that fits our current context and material conditions. The article depicts the notion of dual power and the need to build it, as…