Urban commons and the local state: co-production between enhancement and co-optation

ABSTRACT

Urban commons have emerged within the latest mobilization cycle, and have developed forms of everyday politics. Marxist and social movement scholars tend to see the urban commons/local state interactions that assemble commons’ material infrastructure as the prelude to commons being co-opted. Governance scholars uphold that these interactions can bring political benefits to the commons. By bridging these two perspectives, this article analyses urban commons/local state interactions that develop in the context of material-assembling practices in the light of what we call ‘commons-led co-production’: processes where commons gain political advantages from this co-production. By studying commons initiatives in two neighbourhoods in two different municipalities in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, we analyse and discuss a spectrum of five positions. We contend that material-assembling practices act as a condition of possibility for developing the everyday politics of the commons, where commons-led co-production can be laid out, in context-specific and variegated ways. However, the arrangement of commons-led co-production does not necessarily guarantee the long-term enhancement of commons’ political action. We conclude by calling for a more nuanced understanding of urban commons/local state interactions within material-assembling practices, one that considers both co-optation and enhancement as possible long-term outcomes of these interactions.

KEYWORDS:

• collective action
• co-production
• urban movements
• local government
• protest cycle

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Iolanda Bianchi had the original idea for the article. All authors have discussed the idea of the article. Iolanda Bianchi and Laura Calvet-Mir have collected the data. All authors have analysed the data. Iolanda Bianchi wrote the following sections: Introduction; Marxist and social movement scholars on the urban commons: between everyday politics and co-optation; Analysing and categorising commons-led co-production in two neighbourhoods in the AMB; Commons-led co-production as part of material assembling practices: between enhancement or co-optation?; Conclusion. Iolanda Bianchi and Marina Pera wrote the following section: Bringing in governance theories of the commons: from co-production to commons-led co-production; Iolanda Bianchi, Marina Pera, Laura Calvet-Mir and Mara Ferreri wrote the methodology section. All authors have extensively revised and edited the text.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 By Marxists we mean scholars (planners, political economists, etc.) who situate the study of the commons within a theory of social transformation to overcome the capitalist system; and by social movement scholars we mean authors who situate the study of the commons within the analysis of protest cycles. Although the two categories may overlap – there are Marxist social movement scholars – they adopt different approaches to the study of the politics of the commons. Marxists adopt a more theory-based approach, while social movement scholars adopt a more empirical one. Therefore, we have kept these two categories separate.

2 Coproducción pro-común y desarrollo territorial en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona. Funded by Càtedra Barcelona UPF de Política Econòmica Local. PI: Dr Parés M, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. La gestión procomún en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona. Funded by Càtedra Barcelona UPF de Política Econòmica Local. PI: Dr Villamayor S, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; https://blogs.uab.cat/coproduccioprocomu/.

3 The data are available in the ‘Final report’ published on the research project’s website.

4 The list of criteria is available in the ‘Final report’ published on the research project’s website.

5 SSE projects put the economy at the service of the people, using democratic, ecological, feminist and solidarity criteria.

6 See the introduction of section 5.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Càtedra Barcelona de Política Econòmica Local de la Universitat Pompeu Fabra de Barcelona.