Spanish municipal elections: What happened with the new municipalist projects?
The article analyses the results of the 2019 municipal elections in Spain in different cities. According to the author, in order to understand the situation it is useful to pay attention to what happened to “the three souls of the movement”: traditional “left” forces, grassroots…
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…
A community in arms: the Indigenous roots of the EZLN
By building a “democracy from below,” the Zapatistas recognize the leadership of, and carry on a long tradition of resistance by Indigenous communities in Chiapas. Photo: Gareth Davies
Beyond the local trap: New municipalism and the rise of the Fearless Cities
Rather than essentialising cities as inherently progressive or democratic, the municipal is instead becoming framed as a “strategic front” for developing a transformative politics of scale. Given this critical awareness, this nascent movement demonstrates how local loyalties can be mobilised as part of a progressive…
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…
Berlin builds an arsenal of ideas to stage a housing revolution
Berlin inhabitants are discussing a series of radical measures to limit private interests and reverse the housing crisis. The struggle, led by citizens and supported by the municipal government, could be on the cusp of a housing revolution. However, this revolution could founder due to…
Urban governance and political change under a radical left government: The case of Barcelona
Local elections in May 2015 represented a major shift in the political history of Barcelona (Spain). The Barcelona en Comú candidacy, born in January 2015 under the impetus of a set of progressive social and political organizations, became the first municipal political force in the…
Which municipalism? Let’s be choosy
There is a wide array of experiences that voluntarily fall under the definition of “new municipalism”. As in other dimensions of this radical movement, practice is preceding its conceptual definition, hence making it possible to elaborate a definition based on observation. There are some common…
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…