Overview
Porto Alegre in Brazil is famous as the city that pioneered a revolutionary kind of local democracy. Started over a decade ago by the municipal administration of the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT), this process - called the 'participatory budget' - has steadily attracted attention from around the world, including the UN and even the financial press. This is the first book in English that allows the creators of the participatory budget to explain the process for themselves - what it is, how it is achieved, what benefits it brings. Written by key figures from Porto Alegre - including the former mayor and the head of the City Planning Office - it provides a unique insight into the revolutionary democratic changes that have proved such a success. It is also a practical how-to-do-it guide that will help local communities and policy-makers put these ideas into action. The Porto Alegre experience shows that a truly different kind of political democracy is possible - it presents a real alternative to the current model of liberal representative democracy that has been eroded by unelected transnational institutions and multinational corporations.
Full Product Details
Author: Iain Bruce
Publisher: Pluto Press
Imprint: Pluto Press
Dimensions:
Width: 13.50cm
, Height: 1.20cm
, Length: 21.50cm
Weight: 0.280kg
ISBN: 9780745320960
ISBN 10: 0745320961
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 20 September 2004
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Out of Stock Indefinitely
Availability: In Print
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Reviews
Porto Alegre has a hallowed place in the imagination of the global justice movement. Most famous for its 'participatory budget', involving thousands of residents gathering to decide how their municipal money should be spent, this large Brazilian city was also the site, from 2001, of the first three World Social Forums. Iain Bruce's impressive collection is the first book-length study available in English of Porto Alegre's participatory political project. Refreshingly unwilling to romanticise its subject matter, it takes a robustly multifaceted approach. This means interrogating different interpretations of the budget (neoliberal consultancy exercise, revolutionary pipe dream or practical alternative?) and the specific Latin American context as well as detailing the intricate mechanics of how its participatory politics actually works. A must for those seriously interested in global democracy from the grassroots up. -- The Guardian
Author Information
Iain Bruce is a British journalist and film-maker. He has made documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC. His most recent documentary for the BBC focuses on Porto Alegre and its connection with the wider global justice movement. The contributors include: Raul Pont, former Mayor of Porto Alegre; Ubiratan de Souza, former head of the Planning and Budget office in Porto Alegre and responsible for extending the participatory budget to state level in Rio Grande do Sul; Andre Passos Cordeiro, a young PT leader; and Joao Machado, an economist at the University in Sao Paulo.
