Overview

This book explores the complex relationship between urban commons – understood as a repertoire of collective action that fosters a politics of antagonism – and the local state. It critiques the dominant neo-institutionalist and neo-Marxist perspectives for their deterministic and siloed views, as well as the insufficient attention they pay to the municipal scale. The book proposes a more nuanced, urban-based, outcome-oriented approach rooted in assemblage theory. The analysis addresses a central question: can urban commons-local state assemblages benefit the politics of urban commons? The book argues that they can, provided they form rhizomatic assemblages. These allow urban commons to retain their self-governing autonomy, even as they lose some of their material autonomy. Conversely, it shows that assemblages can also take arborescent forms, allowing the local state to undermine the self-governing autonomy of the urban commons. Focusing on Barcelona, the book examines how rhizomatic and arborescent assemblages are constructed, as well as the strategies that urban commons can undertake to build rhizomatic assemblages. This book is essential for scholars, policymakers, and activists interested in urban governance, commons theory and transformative politics. It provides both theoretical insights and practical tools for harnessing the dynamics of the urban commons and the local state to drive meaningful socio-political change.

Full Product Details

Author:   Iolanda Bianchi
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.390kg
ISBN:  

9781032500768

ISBN 10:   103250076
Pages:   114
Publication Date:   06 June 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 1 Introduction: Situating Urban Commons-Local State Assemblages 1.1 Introduction 1.2 An emerging political practice in European cities: the politics of the urban commons 1.3 Urban commons-local state interactions: a siloed and deterministic understanding 1.4 An epistemology for urban commons and local state interaction: urban commons-local state assemblages 1.5 Rhizomatic and arborescent assemblages: enhancing the politics of the urban commons 1.6 Researching urban commons-local state assemblages: Barcelona, case studies and methods 2 Beyond Neo-Marxist and Neo-Institutionalist Dichotomies: Commons-State Assemblages in the Municipal Context 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The re-emergence of the commons: the neo-institutionalist and the neo-Marxist perspectives 2.3 The commons and the state: the neo-institutionalist and the neo-Marxist perspective 2.4 Bridging two perspectives: towards a more nuanced understanding of state-commons relationships 2.5 The urban dimension of the commons: the ambivalent political possibilities of the urban context 2.6 Incorporating the local dimension of the state: the political opportunities offered by local government structures 2.7 Conclusion 3 Urban Commons-Local State Assemblage Regimes in Barcelona 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Urban commons-local state assemblage regimes: from the early twentieth century until the 2000s 3.3 Urban commons-local state assemblage regimes: the 2007-8 financial crisis, urban movements and the rise of BComú 3.4 The urban commons-local state assemblage regime under BComú: urban welfare and commons-sympathetic policies 3.5 Conclusion 4 Rhizomatic Urban Commons-Local State Assemblages: Can Batlló Sociocultural Centre and the Citizen Asset Programme 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Building rhizomatic urban commons-local state assemblages: neighbourhood struggles, the neoliberalisation of urban development and the financial crisis 4.3 Rhizomatic urban commons-local state assemblages under the conservative CiU government: the Can Batlló sociocultural centre 4.4 Rhizomatic urban commons-local state assemblages under the BComú government: the Can Batlló project and the Citizen Assets programme. 4.5 Conclusion 5 Arborescent Urban Commons-Local State Assemblages: The Case of the Puigcerdà Informal Settlement, its Eviction and the Waste-Picking Cooperative 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Building rhizomatic urban commons-local state assemblages: migration flows, the financial crisis and the rise of informal settlements 5.3 Dismantling the rhizomatic urban commons-local state assemblage in the Puigcerdà settlement: the eviction and the informal settlement plan under the conservative government 5.4 Rebuilding an urban commons-local state assemblage in an arborescent form: the waste picking cooperative under the conservative and BComú government 5.5 Conclusion 6 Conclusion 6.1 Strategies for enhancing the politics of the urban commons 6.2 Exploiting the local state’s rationalities and policy interventions: developing a strategically recalibrated approach to urban politics and building networks with social movements 6.3 Navigating the tension between urban commons’ autonomy and local state support: building both self-governing and material autonomy 6.4 Occupying the local state: leveraging new municipalism to enhance the politics of the urban commons 6.5 Avenues for future research Index

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Author Information

Iolanda Bianchi (PhD in Political Science and PhD in Urban Planning) is an urban and political sociologist. She works in the field of urban governance, policy, and collective action. Her research focuses on the interplay between public and collective action at the urban scale and examines how this interplay can generate governance, policy, and social change to achieve more just, equitable and democratic cities. She currently holds a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellowship at the University of Barcelona. Previously, she was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Antwerp and a Juan de la Cierva fellow at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

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