As a response to various political and financial crises Europe faced, new ways of political participation have emerged at the local level, which resulted in increased interest in the role of cities in resolving universal problems. This 3-year European based project includes ten city-based cases and has for the aim to examine the relevance of cities as political actors in increasing of transnational cooperation and social cohesion in Europe across the fields of migrant rights, housing and care work.

Migrant rights, affected by the European refugee crisis, are in this project explored through interplay between more exclusionary national politics and inclusionary local initiatives. The field of housing focuses on problem of affordable housing and housing policies. Finally, the field of care work is presented in the context of lacking recognition in terms of rewards.

The overall aim is to examine how do local political initiatives enact citizenship and solidarity, and to what extent and in which ways do they build intersectional strategies and translocal networks, thus reviving Europe “from below”.

This is done by using three qualitative methods, including frame analysis, which is used to analyze the initiatives’ official documents and media coverage, digital ethnography, used to capture political practices on digital platforms and the mobile use of data, and global ethnography, which includes the toolbox of methods, such as participant observation and in-depth interviews. The 10 chosen cities studies (Florence and Palermo in Italy, Ljubljana and Maribor in Slovenia, Bern and Zürich in Switzerland, Hamburg and Berlin in Germany, and Aarhus and Copenhagen in Denmark) function as cases of this empirical study. In each of the social fields (migrant rights, housing and care work) two types of political initiatives are studied: civil society organizations and municipal initiatives. Moreover, each social field is outlined along four dimensions: actors, practices, spatial relations and political imaginaries. Theoretical approaches this project is based on come from four broader literatures: citizenship, solidarity, and democracy; urban movements and municipal politics; intersectionality; and European studies and social theory.

Third party funding by VolkswagenStiftung

MEMBERS:
Prof. Dr. Donatella della Porta works for Centre of Social Movement Studies in Scuola Normale Superiore in Italy, and contributes with longstanding expertise in social movement studies, Europeanization, urban movements and theories of democracy and solidarity.
 
Prof. Dr. Martin Bak Jørgensen from DEMOS (Democracy, Migration and Society Research Group) at Aalborg University in Denmark, is an expert in movement research in the fields of housing and migration, with a particular focus on urban politics.
 
Prof. Dr. Mojca Pajnik from The Peace Institute in Slovenia is an expert in media and communication studies, particularly skilled in digital methods, discourse and frame analysis.
 
Dr. Sarah Schilliger is a part of Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies at University of Bern in Switzerland. Dr. Schilliger is an expert in collaborative research in the fields of care work and migration with experience in ethnographic research. She has done extensive work on local politics, urban citizenship and solidarity.
 
Dr. Helge Schwiertz (main applicant) from Department of Social Sciences at University of Hamburg in Germany contributes with expertise in social movements and civic engagement, particularly in the field of migration, and in practice-theoretical concepts of citizenship, solidarity and democracy.
 

PRACTICE PARTNERS:
CITIZENSLAB E.V.
CitizensLab is an NGO located in Berlin, Germany, whose main focus is rethinking and redoing how the society is organized. The organization test new and alternative ways of living and working together in Europe by using the so-called “Lab Approach”
 

EUROPEAN ALTERNATIVES BERLIN E.V.
European Alternatives Berlin is the organization that promotes democracy, equality and culture beyond the nation-state and demands alternatives for a democratic and solidary future of Europe. Their focus lays in organizing citizens’ campaigns, projects, conferences as a way of promoting European citizenship and fundamental rights.

MINIM MUNICIPALIST OBSERVATORY
Minim Municipalist Observatory’s aim is to promote a more democratic political culture by supporting municipalist organizations and generating and sharing resources about municipalism. The organization is divided in three initiatives: a database with municipalism-related materials, a magazine and a research division.
 

EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD:
HARALD BAUER
Harald Bauer is a professor at Ryerson University that specializes in notions of citizenship, inclusion and solidarity in the context of migration. Bauer is also the founding director of the Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS).

AYSE CAGLAR
Ayse Caglar is a professor at University of Vienna, which contributes to the project with the knowledge about transnational migration and its dynamics, processes and actors.

ENGIN ISIN
Engin Isin is a professor at Unviersity of London in Paris and a former PI of large European projects on citizenship. Moreover, Isin is a chef editor of the international journal Citizenship Studies.

MARGIT MAYER
Margit Mayer is a professor of Comparative and North American Politics, and is a Senior Fellow at The Centre for Metropolitan Studies. Her focus lays in urban and social politics as well as social movements.