6. Concluding comments
Hopefully I was able to show how anarchist ideas are useful to think about new issues such as those within the field of urban social cohesion. I believe that research focused on urban social cohesion has much to gain from a more open-minded and comprehensible attitude towards anarchist ideas and theoretical proposals.
To conclude, I would like to suggest that the analysis conducted before raises a number of possibilities in terms of further developing the relations between anarchism and urban social cohesion both in terms of research and political praxis. Up to a certain extent, this represents possible contributions towards future urbanities encompassed by a long-term vision and an operational goal.
A vision is something that is usually dismissed as being merely a rhetorical artifice of scholars and those interested in really intricate theories and complex and obscure understandings about what the world is all about. Theoretical political thinking seems to have been replaced by the sense that politics should be reduced to some sort of administrative management of bureaucratic affairs guided by ideas of competitiveness and efficiency.
In fact, following Friedman (2000), and against this rationale, I would suggest that in order to address issues related to urban social cohesion it is indispensable to abandon that understanding and to regain the sense of an idea, of a vision about how the world should be. Obviously, this defence of utopian thinking does not consider utopias as fixed and immutable blueprints. Instead, it looks at utopias with a sense of ongoing processes of transformation of everyday life. Thus, anarchist experiences are relevant as they let us have a glimpse at the future while we are still in the present. In that sense, even though utopias are non-existent they are not fiction as well. As Jameson (2000: 54) noted, utopias ‘come to us as barely audible messages from a future that may never come into being’.
As a goal I would like to point out the culture of experimentation which, to my understanding, has to underline any serious alternative project. In a sense, it allows for creativity, inventiveness and imagination to emerge and pulverize urban practices. Thus, anarchist experiences demonstrate how to foster innovative strategies of urban social cohesion just by experimenting and playing around with different possibilities. Creativity and imagination are also decisive as they allow alternatives to go beyond the conventional barriers posed by the hegemonic ‘belief system’.
Experimentation is the key to unlock the possibilities present in the fissures opening up in contemporary urban spaces. According to Swyngedouw and Kaika (2003), it is on these gaps that new urban experiments are constantly being developed, in their own words, ‘it is here that the radical margins emerge that have become an integral part of the new forms of the 21st century urbanity. It is exactly these practices that require attention and nurturing’ (ibid: 19). Thus, if we aim at developing urban social cohesion maybe we should start by paying more attention to what the anarchist influenced experiences have been telling us.
References
|
|
Albert, M. (2003) Parecon: Life After Capitalism, London: Verso.
|
Amster, R. (2009) ‘Anarchy, utopia, and the state of things to come’, in R. Amster, et al. (eds.) Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An introductory anthology of anarchy in the academia, New York: Routledge, 290-301.
|
Amster, R., et al. (2009) ‘Introduction’, in R. Amster, et al. (eds.) Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An introductory anthology of anarchy in the academia, New York: Routledge, 1-7.
|
André, I. and Abreu, A. (2006) ‘Dimensões e Espaços da Inovação Social’, Finisterra, XLI, 81, 121-141.
|
Beauvais, C. And Jenson, J. (2002) Social Cohesion: Updating the State of the Research, CPRN Discussion Paper F/22, Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.
|
Benello, G. (1996) ‘The Challenge of Mondragon’, in H. Ehrlich (ed.) Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Edinburgh: AK Press, 211-220.
|
Bengtsson, S. and Hulgard, L. (2001) ‘Denmark: co-operative activity and community development’, in C. Borzaga and J. Defourni (eds.) The Emergence of Social Enterprise, Lodon: Routledge, 65-81.
|
Berkman, A. (1972 [1929]) The ABC of Anarchism, New York: Dover Publications.
|
Bernard, P. (1999) Social Cohesion: A Critique, CPRN Discussion Paper F/9, Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.
|
Bessell, S. (2001) ‘Social Cohesion and Conflict Management: Rethinking the Issues Using a Gender-Sensitive Lens’, in N. Colletta, et al. (eds.) Social Cohesion and Conflict Prevention in Asia: Managing Diversity through Development, Washington D.C.: The World Bank, 183-218.
|
Bey, H. (1991) The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism, Online. Available at http://www.hermetic.com/bey/taz_cont.html (accessed 3 July 2009).
|
Biehl, J. (1998) The Politics of Social Ecology: Libertarian Municipalism, Montreal: Black Rose Books.
|
Biehl, J. (2006) ‘Theses on Social Ecology and Deep Ecology’, Communalism, 8, 1-2.
|
Bookchin, M. (2005) The Ecology of Freedom: The emergence and dissolution of hierarchy, Edinburgh: AK Press.
|
Bookchin, M. (2007) ‘What is Social Ecology’, in E. Eiglad and M. Bookchin (eds.) Social Ecology and Communalism, Oakland: AK Press, 19-52.
|
Bouchier, D. (1996) ‘Hard questions for social anarchists’, in H. Ehrlich (ed.) Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Edinburgh: AK Press, 106-122.
|
Boyd, A. (2002) ‘Irony, meme warfare, and the extreme costume ball’, in B. Shepard and R. Hayduk (eds.) From ACT UP to the WTO: urban protest and community building in the era of globalization, London: Verso, 245-253.
|
Buber, M. (1996) Paths in Utopia, New York: Syracuse University Press.
|
Carter, A. (2000) ‘Analytical Marxism: Some Conceptual Foundations’, Political Theory, 28, 230-253.
|
Castells, M. (1977) The Urban Question: A Marxist Approach, London: Edward Arnold.
|
Castells, M. (2005) ‘Neoanarquismo’, La Vanguardia, Online. Available at http://www.lavanguardia.es/web/20050521/51185273593.html (accessed 21 May 2005).
|
Chomsky, N. (1996) ‘Goals and Visions’, in B. Pateman (ed.) Chomsky on Anarchism, Edinburgh: AK Press, 190-211.
|
Costa, A. B. (2004) Exclusões Sociais, Lisboa: Gradiva.
|
Council of Europe (2005) Methodological Guide: Concerted development of social cohesion indicators, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
|
CrimethInc (2008a) Fighting for our Lives, Online. Available http://www.crimethinc.com/tools/downloads/zines.html (accessed 20 June 2009).
|
CrimethInc (2008b) The Party’s Over: Beyond Politics, Beyond Democracy, Online. Available http://www.crimethinc.com/tools/downloads/zines.html (accessed 20 June 2009).
|
CrimethInc (n.d.) ‘Twelve Myths About Direct Action’, Online. Available http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/atoz/twelvemyths.php (accessed 25 June 2009).
|
Curious George Brigade (2003) ‘The Inefficient Utopia or How Consensus Will Change the World’ Online. Available http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/inefficient-utopia-or-how-consensus-will-change-world (accessed 25 June 2009).
|
Ehrlich, H. (1996a) ‘Introduction to Anarchafeminism’, in H. Ehrlich (ed.) Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Edinburgh: AK Press, 137-141.
|
Ehrlich, H. (1996b) ‘How to get from here to there: building revolutionary transfer culture’, in H. Ehrlich (ed.) Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Edinburgh: AK Press, 331-349.
|
Epstein, B. (2001) ‘Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization Movement’, Online. Available http://monthlyreview.org/0901epstein.htm (accessed 17 February 2008).
|
Errasti, A., et al. (2003) ‘The Internacionalisation of Cooperatives: The Case of the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation’, Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 74, 4, 553-584.
|
Estanque, E. (1999) ‘Acção colectiva, comunidade e movimentos sociais: para um estudo dos movimentos de protesto público’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 55, 88-111.
|
Estes, C. (1996) ‘Consensus’, in H. Ehrlich (ed.) Reinventing Anarchy, Again. Edinburgh: AK Press, 368-374.
|
Fainstein, S. (2001) ‘Competitiveness, Cohesion and Governance: Their Implications for Social Justice’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 25, 4, 884-888.
|
Ferreira, A. (1987) Por uma nova Política de Habitação, Porto: Edições Afrontamento.
|
Ferrell, J. (2001) Tearing down the streets: adventures in urban anarchy, New York: Palgrave.
|
Forrest, R. and Kearns, A. (2001) ‘Social Cohesion, Social Capital and the Neighbourhood’, Urban Studies, 38, 12, 2125-2143.
|
Fortuna, C. e Silva, A. (2005) ‘A cidade do lado da cultura: Espacialidades sociais e modalidades de intermediação cultural’, in B. Santos (org.) Globalização: Fatalidade ou Utopia?, 3ª Edição, Porto: Edições Afrontamento, 409-461.
|
Fourier, C. (2003) ‘Reclaim the Streets: an arrow of hope’, in Notes from Nowhere (eds.) We are everywhere: the irresistible rise of global anticapitalism, London: Verso.
|
Freitag, B. (2001) ‘Utopias urbanas’, paper prepared for the X Encontro da Sociedade Brasileira de Sociologia, held in Fortaleza, September 3rd to 7th.
|
Friedkin, N. (2004) ‘Social Cohesion’, Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 409-425.
|
Friedman, J. (2000) ‘The Good City: In Defense of Utopian Thinking’ International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 24, 2, 460-472.
|
Garnier, J. (2006) Contra Los Territorios Del Poder: Por un espacio público de debates y…de combates, Barcelona: Virus editorial.
|
Gibson-Graham, J. (2003) ‘Enabling Ethical Economies: Cooperativism and Class’, Critical Sociology, 29, 2, 123-161.
|
Girardet, H. (1996) The Gaia Atlas of Cities: New directions for sustainable urban living, London: Gaia Books.
|
Gordon, U. (2005) Anarchism and Political Theory: Contemporary Problems, PhD Thesis, Online. Available http://ephemer.al.cl.cam.ac.uk/~gd216/uri/ (accessed 15 June 2009).
|
Graeber, D. (2002) ‘The New Anarchists’, New Left Review, 13, 61-73.
|
Graeber, D. (2004) Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
|
Graeber, D. (2007) Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy, Rebellion, and Desire, Oakland: AK Press.
|
Graeber, D. and Grubacic, A. (2004) ‘Anarchism, Or the Revolutionary Movement Of The Twenty-first Century’ Online. Available http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/9258 (accessed 15 June 2009).
|
Guérin, D. (1970) Anarchism: From Theory to Practice. New York: Monthly Review Press.
|
Hamel, P. (2008) Ville et débat public: Agir en démocratie, Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval.
|
Hardt, M. and Negri, A. (2005) Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire, London: Penguin Books.
|
Harman, C. (2008) A People’s History of the World. London: Verso.
|
Harvey, D. (2001) Spaces of Capital: Towards a Critical Geography, New York: Routledge.
|
Harvey, D. (2008) ‘The Right to the City’, New Left Review, 53, 23-40.
|
Harvie, D., et al. (2005) Shut Them Down! The G8, Gleneagles 2005 and the Movement of Movements, Leeds and Brooklin: Dissent!/Autonomedia (jointly published).
|
Hobsbawm, E. (1994) The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991. London: Abacus.
|
Holloway, M. (1966) Heavens on Earth: Utopian Communities in America 1680-1880, 2nd Edition, New York: Dover Publications.
|
Itçaina, X. (2002) ‘Catholicisme, Économie Identitaire et Affinités Électives: Les Coopératives Basques Comme Groupements Volontaires Utopiques’, Social Compass, 49, 3, 393-411.
|
Jameson, F. (2000) ‘The Politics of Utopia’, New Left Review, 25, 35-54.
|
Jenson, J. (1998) Mapping Social Cohesion: The State of Canadian Research, Ottawa: Renouf Publishing Co., Ltd.
|
Kasmir, S. (1999) ‘The Mondragón Model as Post-Fordist Discoure: Considerations on the Production of Post-Fordism’, Critique of Anthropology, 19, 4, 379-400.
|
Kearns, A. and Forrest, R. (2000) ‘Social Cohesion and Multilevel Urban Governance’, Urban Studies, 37, 5-6, 995-1017.
|
Klein, J. (2005) ‘Iniciativa local y desarrollo: respuesta social a la globalización neoliberal’, Revista Eure, XXXI, 94, 25-39.
|
Klein, N. (2000) No Logo, London: Harper Perennial.
|
Klein, N. (2001) ‘Reclaiming the Commons’, New Left Review, 9, 81-89.
|
Kumar, K. (1990) ‘Utopian Thought and Communal Practice: Robert Owen and the Owenite Communities’, Theory and Society, 19, 1-35.
|
Lefebvre, H. (1996) ‘Right to the City’, in E. Kofman and E. Lebas (eds.) Writings on Cities, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 63-181.
|
Mailer, P. (1977) Portugal: The Impossible Revolution, London: Solidarity.
|
Marshall, P. (1993) Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism, London: Fontana Press.
|
Maxwell, J. (1996) Social Dimensions of Economic Growth, Eric John Hanson Memorial Lecture Series, Vol. VIII, University of Alberta.
|
May, T. (2009) ‘Anarchism from Foucault to Rancière’, in R. Amster, et al. (eds.) Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An introductory anthology of anarchy in the academia, New York: Routledge, 11-17.
|
Miles, M. (2005) Urban Utopias: The Built and Social Architectures of Alternative Settlements, Abingdon: Routledge.
|
Milstein, C. (2000) ‘Reclaim the Streets: From Protest to Popular Power’ Online. Available at http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/reclaim-cities-protest-popular-power (accessed 5 July 2009).
|
Mingione, E. 1996 (ed.) Urban Poverty and the Underclass, Oxford: Blackwell.
|
Moulaert, F. et al. (2000) Globalization and Integrated Area development in European Cities, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
|
Moxham, N. (1996) ‘Reclaim the Streets: Because Cars Can’t Dance’ Online. Available at http://www.culturechange.org/issue8/reclaim%20the%20streets.htm (accessed 3 July 2009).
|
Mueller, T. (n.d.) ‘Empowering anarchy: Power, hegemony, and anarchist strategy’, Anarchist Studies, 11, 2, 122-149.
|
Novy, A., et al. (2009) ‘Social Cohesion – conceptual and political clarifications’, Draft paper prepared for the Social Polis Vienna Conference, May 11th and 12th.
|
Nunes, J. and Serra, N. (2005) ‘Casas decentes para o povo: movimentos urbanos e emancipação em Portugal’, in B. Santos (org.) Democratizar a Democracia: Os Caminhos da Democracia Participativa, Porto: Ediçoes Afrontamento, 257-293.
|
Parker, M., et al. (2007) The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Alternatives, London: Zed Books.
|
Peet, R. (2007) Geography of Power: The Making of Global Economic Policy, London: Zed Books.
|
Pickvance, C. (2003) ‘From Urban Social Movements to Urban Movements: A Review and Introduction to a Symposium on Urban Movements’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27, 1, 102-109.
|
Portas, N. (1986) ‘O Processo SAAL: Entre o Estado e o Poder Local’, Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 18/19/20, 635-644.
|
Préposiet, J. (2005) História do Anarquismo, Lisboa: Edições 70.
|
Price, W. (n.d.) ‘Anarchism: Utopian or Scientific’, The Utopian, 5, 61-73.
|
Rodrigues, M. (1999) Pelo Direito à Cidade: O Movimento de Moradores no Porto (1974/76), Porto: Edições Afrontamento.
|
Sanoff, H. (2000) Community Participation Methods in Design and Planning, New York: John Willey & Sons.
|
SchNEWS (2000) ‘Space is the Place: Direct Action and Geography’, Antipode, 32, 2, 111-114.
|
Seyferth, P. (2009) ‘Anarchism and utopia’, in R. Amster, et al. (eds.) Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An introductory anthology of anarchy in the academia, New York: Routledge, 280-289.
|
Shukaitis, S. (2009) ‘Infrapolitics and the nomadic educational machine’, in R. Amster, et al. (eds.) Contemporary Anarchist Studies: An introductory anthology of anarchy in the academia, New York: Routledge, 166-174.
|
Stevens, Q. (2004) ‘Urban Escapades: Play in Melbourne’s Public Spaces’, in L. Lees (ed.) The Emancipatory City? Paradoxes and possibilities, London: Sage Publications, 139-157.
|
Switzky, J. (2002) ‘Riding to See’, in C. Carlsson (ed.) Critical mass: Bicycling’s defiant celebration, Edinburgh: AK Press., 186-192.
|
Swyngedouw, E. and Kaika, M. (2003) ‘The making of 'glocal' urban modernities’, City, 7, 1, 5-21.
|
Walter, N. (2002) About Anarchism. London: Freedom Press.
|
Ward, C. (1983) Housing: An Anarchist Approach, 2nd Edition, London: Freedom Press.
|
Ward, C. (2004) Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
|
Ward, C. (2008) Anarchy in Action, London: Freedom Press.
|
Whyte, W. (1995) ‘Learning from the Mondragón Cooperative Experience’, Studies in Comparative International Development, 30, 2, 58-67.
|
Woodcock, George (1962) Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
|
Woolley, F. (1998) Social Cohesion and Voluntary Activity: Making Connections, Conference paper given at the Conference on the State of Living Standards and the Quality of Life in Canada: Perspectives and Prospective, Ottawa.
|
Zinn, H. (1997a) ‘Anarchism’, in H. Zinn (ed.) The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy, New York: Seven Stories Press, 644-655.
|
Zinn, H. (1997b) ‘Non-Violent Direct Action’ in H. Zinn (ed.) The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy, New York: Seven Stories Press, 612-619.
|
Share with your friends: |
