What is “new municipalism”, and can it really combat austerity?
New municipalism uses local government procurement as a powerful tool for reshaping local economies. The municipalist approach is seen by many as more affordable, sustainable and socially beneficial. Photo: Lewis Burrows
New municipalism in London
London is a crucial site in the struggle for better local politics, because it is a city in which many people have been let down by the failures of traditional economic development. The traditional models are struggling to deliver social and economic outcomes that meet…
PIGS, from crisis to self-organisation
A country or a society in crisis is not a “time of opportunities“ as we often hear when stock markets are translated into real life. Crises are thrilling times of resistance, but also desperate moments of destruction. The term PIGS started to be used more…
Libertarian municipalism: networked cities as resilient platforms for post-capitalist transition
The old model of secure livelihood through wages is collapsing at the same time that new technology is destroying the material basis for dependence on corporations and the state. This is to a large extent a transition to a post-capitalist society centered on the commons….
Dissemination report: Governing in and against austerity
This dissemination report titled Governing in and Against Austerity provides an overview and reports initial findings from eight case studies on austerity governance in Athens, Baltimore, Barcelona, Dublin, Leicester, Melbourne, Montreal and Nantes. Find the report here: Governing in and against austerity Photo: Philippe Oursel
From citizen platforms to Fearless Cities: Europe’s new municipalism
The growing momentum of local democratic initiatives seizing institutional power at a city level has great potential to address national and transnational political problems. In 2017 Barcelona hosted the Fearless Cities Summit, an international gathering which took important first steps in linking the new experiments…
What is social ecology?
What defines social ecology as “social” is its recognition of the often overlooked fact that nearly all our present ecological problems arise from deep-seated social problems. Conversely, present ecological problems cannot be clearly understood, much less resolved, without resolutely dealing with problems within society. Photo:…