Metropolitics

Wind Power: Transition Without Debate

Leny Patinaux & translated by Oliver Waine — 2024-02-09T08:11:58Z

At a time when the construction of wind farms is regularly the subject of criticism and protests, Leny Patinaux examines the public inquiries organized as part of wind-power projects in northern France, and highlights the democratic deficit of the energy transition.
On October 5, 2021, in response to the increasingly systematic protests against new wind-farm projects, France's environment minister at the time, Barbara Pompili, announced a series of measures for the "controlled and responsible

- From the Field / Hauts-de-France, électricité, éoliennes, énergie, participation, transition énergétique, enquête, Nord–Pas-de-Calais

Resisting the Neoliberal City? The Popular Initiative in Berlin

Thomas Chevallier — 2023-02-17T06:00:00Z

Western representative democracy is in crisis. In response, direct democracy is emerging as a possible path to regeneration. The experience of “popular initiatives” in Germany illustrates the potential of the institutional innovations that support it, as well as the difficulties inherent in their implementation.
Are the instruments of direct democracy a necessary complement to representative democracy? Is it desirable to challenge the legislative monopoly of elected representatives by

- From the Field / démocratie, Allemagne, participation, libéralisme, Berlin, néolibéralisme, démocratie participative, démocratie directe, référendum, votation, initiative populaire

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

Montreal's Alleyways: A Laboratory for Democratic Life

Joëlle Zask & translated by Oliver Waine — 2021-02-12T06:00:00Z

The participation of a city's inhabitants in democratic life begins with forms of everyday sociability and commitment to the common good. The alleyways of Montreal—where communities of neighbors and citizens have developed—are an eloquent example of this.
There is a very specific, even emblematic, urban feature in Montreal: the alleyway. Hidden behind the row houses whose backyards they run along, they have been cleared, rebuilt, embellished, and greened by the residents of the neighborhoods

- From the Field / communauté, démocratie, voisinage, espace public, sociabilité, rue, quartier, politique, citoyenneté, proximité, débat, participation, Montréal, Canada

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

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

Saving Ivy Island: A Civil War in North Portland

Lauren Everett — 2019-01-15T08:13:58Z

Lauren Everett examines two different approaches by community activists confronting change in a tight-knit Portland neighborhood, and the struggle that ensued. She considers how official decision-making processes may or may not include mechanisms for considering community input, and the challenges of working with a community plan that leaves room for interpretation.
The community plan for the neighborhood of St Johns in the north of Portland, Oregon, prioritizes both neighborhood

- From the Field / participation, public space, United States, neighborhood, consultation, community, Portland (Oregon), neighborhood preservation

Deafening Discord: Reclaiming Residents' Anger in Working-Class Neighborhoods

Pierre Chabard & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-10-26T05:00:00Z

We recently published an article showing how, in Roubaix in northern France, elected officials took steps to “prevent the creation of a cohesive residents' collective seeking to challenge an urban-renewal project that risks being imposed upon their neighborhood.” Pierre Chabard revisits this interpretation of the situation and shows that, while it is true that the association studied by the author of this article was systematically hindered, it was not the only initiative that tried to give a

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

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

Institutional Roadblocks to Achieving Environmental Justice Through Public Participation: The Case of CSO Control in US Cities

Rebekah Breitzer — 2018-01-24T06:00:00Z

Rather than meaningfully involving representatives of environmental-justice communities in decisions about the hazards that disproportionately affect their health, public participation efforts initiated by federal and municipal agencies often perpetuate inequities. Rebekah Breitzer argues that the problem stems in part from the adoption of social diffusion theory, which conditions policymakers to think of low-income people as targets for behavior modification rather than as potential

- Essays / participation, environment, inequalities, water, New York, socio-spatial inequalities, citizens, Philadelphia, environmental justice, combined sewer overflow, social diffusion theory