GLOBAL REMUNICIPALISATION AND THE POST-NEOLIBERAL TURN

Objectif

This project will undertake a transnational comparative study investigating the phenomenon of remunicipalisation. This refers to a global trend since 2000 (involving 835 cases in 45 countries) for cities to take formerly privatised assets, infrastructure and services back into public ownership. As such, it marks a significant departure in existing urban governance processes, signaling a decisive shift against the dominant form of neoliberalism that has held sway since the 1980s. The research advances the distinctive thesis that remunicipalisation represents a critical moment in the demise of neoliberalism, signifying a shift towards a new post-neoliberal urban governance regime. This has fundamental implications for cities in terms of how they are managed, who is involved and who benefits from urban development processes, with the re-introduction of more state-driven and potentially more democratic public forms.

The overarching aim of the research is to critically interrogate remunicipalisation and its implications for an emergent post-neoliberal urbanism. To address this aim it has three objectives: to develop a typology and conceptualisation of remunicipalisation that captures its diverse spatial, political and social forms; to assess whether it leads to more progressive forms of state and public action; and, to critically evaluate the democratic potential of the new forms of municipal public ownership. The research employs a multi-method transnational comparative analysis over five years, which involves an extensive global survey element, a three-country comparative analysis (Argentina, Germany, US), and a multi-site ethnographic phase of individual remunicipalisation case studies in each country.