Space and the desire for democracy in the 15M

Purcell, Mark

doi:10.1111/tran.12413

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This work conceives of democracy in a more autonomist way, and explores the democratic potential of horizontal movements and self-managed initiatives (e.g. Holloway, 2010;Pickerill and Chatterton, 2006;Purcell, 2021;Sitrin, 2006). Over the last 15 years, my own idea of democracy has engaged both of these ways of thinking (Purcell, 2008(Purcell, , 2013.…”

Section: What Is Democracy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Theorising democratic space with and beyond Henri Lefebvre

Purcell

2022

Urban Studies

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The purpose of this article is to theorise space in a way that resonates with democracy. It develops a radical understanding of democracy, as an affirmative project undertaken by people to directly manage their affairs themselves. To theorise space, the article takes up Henri Lefebvre’s concept of ‘differential space’, which it conceives as an autonomous force that produces itself through the operation of desire. This self-production, Lefebvre argues, takes place in and through everyday acts of survival of those who inhabit space. The article then situates this abstract discussion of space, again following Lefebvre, in the context of ongoing worldwide urbanisation. The urban, Lefebvre argues, has agglomerated not only capitalist productive power but also the differences that exist outside of capitalist logic, and so it is where we should be looking for revolutionary difference in the world today. Taking all these insights together, we can see the project of democracy as an affirmative project undertaken by people to directly manage the production of urban space themselves. Lastly, the article argues that the project of democracy must extend beyond Lefebvre’s thought. It thinks through one example, which is the question of the ‘we’ of democracy. It argues that to properly understand the question of difference in democratic community, we are very well served in turning to the work of Judith Butler.

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Section: What Is Democracy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Theorising democratic space with and beyond Henri Lefebvre

Purcell

2022

Urban Studies

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“…The crisis management and its socially devastating consequences were met by mass protests and social movements around health, education, housing and labour rights, particularly in the European semi-periphery (Bailey et al, 2018; Balković, 2019). In both Barcelona and Zagreb, new democratic practices developed in occupations of squares (Dolenec et al, 2017; Purcell, 2021). But, despite the massive extent of the protests, especially in Spain, national and local governments remained rigorous in their policies of budget discipline, that is, (urban) austerity (Davies and Blanco, 2017: 1523).…”

Section: Municipalist Practice: Interruptions In the State Machinerymentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrupting the neoliberal masculine state machinery? Strategic selectivities and municipalist practice in Barcelona and Zagreb

Sarnow

Tiedemann

2022

Urban Studies

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All municipalist initiatives are confronted with what Marx called the ‘state machinery’: an ensemble of apparatuses protecting the status quo of capitalist accumulation. It is difficult for municipalist movements to sustain their momentum of storming the city halls in the face of this reality. Looking at Barcelona En Comú (Barcelona in Common) and Zagreb Je NAŠ! (Zagreb Is Ours!), the article discusses what experiences municipalist actors gain when inspecting the state machinery close up. We identify the traces they leave on the materiality of the (local) state: organising participation as conflict, scandalising the serving of particularistic interests, and confronting sexist behaviour within the masculine apparatuses. Nevertheless, the examples illustrate the systemic inertia of the hegemonically programmed state apparatuses and the difficulties of breaking with neoliberal and masculinist policies.

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“…In these contexts, the popular assemblies adapted their internal mechanisms to the different characteristics of the urban areas and to the issues that mattered to local residents in those communities in terms of liveability and opportunities for social interaction. In the historic city areas, the assemblies brought together the local activists involved in the urban commons centres with university students and other political activists, reproducing forms of collective gathering and agora-based democracy that closely paralleled those characterising the 15-M acampadas in Spanish cities in the early 2010s (Purcell, 2021). In March 2016, Massa Critica formed a working group dedicated to discussing ways in which these assemblies could become a permanent ‘new institution’ at the city level.…”

Section: Neither Inside Nor Outside Institutions: a Politics Of The I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

New institutions and the politics of the interstices. Experimenting with a face-to-face democracy in Naples

2022

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This article analyses the politics of new municipalism in Naples in relation to the constellation of ‘new institutions’ that has arisen from this politics. These ‘new institutions’ are illustrative of a politics of the interstices as a distinctive trait of the convergence between city government and social movements in Naples, as the latter have opted for staying neither outside nor inside official institutions and the city government has adapted its conduct to this strategy. To illustrate this point, the article explores the emerging constellation of ‘new institutions’ in Naples, which is understood as an embryonic form of radical ‘face-to-face democracy’ (in Murray Bookchin’s terms) at the municipal level, that departs from mainstream conceptions of participatory democracy and commons-based democracy. Through this analysis, the article argues that the experience of new municipalism in Naples offers evidence of a kind of participatory urban democracy understood not in a procedural sense but in a genuinely political vein, where civic participation and political conflict productively coexist with institutional creativity.

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Space and the desire for democracy in the 15M

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

Theorising democratic space with and beyond Henri Lefebvre

Theorising democratic space with and beyond Henri Lefebvre

Interrupting the neoliberal masculine state machinery? Strategic selectivities and municipalist practice in Barcelona and Zagreb

New institutions and the politics of the interstices. Experimenting with a face-to-face democracy in Naples

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