From the Indignados movement to “Barcelona en Comú”: some avenues for thinking about a degrowth social-ecological transformation? – Viviana Asara (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
Friday 8th July, 12.00-13.30, UAB Campus
Degrowth scholars have argued that a degrowth social-ecological transformation should involve the combination of different strategies, in which social movements and so-called ‘non reformist reforms’ play an important role. In this presentation I will draw from an undergoing experience at the city level, the Barcelona en Comú (BeC) municipality government, that might offer some potential avenues for thinking about a possible degrowth social ecological transformation. This presentation will present some preliminary findings of my current research. I will focus on the continuities between the Indignados movement in Barcelona and BeC, and on the relationships between “the inside and the outside of institutions”, party and movement, what does it mean for BeC to be a “movement-party”, and how is this subject to tensions and hybridity. The presentation will also touch upon the ways environmental issues are dealt with in the policies and discourse of BeC, and participatory democracy processes are managed in governing the city.
Background reading material: Asara, Viviana. Unpublished.The Indignados as a socio-environmental movement. Framing the crisis and democracy. Article accepted (in press) in Environmental Policy and Governance.