Metropolitics

Covid‑19 in China: A Civil Society in the Making

Beiyi Hu — 2021-05-18T05:00:00Z

Beiyi Hu examines responses to Covid‑19 in China, focusing on civil-society efforts at the social, political, and policy levels that emerged in Wuhan during the pandemic. She shows that, even in state-dominated Chinese civil society, there was widespread self-organized social and political participation that arose from below.
This article explores responses to the Covid‑19 pandemic in China and examines the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the changing operation of Chinese civil society.

- From the Field / China, Wuhan, Hubei province, Covid-19, coronavirus, pandemic, civil society, participation, policymaking, public policy, political participation, social participation, mobilization

Nuits Debout Across Greater Paris: The Spread of a Political Innovation

Laurent Beauguitte & Nicolas Lambert & translated by Oliver Waine — 2019-12-20T06:00:00Z

As France experiences strikes and demonstrations in protest against pension reforms, we look back to the spring of 2016 and the Nuit Debout movement that developed almost spontaneously in opposition to a proposed shake‑up of France's labor laws. Although Place de la République in Paris was the nexus of events—and virtually the sole focus of media attention—plenty was going on elsewhere in France, especially in towns and suburbs around Paris, where local offshoots sought to redefine citizen

- From the Field / Nuit debout, mobilization, protest, politics, political participation, engagement, public space, territory, mapping, Paris region, Greater Paris, Paris, France, Île-de-France

Reclaiming the “Right to the City” Through Participatory Budgeting

Tyler James Olsen — 2019-02-19T06:00:00Z

Participatory budgeting is growing in many cities around the world. Can it become a tool for urban dwellers to reclaim power over their living conditions and the running of their city?
The crisis of legitimacy and the turn to the city
Facing the neoliberal retrenchment of the state that has been exasperated by the financial and economic troubles of the past 10 years, our representative democracies have been increasingly subject to a profound crisis of legitimacy. This, in turn, has led to

- Reviews / participation, political participation, participatory budgeting, right to the city, Lefebvre

Participatory Budgeting in New York City

Celina Su — 2014-12-01T05:50:00Z

Over the last four years, participatory budgeting has spread from one to more than 45 cities in the US. Reporting from New York City, Celina Su considers its promise for empowering the traditionally disenfranchised and identifies three suggestions for shoring up the process.
In 2011, at age 24, Corin Mills was not confident that he was capable of completing long-term projects, let alone attend college. He had dropped out of high school and served a brief jail sentence. Then, through an

- From the Field / participation, United States, New York, néolibéralisation, participatory budgeting, civic engagement, political participation, collaborative public management, deliberation