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Corbyn’s “municipal socialism” offers a welcome new approach on housing—but will it be enough?
5th February 2018As part of what he calls new “municipal socialism”, Jeremy Corbyn recently advocated giving local authorities the power to immediately seize empty properties in order to redress the increasingly shocking levels of homelessness. The outlines of these can be seen in cities like Preston or...
World cities turn their streets over to walkers and cyclists
11th April 2020A growing number of cities around the world are temporarily reallocating road space from cars to people on foot and on cycles to keep key workers moving and residents in coronavirus lockdown healthy and active while socially distancing. Photo: Jack Van Hel
The rise of Poland’s urban movement
12th December 2014In 2011, an informal coalition was formed (the Urban Movements Congress) comprising urban activist groups from all over Poland. In the local elections of 2014 some of these platforms got seats in many city councils. The author explains where this movement comes from and the...
Public ownership in times of coronavirus
15th April 2020People around the world are rallying to fight privatisation and to bring services back under public control. In tandem with the failure of private corporations to provide affordable and good-quality services – such as health, water, education, energy and transportation – support for remunicipalisation is...
Digital tools for democracy
10th March 2020Name Area Description i) Tools for collaborative documents Minutes Information Management/ Documentation Minutes is an excellent open tool for those who just need a simple and professional interface to create quick memos of the results of a meeting. The template can be as simple...
Social ecology: Communalism against climate chaos
27th December 2017Social ecology, as understood by Murray Bookchin and others, can offer a response to the challenges of climate change. The author describes the philosophy of social ecology and also its political strategy in order to reflect about its ability to overcome the limits of local...
The “Preston Model”. A UK city takes the lead in progressive procurement
24th June 2020Strongly affected by deindustrialisation, and more recently by austerity policies imposed on councils following the financial crisis, Preston, in the north of England, has chosen to no longer depend on external investors for its “development” and radically reorient its public procurement to favour local economic...
Making the transition from extraction to regeneration with Brandon King
23rd December 2019Brandon King, Founding Member of Cooperation Jackson, shares his experiences helping conceive and build strategies and social structures that reveal that we can put our shoulders to the wheel and build a truly just and sustainable future. Photo: Elizabeth Lies
Towards democratic ownership of public services
12th May 2020The Covid-19 crisis has made clear the disastrous effects of years of austerity, social security cuts, and public service privatisation. But it has also demonstrated that public services and the people who operate them are truly the foundation of healthy and resilient societies. As privatisation...
How does a single issue civic movement transform into a political entity?
31st July 2019An interview with Dobrica Veselnovic, co-founder of Ne Da(vi)mo Beograd during the Our Common City conference held in Budapest (February 22 & 23, 2019). Part one: Part two:
Why libertarian municipalism is more needed today than ever before
25th November 2018We can understand almost all of today’s crises to be crises of democracy. Representative ‘democracy’ has turned people from empowered citizens to alienated constituents. Libertarian municipalism, which promotes direct democracy, is an essential tool to regain power at the citizen level and provide solutions to...
Will coronavirus kill democratic local government?
1st July 2020If there’s one lesson the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is that local government plays a vital role in people’s lives – and elected local politicians are better placed to make decisions that affect the communities they serve than distant apparatuses with little understanding...