Vortrag der Deutsch Britischen Gesellschaft Bonn, Andrew Cumbers

Thirty years on from the euphoria accompanying the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the celebrated victory of liberal democracy and global capital-ism, we are now in a very different historical conjuncture. Globalisation, free market (neoliberal) capitalism and even democracy itself are increasingly called into question amidst various crises ranging from growing wealth inequalities, the climate emergency, heightened geopolitical tensions and growing disaffection among much of the public at this state of play. While such problems defy easy solutions, Andrew Cumbers suggests in this talk that one thing urgently required is a very different form of political economy, based around more democratic and collective forms of ownership and decision-making. In this context, he will highlight some of the interesting experiments and innovations emerging from the trend towards de-privatisation at the local level: a process known as remunicipalisation...