Metropolitics

Holding Their Own: Gilets Jaunes' Occupation of Public Space

Antoine Bernard de Raymond & Sylvain Bordiec & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-04-30T05:00:00Z

The Gilets Jaunes (“Yellow Vests”) movement that emerged in France in the fall of 2018 was striking by dint of both its reach and its duration. An ethnographic survey conducted in southwestern France shows that this success was in part due to the organizational, symbolic and social resources offered by the occupation of traffic circles and the construction of shacks.
The Gilets Jaunes (“Yellow Vests”) movement started with a national day of blockades and demonstrations organized on November

- From the Field / public space, gilets jaunes, mobilization, protest, social movement, occupation, periurban, France

Algeria's Hirak: When a Social Movement Puts Citizenship Under the Microscope

Islam Amine Derradji & Amel Gherbi & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-03-26T06:00:00Z

The popular mobilization that rose up in Algeria in 2019 was not only a revolt against living conditions that had become unacceptable. It was also a movement that turned the country's streets into a stage for the organized construction of collective and political life by citizens seeking to revisit their history and assert their independence.
Since February 22, 2019, Algeria has been living to the rhythm of unprecedented mobilizations. Millions of Algerians took to the streets to oppose

- From the Field / North Africa, Maghreb, Africa, collective action, mobilization, civic organizing, demonstrations, protest, Algeria, social movement, citizenship, citizens

When Progressive Mayors Aren't Enough: Homes for All and Trans-Local Social Movements

H. Jacob Carlson & Marnie Brady & Gianpaolo Baiocchi — 2018-11-13T06:00:00Z

Progressive governments are often pulled away from their campaign promises by local growth-coalition interests or for other reasons. Social movements serve as necessary progressive counterweights. H. Jacob Carlson, Marnie Brady and Gianpaolo Baiocchi show how the growing Homes for All campaign uses trans-local organizing to connect organizers across distant places to build both local and national momentum for progressive housing demands.
---- Series: Progressive Mayors and Urban Social

- From the Field / housing, urban policy, social movement, United States, networks, affordable housing, progressive urban politics, policymaking, mayors, progressive mayors, trans-local, housing justice

The Leaderless Urban Social Movement as Problem and Solution

Caio Teixeira — 2018-09-25T05:00:00Z

Today, with urban uprisings driven by leaderless social movements, the future of the would-be progressive agenda has been called into question. Inspired by Brazil's “June Journeys”, Caio Teixeira explores how we might situate leaderless social movements and their forward-looking agenda within the context of the leftist political spectrum.
---- Series: Progressive Mayors and Urban Social Movements The literature on urban politics has shown the enduring role of progressive social movements in

- From the Field / public transportation, local government, São Paulo, social movement, transport, state, mass transit, progressive urban politics, Brazil, fares, political power, policymaking, mayors, progressive mayors, horizontality, leaderless social movements

Marielle Franco and Brazilian Democracy at a Crossroads

Natália Alves & Isabella Gonçalves Miranda & Felipe Magalhães — 2018-06-26T05:00:00Z

Marielle Franco's life and death raised questions about the limits of Brazil's New Republic. It revealed the rising stakes, particularly for women and people of color, following the 2016 coup. In this piece, urban activists Isabella Gonçalves and Natália Alves and geographer Felipe Magalhães place Franco's embodied politics as a direct challenge to the regressive policies and aggressive austerity of the current regime.
We live in times when a culture of violence is a vocal minority of the

- From the Field / social movement, security, violence, corruption, neoliberalism, Latin America, Brazil, LGBTQ+, feminism, activism, Rio de Janeiro, queer, critical racial awareness, austerity, militias, queer theory, state violence, coup

You Can't Kill Marielle

Meg Stalcup & Erika Robb Larkins — 2018-05-29T05:00:00Z

Marielle Franco was part of a new generation of progressive activists in Brazilian politics. She was assassinated point-blank on March 14, 2018 by an elite shooter. In this piece, Meg Stalcup and Erika Robb Larkins examine how Marielle's death is revealing of the issues that she fought for in her life. They also ask how she continues to be present in and beyond the unfolding investigation into who killed her.
Violence marked Brazil's 2018 elections, by many accounts the most polarized in the

- From the Field / social movement, security, progressive urban politics, corruption, Latin America, Brazil, activism, Rio de Janeiro, militias, progressive activism

The Americanization of French social movements? Community organizing and its discontents in the banlieues

Julien Talpin — 2017-06-29T05:05:00Z

In this second of two articles, sociologist Julien Talpin discusses the importation to France of American traditions and practices of community organizing. Despite the successful cross-cultural transfer of methods that allow groups to tackle racial issues, which have been difficult to accommodate within the French activist paradigm, American-style community organizing has encountered resistance from the left. Practices imported from the US may nevertheless influence French civil society more

- From the Field / France, banlieue, participation, social movement, race, mobilization, community organizing, French politics, L'Alliance Citoyenne, Studio Praxis, Graines de France, Movement for Black Lives, Soros Foundation, ACORN

What's the matter with the banlieues? Exploring the importation of the American community organizing tradition by French social movements

Julien Talpin — 2017-06-22T07:00:00Z

With the eclipse of the once-powerful Communist and Socialist Parties in France, and these parties' traditional roots in the country's white working class, the residents of long-neglected blue-collar and immigrant suburbs (banlieues) have had little political voice. In recent years, some have turned to the American tradition of community organizing as a way to build power independently. In this first of two articles, Julien Talpin explains the different ways in which activists from the banlieues

- From the Field / France, banlieue, participation, social movement, race, mobilization, community organizing, French politics, L'Alliance Citoyenne, Studio Praxis, Graines de France, ACORN

Counterpublic Spaces and Movement-Building

Oksana Mironova — 2017-03-08T15:12:47Z

To make themselves and their causes visible in traditional public arenas like streets and parks, social activists require counterpublic spaces, where communities come together to define goals and to carry out the unglamorous work of movement-building and organizing. In this article, Oksana Mironova reflects on the emergence of counterpublic spaces in the context of current resistance to the politics and policy of the Trump administration, identifying challenges for activists also striving to

- Essays / public space, social movement, New York, counterpublics, counterpublic spaces, resistance, Mayday Community Space, Judson Memorial Church

Proclaiming “Veggie Pride” in Paris and New York

Elizabeth Cherry — 2016-11-22T06:00:00Z

How do animal-rights activists promote vegetarianism? Many activists use environmental and health arguments, but this is not always an acceptable tactic to other activists. In this article, Elizabeth Cherry explores how activists in Paris and New York take two different approaches to promoting vegetarianism while using the same tactic, a “Veggie Pride” parade.
Animal-rights activists oppose animal exploitation in all its forms. Since the mid‑1980s, animal-rights activism has centered on

- From the Field / health, environment, social movement, Paris, food, New York, meat, activism, animal rights, vegetarian, vegan, animal welfare, tactics, Veggie Pride