Countering neoliberalism by harnessing the local state? The role of social movements in municipalist campaigns. A comparative study of Argentina, Germany and the USA

Arpini, E., Stegemann, L. and Brown, G. (2021) Countering neoliberalism by harnessing the local state? The role of social movements in municipalist campaigns. A comparative study of Argentina, Germany and the USA. St Antony's International Review, 16(2), pp. 225-252.

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Abstract

The emergent 'new municipalism' movement aims to contest the effects of neoliberalisation across different towns, cities, and communities across the world. Through locally situated activism and citizens' initiatives, the movement critically engages with local commons, economic democracy, state transformation and democratic ownership. Simultaneously, recent years have also seen the emergence of (re)municipalisation: the process of localities and communities bringing formerly privatised assets and services back into public ownership with more than 1,400 cases since the early 2000s. To highlight the varied character of municipalism, this article seeks to describe and compare three different experiences with (re) municipalisation in Argentina, Germany and the United States: Ciudad Futura, a movement active in the city of Rosario and its dairy cooperative; Westfalen Weser, an intermunicipal utility company in the rural region of East Westphalia; and social movement campaigns in the city of Boulder, Colorado, pushing for the municipalisation the city's energy grid. It identifies protagonist actors and explores the degree to which civil society and state agencies are engaged in promoting municipalist local politics. specifically, it explores how municipalist campaigns are working 'in, against, and beyond' neoliberal state structures, institutions, and agencies, and to what extent they differ with regard to the possibilities and limitations of social movements' and citizens' active engagement in (re)municipalisation processes. Our findings suggest that most of the activities described are working in the state, either driven within and from state agencies or by activists trying to engage with (and transform) existing state structures.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Brown, Ms Grace and Arpini, Emilia and Stegemann, Ms Laura
Authors: Arpini, E., Stegemann, L., and Brown, G.
College/School:College of Social Sciences
College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School
College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:St Antony's International Review
Publisher:St Antony's College
ISSN:1746-451X
ISSN (Online):1746-4528

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