Contesting Neoliberal Urbanism on the European Semi-periphery: The Right to the City Movement in Croatia

Abstract

This essay is a case study of the Right to the City movement in Croatia, one of the largest citizens’ struggles in the country’s recent history. Firstly, we argue that the movement managed to avoid the supposedly unavoidable Michels’s iron law of oligarchy. Outlining the movement’s trajectory in five phases, we show how it always prioritised social impact over institutional self-preservation. Secondly, we analyse movement outcomes as viewed by activists. In interviews with activists we establish features of evolving activist citizenship as well as ways in which participation in the movement influenced the forging of alliances among organisations and initiatives.

Notes

¹ The interview protocol was adapted from a study on the biographical consequences of participation in student protests in Croatia, reported in Ćulum and Doolan (2015).

² Group 22, available at: www.grupa22.hr, accessed 20 September 2017.

³ In 2014, students occupied the University of Skopje in Macedonia.

⁴ ‘Maribor Mayor Resigns after Violent Protests in Slovenia’, Bloomberg, 6 December 2012, available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-06/maribor-mayor-resigns-after-violent-protests-in-slovenia, accessed 14 June 2016.

⁵ ‘Bosnia–Herzegovina Hit by Wave of Violent Protests’, The Guardian, 7 February 2014, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/bosnia-herzegovina-wave-violent-protests, accessed 14 June 2016.

⁶ ‘Survey: Macedonians Lose Faith as Crisis Escalates’, Balkan Insight, 10 June 2016, available at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/survey-macedonia-crisis-escalates-06-09-2016, accessed 14 June 2016.

⁷ ‘Serbian Activists Plan Fresh Waterfront Protest’, Balkan Insight, 25 May 2016, available at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/protest-in-belgrade-scheduled-for-wednesday-05-25-2016, accessed 14 June 2016.

⁸ See also Schmid (2012).

⁹ The Right to the City website, available at: http://pravonagrad.org/, accessed 28 November 2015.

¹⁰ More information about the conference is available at: http://www.mi2.hr/programi-i-projekti/commons/#T2, accessed 28 November 2015.

¹¹ The newsletter is available at: https://monoskop.org/images/3/3d/Operation.City_2008_The_Neoliberal_Frontline_Urban_Struggles_in_Post-Socialist_Societies.pdf, accessed 27 June 2016.

¹² The handbook is available at: https://monoskop.org/images/f/f4/Operacija.Grad_Prirucnik_za_zivot_u_neoliberalnoj_stvarnosti.pdf, accessed 27 June 2016.

¹³ Right to the City Newsletter, 2008, available at: https://monoskop.org/images/3/3d/Operation.City_2008_The_Neoliberal_Frontline_Urban_Struggles_in_Post-Socialist_Societies.pdf, accessed 27 June 2016.

¹⁴ In employing the concept of the semi-periphery (Wallerstein 1979), we want to stress that we understand Southeast Europe not only with respect to its geographical location vis-à-vis Western Europe, but as possessing political economic features of both core and peripheral regions, and acting as a mediator and an ‘in-between space’ (Wallerstein 1979; Chase-Dunn & Hall 1997). More importantly, following Wallerstein’s world systems theory, we consider the semi-periphery as carrying politically and socially transformative potential, making it not so much a geographical descriptor, but rather a position within the world hierarchy through which social and economic transformation can be interpreted (Domazet & Marinović Jerolimov 2014). In terms of what this means for our analysis, we do not approach social contention in Southeast Europe simply as an ‘echo’ of events taking place elsewhere, but as a phenomenon in its own right, which might carry important insights into informing future emancipatory practices.

¹⁶ From an interview with the project coordinator, Deutche Welle, 21 March 2005, available at: http://www.dw.com/hr/nevidljivi-zagreb/a-2282374-1, accessed 28 November 2015.

¹⁷ This expression originates from Adbusters, a Canadian-based organisation that publishes a magazine by the same title. They are known for their anti-consumerism, and in particular for ‘busting’ and subverting advertisements for well-known brands. See more at: https://www.adbusters.org/, accessed 28 November 2015.

¹⁸ The Right to the City website, available at: http://pravonagrad.org/, accessed 28 November 2015.

¹⁹ Article written by the founders of the Right to the City movement.

²⁰ ‘Activists Expand Pedestrian Zone in Varšavska’, Friends of the Earth Croatia, 21 April 2007, available at: http://zelenaakcija.hr/hr/programi/info_centar_zelene_akcije/dan_planeta_zemlje/aktivisti_prosirili_pjesacku_zonu_na_gundulicevu, accessed 20 November 2015.

²¹ Kontrapunkt, 28 January 2008, available at: http://old.kontra-punkt.info/print.php?sid=55845, accessed 20 November 2015.

²² This pun plays on the fact that another central square in Zagreb is named ‘Victims of Fascism’.

²³ Jutarnji List, 10 February 2010, available at: http://www.jutarnji.hr/foto--cetiri-tisuce-ljudi-i--trojanski-konj-protiv-cvjetnog-prolaza/552360/, accessed 20 November 2015.

²⁴ A student protest movement that originated at the University of Zagreb in 2009 and subsequently spread to other cities in Croatia also used the tactic of occupation, but with the important distinction that this was done within the university property, more akin to a sit-in. The Right to the City introduced the occupation of public squares, roads, and intersections into protest repertoires in Croatia.

²⁵ ‘Policija postavila novu ogradu u Varšavskoj, na prosvjedu tisuće ljudi’, Metro Portal, 18 May 2010; available at: http://metro-portal.hr/policija-postavila-novu-ogradu-u-varsavskoj-na-prosvjedu-tisuce-ljudi/40333, accessed 20 November 2015.

²⁶ ‘Bandiću donijeli kofer s četkicom, sapunom i ručnikom za Remetinec’, Večernji list, 20 May 2010, available at: http://www.vecernji.hr/zg-vijesti/bandicu-donijeli-kofer-s-cetkicom-sapunom-i-rucnikom-za-remetinec-143860, accessed 20 November 2015.

²⁷ ‘Konačni obračun: Aktivisti traže Karamarkovu smjenu’, Večernji List, 17 July 2010, available at: http://www.vecernji.hr/zg-vijesti/konacni-obracun-aktivisti-traze-karamarkovu-smjenu-167987, accessed 20 November 2015.

²⁸ ‘Video: Bandić će biti prvi političar kojega su svrgnuli građani’, Index, 19 July 2010, available at: http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/video-bandic-ce-biti-prvi-politicar-kojega-su-svrgnuli-gradjani/502610.aspx, accessed 20 November 2015.

²⁹ ‘Pravo na grad’, 2010 GONG Award to Right to the City, 27 May 2010, available at: http://www.gong.hr/hr/aktivni-gradani/nagrada-gong-a/pravo-na-grad/, accessed 20 November 2015; ‘Krunoslav Sukić Nagrada za promicanje mirotvorstva’, 2010 Centre for Peace Award to the ‘We Won’t Give Up Varšavska’ Campaign, available at: http://www.krunoslav-sukic.centar-za-mir.hr/priznanja/, accessed 20 November 2015; ‘5 + 5 Anketa civilno društvo 2010’, H-alter, 24 December 2010, available at: http://www.h-alter.org/vijesti/5-5-anketa-civilno-drustvo-2010, accessed 20 November 2015.

³⁰ Email interview with one of the leaders of the movement, 18 November 2015.

³¹ Supported by the Right to the City, the ‘Srđ Is Ours’ initiative used protest actions and media communication to mobilise the citizens of Dubrovnik against the development project. The initiative decided to use the citizens’ petition for a referendum as a mechanism to pressure the city government, and was successful in collecting the required number of signatures in February 2013. As a result, a local referendum took place in April 2013, with a significant majority of those who voted being against the building of Golf Park Dubrovnik. However, given that the turnout was 31%, which was lower than the legally required 50% turnout of all registered voters in Dubrovnik, the outcome of the referendum was not legally binding for the city government. After this battle was lost, the initiative Srđ Is Ours established an independent list to contest the local election that was held in 2013. They managed to secure three out of 25 seats in the city council, but were faced with the ‘Dubrovnik Agreement’, a broad coalition of left- and right-wing parties, pragmatically formed, among other objectives, to secure the passing of necessary legislation for the golf park. See ‘Dubrovački dogovor okupio 16 vijećnika iz HDZ-a, HNS-a i SDP-a’, Slobodna Dalmacija, 12 July 2013, available at: http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/dalmacija/dubrovnik/clanak/id/206415/dubrovacki-dogovor-okupio-16-vijecnika-iz-hdz-a-hns-a-i-sdp-a, accessed 20 September 2017.

³² ‘Za referendum o autocestama prikupljen dovoljan broj potpisa’, Dnevnik, 22 January 2015, available at: http://dnevnik.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/referendumska-inicijativa-ne-damo-nase-autoceste-prikupila-dovoljan-broj-potpisa---369552.html, accessed 20 November 2015.

³³ Interview extracts have been translated from Croatian into English by the authors.

³⁴ The Facebook protests, named after the social media site through which they were predominantly organised, took place in 2011 as a reaction against the country’s political elites. The Right to the City movement publicly supported the protests. See for instance ‘Pravo na grad i Zelena akcija poduprli prosvjede’, Večernji list, 8 March 2011, available at: http://www.vecernji.hr/hrvatska/pravo-na-grad-i-zelena-akcija-poduprli-prosvjede-262015, accessed 28 November 2015.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Danijela Dolenec

Danijela Dolenec, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Lepusiceva 6, HR10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Email: [email protected]

Karin Doolan

Karin Doolan, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Zadar, Trakoscanska 30, HR10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Email: [email protected]

Tomislav Tomašević

Tomislav Tomašević, Programme Manager, Institute for Political Ecology, Preobraženska 2, HR10000, Zagreb, Croatia. Email: [email protected]