Interrupting the neoliberal masculine state machinery? Strategic selectivities and municipalist practice in Barcelona and Zagreb

Martin Sarnow and Norma Tiedemann
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Martin Sarnow: University of Kiel, Germany
Norma Tiedemann: University of Kassel, Germany

Urban Studies, 2023, vol. 60, issue 11, 2231-2250

Abstract: All municipalist initiatives are confronted with what Marx called the ‘state machinery’: an ensemble of apparatuses protecting the status quo of capitalist accumulation. It is difficult for municipalist movements to sustain their momentum of storming the city halls in the face of this reality. Looking at Barcelona En Comú (Barcelona in Common) and Zagreb Je NAŠ! (Zagreb Is Ours!), the article discusses what experiences municipalist actors gain when inspecting the state machinery close up. We identify the traces they leave on the materiality of the (local) state: organising participation as conflict, scandalising the serving of particularistic interests, and confronting sexist behaviour within the masculine apparatuses. Nevertheless, the examples illustrate the systemic inertia of the hegemonically programmed state apparatuses and the difficulties of breaking with neoliberal and masculinist policies.

Keywords: local government; municipalism; state theory; strategic selectivity; urban struggles; 地方政府; 地方自治主义; æ”¿åºœç †è®º; 策略选择性; 城市斗争 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:11:p:2231-2250

DOI: 10.1177/00420980221101454

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