The Right to the City – Transnational Institute of Social Ecology

Radicalising democracy: How Hannah Arendt’s legacy endures in Barcelona

Written by Hettie O’Brien. Excerpt from Verso’s blog In 1963, having fled Germany for New York, political philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote that: “no one could be called either happy or free without participating, and having a share, in public power”. Had she been alive to witness Brexit, the ascendancy of Donald Trump, and the election […]

November 29, 2018
Posted in Analysis, Articles
Tags: Barcelona en Comú, Participatory Democracy, The Right to the City 3 Comments

Citizens’ Assemblies: Democracy that Works

Written by Marcin Gerwin. The following post is Chapter 1 of his new publication Citizen Assemblies: Guide to Democracy that Works. Imagine a group of people of different ages who meet in order to settle some matter important for a city, a country or for the European Union. This group was not selected through elections […]

November 28, 2018
Posted in Analysis
Tags: direct democracy, municipalism, The Right to the City

Municipalism in Spain: From Barcelona to Madrid, and Beyond

Written by Vicente Rubio-Pueyo. Originally published as a brochure by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung The 2017 Catalan independence referendum has been called “undemocratic,” a “power grab,” and even a “coup d’état” in international media. No matter the specific terminology, the referendum as well as the dispute over its democratic legitimacy indicate that Spanish political culture […]

August 12, 2018
Posted in Analysis
Tags: municipalism, The Right to the City

City, Municipality, Commons: Rebel Cities in the Neoliberal Age

Written by Yavor Tarinski Introduction With the rise of cities, a major power shift is occurring this century across the planet in both economic and political terms. Dimitrios Roussopoulos[1] Nowadays the importance of the city is increasing, not only because of the fact that the majority of the human population is currently living […]

March 1, 2018
Posted in Analysis, Articles
Tags: Libertarian Municipalism, The Right to the City

Towards Free Public Transport

Written by Judith Dellheim and Jason Prince. This excerpt is part of the book “Free Public Transport: And Why We Don’t Pay to Ride Elevators” (Black Rose Books, 2017). With rising costs of housing in cities around the world, increased levels of household debt, skyrocketing costs in education and medical care, all spiraling out of […]

November 18, 2017
Posted in Analysis, Articles
Tags: Free Public Transport, The Right to the City