In the face of climate catastrophe, mounting inequalities and growing democratic unrest, public services are more important than ever. Across the world, people are building better, more democratic and inclusive public services because privatisations are failing. Amsterdam is confronted with challenges comparable to those facing...

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...

The new municipalist agenda is proving its capacity to provide effective responses to the demands for greater democracy at the local level. Furthermore, there is another, complementary argument for municipalism: it has the potential to feminize politics in a way that political action at the...

In the absence of mass struggles, the radical left  in Italy has declined as an electoral force across most of the country, even despite the PD’s abandonment of social democracy in favor of a US-style corporate liberalism. However, there is another side to the Italian...

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:...

From 7 to 12 March 2017, the Biennale des Villes en Transition (Biennale of Cities in Transition) took place in Grenoble, organized by its City Council. Issues such as the Right to Housing, the management of common goods and public spaces as well as the...

Gianpaolo Baiocchi offers a historical overview of what he terms Radical Cities in Latin America and draws out some lessons from the past 30 years. Comparing these experiences to municipal politics in Europe and  elsewhere, he highlights the distinctive features and charts the ups and...

A grassroots movement in the Serbian capital has its eye on 2022 local elections as the next turning point in a battle to bring down the country’s ruling Progressive Party and President Aleksandar Vucic. In power since 2012, the Progressives have been stung by an...

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

Although Germany has failed to meet its climate objectives, and energy companies are still clinging to coal, a small district North of Berlin is showing the way. Commitments made by both local authorities and citizens to renewable energy have paid off, with renewable energy sources...

To fight the water privatization that is taking place in Jakarta, the organization Amrta Institute for Water Literacy is helping make water accessible to all the inhabitants of Jakarta. The  organization Amrta Institute for Water Literacy was shortlisted for the Transformative Cities People’s Choice Award...

The new municipalism incarnated by experiences like Barcelona en Comú has become a model of political transformation. A new hypothesis seeks to put the international context in the centre of municipal debates and municipalism in the centre of global debates. The conclusion reached is that...