Take the City

With rapid increases in urban populations, there is an urgent need to transform our world’s cities in keeping with ecological imperatives and democratic principles. A growing worldwide citizen movement is attempting to challenge bureaucratic administrations and replace the politics of fear with neighbourhood power, direct democracy, and solidarity. They believe that threats of capitalism, totalitarianism, and climate change require imaginative political resistance rooted where they live. Combining political theory, philosophy, history, and intimate narrative, Take the City! presents an expansive view of municipalist movements around the world. With over twenty contributors, including David Harvey, this anthology provides crucial insights into the challenges ahead by looking at and beyond municipal electoral politics. Stories of diverse regions and issues illuminate the nuances of municipalist movements of the past and present, providing a roadmap of the fight for our future. From Seattle to Kurdistan, Burlington to Oaxaca, Barcelona to Mississippi, and Vienna to Montreal, contributors carefully consider the intertwined questions concerning current crises in housing, the environment, democracy, and capitalism. Contributors include David Harvey, Peter Marcuse, Brian Tokar, Nazan Üstündağ, Margit Mayer, Anna Kruzynski, Jonathan Durand Folco, members of Symbiosis, Robert Kaminski, Donald Cuccioletta, Barucha Peller, Antje Dieterich, Jonny Gordon-Farleigh, and Austin Krauss. Jason Toney is an editor, researcher, and activist based in the United States. Table of Contents •Acknowledgements Jason Toney: Introduction. The Challenges Ahead Brian Tokar: Communalism Against Climate Chaos . Robert Kaminski: The Crisis of Late Capitalism in Seattle . Peter Marcuse, Margit Mayer, and David Harvey: Three Lectures on Radical Urbanism . Building Democracy through Municipal Electoral Politics Veronika Duma and Hanna Lichtenberger: Remembering Red Vienna . Donald Cuccioletta: The FRAP (Political Action Front) 1970–1974: The First Experience of Municipal Radicalism in Montréal . Dual Power and Taking the City beyond Elections Nazan Üstündağ: Bakur Rising: Democratic Autonomy in Kurdistan . Barucha Peller: Self-Reproduction and the Oaxaca Commune . Jonathan Durand Folco: Beyond Projet Montréal: From Progressive Neoliberalism to Economic Democracy . Jonny Gordon-Farleigh: An Interview with Kali Akuno . Possible Futures Antje Dieterich: Urban Sanctuary: The Promise of Solidarity Cities. Austin Krauss: How Hip Hop Can Save Us . Anna Kruzynski: From Social Ecology to Community Economies: Towards Better Livelihoods . Annex The FRAP Manifesto. About the contributors.