Metropolitics

Cooperating in Democracies

Evan Casper-Futterman — 2023-01-13T06:00:00Z

Evan Casper-Futterman reviews Practicing Cooperation: Mutual Aid Beyond Capitalism by Andrew Zitcer, which reflects on the role of cooperation in democratic societies, and specifically the importance of practices of cooperation for a more just society.
Practicing Cooperation (2021) is a timely reflection on the necessity of cooperation in democratic societies. Andrew Zitcer asks us to consider the many spaces where cooperation already exists, at various scales from the body to society. The

- Reviews / social justice, democracy, cooperation, cooperative enterprises

Displacement, Demobilization, and Democracy: Current Eviction and Historic Dispossession in Richmond, Virginia

Kathryn Howell & Benjamin F. Teresa — 2020-02-04T06:00:00Z

High eviction rates in Black Richmond neighborhoods must be understood in the context of a long history of political and physical displacement that has suppressed activism in these neighborhoods.
In April 2018, the Princeton Eviction Lab released a nearly nationwide dataset of eviction filings and judgments between 2000 and 2016. From this work, a New York Times article identified Richmond, Virginia, as having the second-highest eviction rate of large cities in the United States. Five of the

- From the Field / Black neighborhoods, Black politics, democracy, displacement, race, race and space, United States, Richmond, Virginia, evictions

The Just Transition, Economic Democracy, and the Green New Deal

Evan Casper-Futterman & Jason Spicer — 2019-11-05T06:00:00Z

Can participatory and economic democracy in the US support a Green New Deal? Evan Casper‑Futterman and Jason Spicer review two recent books that assess how radical social and institutional transformation could make a Green New Deal effective, and underscore the challenges that remain.
Earlier this year, US Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez introduced a Congressional resolution for a Green New Deal (GND), an idea since supported by a number of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The

- Reviews / environmental justice, just transition, democracy, participatory democracy, economic democracy, Green New Deal, United States, participation

Silent Suppression: How Local Politicians Stifle Collective Action in Working-Class Neighborhoods

Julien Talpin & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-10-19T05:00:00Z

Taking as its starting point a study of a neighborhood roundtable in the northern French city of Roubaix, this article examines the discreet but effective way in which public institutions, and local politicians in particular, have sought to thwart the collective action organized by local residents regarding an urban-renewal project. Working-class neighborhoods are all too often described as political deserts, but this experience shows this couldn't be further from the truth, and that in fact

- Debates / France, participation, housing, democracy, working-class neighborhoods, urban renewal, local councillors, local democracy, urban regeneration, Roubaix, working classes, associations, Lille, mobilization, Hauts-de-France, Northern France, Nord–Pas-de-Calais

Far from the Ballot Box: The Political Exclusion of the Working Classes in France

Camille Peugny & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-07-04T05:00:00Z

Following the French presidential and parliamentary elections of 2017, the question of equal access to the electoral process once again came to the fore. Sociologist Camille Peugny, who has exhaustive measured different forms of non-participation (linked to nationality, non-registration or abstention), reveals the extent to which political exclusion affects working-class populations, and underlines the role of collective work in the (uneven) politicization of these populations.
Each time the

- Essays / France, democracy, inequalities, vote, exclusion, elections, working classes, presidential election

Democratic public spaces in the face of terrorism

Carole Gayet-Viaud & translated by Oliver Waine — 2016-01-29T06:00:00Z

The collective harm inflicted by the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday 13 November 2015 results in part from the fact that the perpetrators of these attacks took the specific qualities of urban public spaces and turned them against the city: hospitality, anonymity and the presumption of trust in others. All these characteristics form the foundations of civil exchanges in democratic public spaces.
The terrorist acts of which we were victims in Paris on Friday 13 November 2015 caused both

- Essays / public space, democracy, sociabilities, attacks, citizenship, civility, hospitality, trust, mores, politics, street, terrorism

In the shadow of the mayor

Michel Koebel & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-06-25T04:55:00Z

After his investigation into the representativeness of local councillors in France, Michel Koebel has now turned his attention to the selection and sociology of cabinet members in medium-sized municipalities in France. This study highlights the hierarchy and ranking processes at play in local councils and the importance of “social filtering” according to age, gender and profession.
---- Series: Local elections as seen by the social sciences
Multiple factors come into play when French

- From the Field / democracy, local councillors, local democracy, municipal, elections, mayors

The misunderstandings of European democracy

Philippe Aldrin & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-05-28T04:50:00Z

Though an economic giant, the European Union still appears to be something of a political dwarf. Yet a political Europe does exist, but the unusual forms that this transnational power takes seem to prevent a clear understanding of its true nature. Under the guise of technocratic governance free from political wrangling, three non-representative institutions impose their agenda upon the people and national governments of Europe. This is the conclusion drawn by political scientist Antoine Vauchez,

- Reviews / Europe, governance, democracy, elections, abstention, citizens

Identity checks and the law

Nathalie Ferré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-04-24T10:04:47Z

In France, the issue of identity checks is at the heart of the thorny debate on how to ensure better relations between the police and the public. Against a backdrop of discussions on whether to issue “ID check receipts”, reintroduce uniform numbers or establish a new code of ethics, Nathalie Ferré here provides an overview of the current legal framework.
The existence of proper legislation regarding identity checks in France is relatively recent. Until the 1980s, the national police acted on

- Debates / public space, democracy, police, policing, public order, law, identity checks

The politics of municipal mergers (and demergers) in Montreal

Richard Harris — 2013-03-06T05:55:00Z

In the late 1990s, the province of Quebec reacted to metropolitan growth in Montreal by merging the city with 27 of its suburbs, provoking a major debate and, ultimately, a number of demergers. An account written by one of the leading opponents to amalgamation (and ex-mayor of one of the demerged suburbs) discusses the experience and the issues at stake, providing a timely counterpoint to the French debate on “Greater Paris”.
Detailed accounts of municipal amalgamation can be exciting. Who

- Reviews / local government, decentralization, governance, democracy, local finance, local governance, local authorities, intercommunality, Montreal, Canada