Four years ago progressive platforms won power in some of Spain’s biggest cities, including Madrid and Barcelona. The international left can learn a lot from their successes – and failures. Photo: Alex Wong

The author asks: how can local action further our goals for global transformation? First, there is a reflection on the limits of local action and local democracy. Then the author goes back to social ecology writings and other theoretical discussions to find some clues. Finally,...

As the world continues to fight the rapid spread of coronavirus, confining many people to their homes and radically altering the way we move through, work in and think about our cities, some are wondering which of these adjustments will endure beyond the end of...

Black Socialists of America is a network of anti-capitalist black Americans who are not just interested in building up a platform for black American leftists or getting the ideas of black American leftists out into popular dialogue; we’re also trying to push mass education in...

Venezuela’s communes bring together communal councils—local units of direct democratic self-government—with productive units known as social production enterprises. As Chávez himself often put it, the choice on the table is increasingly between la comuna o nada, the commune or nothing. Photo: Amber Lamoreaux

An Extinction Rebellion Handbook, recently released by Penguin, is a collection of 32 short essays that aims of pushing the message – and the confidence to take action – even further. An accessible text appropriate for introducing the average reader to both the scale of...

As we witness the limits of the imaginable being radically shifted, the Zapatista experience is more relevant than ever. Yet, despite the challenges, in 26 years of their struggle for autonomy, Zapatistas have built functioning social arrangements based on bottom-up democracy, cooperation and communal justice,...

What this crisis has demonstrated is that grassroots, bottom-up organising can be so much more effective and so much more responsive to local needs than top-down government programmes. The principles of spontaneous, participatory, open organising are the foundation of groups such as those closing a...

This Wiki is an ongoing, open-ended online collaborative database and knowledge source for the Community of Practice of the UrbanA project. It captures the learning process of the UrbanA Community of Practice and is an important part of UrbanA’s knowledge commons. It includes a database...

Cities are called to play a decisive role in mitigating and adapting to climate change and these transformations require collaboration between all levels of society, including administrations, companies, universities, research institutions and citizens. EIT Climate-KIC’s CEO Kirsten Dunlop disclosed the organisation’s Transformation, In Time strategy...

Activism is typically placed in opposition to state practice. Yet, state bodies often participate in campaigns and movements for change, drawing on different powers and capacities, including the ability to withhold goods, land and contracts. This article explores subnational state activism – what it means...

The tourism industry employs almost five times as many people as car manufacturing in the EU. In much of Southern Europe, it has been a lonely growth area throughout years of stagnation. But for cities such as Rome and Venice, its side effects have been...