Commons: a social outcome of the movement of the squares

Abstract

This paper examines the evolvement of the "movement of the squares" following the end of the more visible cycles of mobilization of the square occupation. We argue that a crucial aspect of this evolution lies in the creation of a social infrastructure of alternative (re)productive projects in the form of commons. We call this type of outcomes "social" in order to distinguish them from the cultural, political and biographical outcomes underlined in typologies on the consequences of social movements. Bridging social movement studies with the literature on the commons, we build a conceptual framework of their relationship. Through a comparative analysis of the movements in Athens and Barcelona, we show how the commoning practices of the square encampments gave rise to more durable commons disseminated across cities´ social fabrics. We identify both direct and indirect mechanisms of movements´ transmutation into commons, and distinguish the former into transplantation, ideation, and breeding processes. Our second aim is to scrutinize the political dimension of these commons in relation to what has been framed as the "post-political condition". We maintain that the post-square commons constitute political and politicizing actions for activists and users for their effects on everyday life, for their capacity to link their practices with broader, structural dynamics of injustice, inequality and exclusion, and for their selective engagement with counter-austerity politics.

Untangling the radical imaginaries of the Indignados’ movement: commons, autonomy and ecologism

“…Countering the growing privatization and commodification of urban space, the struggle for the commons was characteristic of the movement of the squares (Harvey 2012, Varvarousis et al 2020. Commons are a social system of resource-sharing through cooperation and non-hierarchical participatory social doing.…”

“…The new political imaginary sprouted in these ephemeral communal spaces needs nevertheless to be 'embodied and practised within the times and spaces of everyday life' in order to open up a politicizing sequence following the period of occupations (Dikeç and Swyngedouw 2017, p. 9). Within an incipient debate on the afterlife of this cycle of mobilization (Fernandez-Savater et al 2017), scholars mostly focusing on Mediterranean Europe have recognized the role of these movements in fostering forms of social organization based on solidarity and collective self-empowerment (Hadjimichalis 2013, Flesher Fominaya 2017, Asara and Kallis 2020, Varvarousis et al 2020. From solidarity-economy initiatives, communitysupported agriculture, and cooperatives, to community gardens, social centres and other self-organized spaces, these post-square alternative projects spatialized the movement's radical imaginaries in urban environments, extending and deepening concerns of broad political change over everyday life, and embodying and promising the sedimentation and further development of Indignant radical imaginaries (Nelson 2003).…”

Direct social action beyond party politics. How new subjectivities change the idea of social transformation

“…However, up to now, the research on contemporary practise-based collective action has to a great extent concentrated on countries in Southern Europe that had suffered a severe economic crisis and austerity measures post 2008 Zamponi 2015, 2020;Forno and Graziano 2014;Giugni and Grasso 2018;Varvarousis, Asara, and Akbulut 2020;Zamponi and Bosi 2018). The rise of progressive, green or left-wing direct social action has been interpreted as a pragmatic 'bread and butter' reaction to measures of austerity (Bosi and Zamponi 2015, 383) and to a declining trust in established political institutions after the economic crisis.…”

“…The rise of progressive, green or left-wing direct social action has been interpreted as a pragmatic 'bread and butter' reaction to measures of austerity (Bosi and Zamponi 2015, 383) and to a declining trust in established political institutions after the economic crisis. Furthermore, the upsurge of direct social action has been identified as a driving force in the establishment of hybrid organizations such as Barcelona en Comú or Syriza which have explicitly connected parliamentary efforts with direct social action (Della Porta et al 2017;Varvarousis, Asara, and Akbulut 2020). However, the accounts of Southern European direct social actions and their ties to political parties also strongly emphasize that this choice of repertoire has been heavily impacted by the experience of austerity and is therefore strongly country-specific Zamponi 2015, 2020;Forno and Graziano 2014;Giugni and Grasso 2018;Zamponi and Bosi 2018).…”

“…As a vivid example, many participants of the Southern European square movements after 2008 found their ways into new prefigurative practices as well as political parties (Almeida 2010;Della Porta et al 2017). Their engagement spurred the imaginary of an alternative society, which again helped mobilizing for ideologically proximate parties, such as Barcelona en Comú, Partito Democratico and Syriza (Bazurli 2019;Varvarousis, Asara, and Akbulut 2020). Transforming existing party organizations or founding whole new political parties remains an important strategic repertoire of many social movement organizations, from the Italian Movimiento 5 Stelle to many European right-wing populist movements, including those who primarily focus on direct social action (Hutter, Kriesi, and Lorenzini 2019).…”