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Governmentality, the Local State, and the Commons: An Analysis of Civic Management Facilities in Barcelona
[journal article]
Abstract This article deploys the Foucauldian concept of governmentality to study the political tensions that may unfold when commons are enacted through hybrid institutional configurations. We focus on civic management facilities (CMFs) that are located in the city of Barcelona. These are facilities owned b... view more
This article deploys the Foucauldian concept of governmentality to study the political tensions that may unfold when commons are enacted through hybrid institutional configurations. We focus on civic management facilities (CMFs) that are located in the city of Barcelona. These are facilities owned by Barcelona City Council which, responding to organised citizens' demands, are transferred to them so that they can develop their own transformative projects for the community. The hybrid institutional nature of these CMFs makes it impossible for them to avoid maintaining a relationship with the local state. Based on a survey to 51 CMFs, semi‐structured interviews with 41 grassroots members of CMFs and seven semi‐structured interviews with public employees and politicians, we argue that hybrid forms of commons lead to the development of political tensions. On the one hand, we show how the local state’s administrative procedures - to do with accountability and the use of public space - reshape the activities of the CMFs, leading to the depoliticisation of their transformative projects. On the other hand, the analysis also presents the strategies of resistance articulated by the facilities, which enable members to work towards the development of their transformative aims. We conclude that such political tensions cannot be resolved but must be properly governed in order to make the commons' transformative project an enduring one.... view less
Keywords
Spain; municipal administration; public space; urban development; participation; citizens' participation; governmentality
Classification
Administrative Science
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
co‐option; depoliticisation; grassroots; hybrid commons; local state; qualitative research; strategies of resistance; technologies of power
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 115-125
Journal
Social Inclusion, 10 (2022) 1
Issue topic
The Politics and Aesthetics of the Urban Commons: Navigating the Gaze of the City, the State, the Market
ISSN
2183-2803
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed