Alternative economic practices in Spanish cities: from grassroots movements to urban policies? An institutional perspective

ABSTRACT

Alternative economic practices (AEPs) challenge capitalism and have flourished in Spain since 2008, when the economic, social, and political crisis severely hit the country. Cities are the principal places in which these practices are developing because unemployment, poverty, and foreclosures quickly rose in urban areas between 2008 and 2015. After the local election in 2015, left-wing coalitions took office in the major Spanish cities. These new governments replaced the former neoliberal and pro-growth coalitions and assumed the promotion for alternative economic modes of coordination as a part of their political agendas and new regulations. This article draws on institutional theory to frame the locally contingent outcomes of the interaction between alternative institutions and formal regulation in six Spanish cities. Empirically, we found that comprehensive plans by local authorities to enhance AEPs led to mutual reinforcement of regulations and institutions in Madrid and Barcelona. In contrast, institutions of AEPs in Oviedo, Valencia, and Valladolid substituted for the absence of regulatory response. Finally, Salamanca illustrates the case of competition between AEP institutions and local regulations, which even worked to replace AEPs.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative economic practices
• grassroots movements
• urban policy
• institutions
• Spain

Acknowledgements

This article was supported by two grants funded by the Spanish R&D Framework (MINECO/FEDER): ‘Espacios y prácticas económicas alternativas para la construcción de la resiliencia en las ciudades españolas-PRESECAL’ (CSO2015-65452-R) and ‘Retos para las ciudades del siglo XXI: una agenda de investigación para la construcción de espacios urbanos sostenibles e innovadores-RETURBAN’ (CSO2016-81718-REDT). We are also grateful to both reviewers, whose comments on earlier drafts of the article were very helpful.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

José Luis Sánchez-Hernández http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7556-6146

Johannes Glückler http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2507-1556

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad: [grant number CSO2015-65452-R, CSO2016-81718-REDT].