In this episode, we reflect on the rise, evolution, and legacy of Barcelona en Comú, the emblematic movement-party that governed the city of Barcelona from 2015 to 2023. Joined by long-time activist and former political advisor Elia Gran, as well as researchers Silke van Dyk and Luzie Gerstenhöfer (University of Jena), the conversation explores the key ambitions, successes, and tensions of this bold experiment in municipalist governance.
The episode draws from the sociological research project „Public Politics and the Future of the Commons“ to unpack strategic shifts in areas like housing, municipalization of public services as well as social and economic policies. Together, the guests consider what can be learned from the Comuns’ experience, how the party related to social movements and class politics.
Now that the Comuns are out of office, the time is ripe for a candid assessment beyond their frequent representation as a European lighthouse case for alternative local politics: What did the municipalist turn achieve—and where did it fall short? Tune in for a rich researcher-activist dialogue on the possibilities and pitfalls of transforming politics from the ground up.
Links that our guests talked about during the episode: Repensem Barcelona and the Fundació Sentit Comú
New book release:
Silke van Dyk, Luzie Gerstenhöfer & Markus Kip (2025): Sozial- und Solidarwirtschaft im neuen Munizipalismus: Eine Entprivatisierung der Stadt?
In: Berliner Journal für Soziololgie, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11609-024-00541-4
Guests:
Elia Gran
Elia Gran is the former communications director at Barcelona city council’s department of health, ageing and care during the 2018-2023 period while Ada Colau was mayor. She is currently working in the foundation of Barcelona en Comú, Fundació Sentit Comú. Elia Gran has a degree in journalism and a passion for independent investigative reporting. In NYC, she wrote for print and radio media while working as a correspondent journalist for catalan and Spanish publications. She has been a digital content creator and networker for New York’s The Indypendent, as well as a broadcaster on the weekly WBAI news show. She is a co-creator of the Minim platform, a municipalist observatory, and she closely follows movements for urban rights and the struggle for decent housing, along with local and feminist movements.
Silke van Dyk
Dr. Silke van Dyk is Professor of Political Sociology at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena in Germany and Speaker of the Collaborative Research Centre “Structural Change of Property”, funded by the German Research Foundation. Her research focuses on the following areas: Sociology of the Welfare State; Social Inequality and Property Relations; Alternative Economies; Populism and Democracy; Ageing Studies. She has been researching new municipalism in Spain and the UK for several years. At present, she is leading the research project “Who owns the foundations? Infrastructures and the renegotiation of the public sphere”. Her latest contributions in English include: “Double Democratization and the Politics of Property in Municipalist Barcelona“, in: Journal of Political Sociology 2(1), 2024, S. 48-79 [with Markus Kip]; “Rethinking Social Rights as Social Property: Alternatives to Private Property, and the Democratisation of Public Politics“, in: Critical Sociology, 50 (3), S. 437-452 [mit Markus Kip]; „Post-Truth, the Future of Democracy and the Public Sphere”, in: Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 39, Issue 4, 2022, S. 37-50.
Luzie Gerstenhöfer
Luzie Gerstenhöfer is a sociologist and Doctoral Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre “Structural Change of Property” at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena. Her research interests include urban politics, social politics, new municipalism and urban commons, (re-)municipalization, and conflicts over infrastructure ownership. Since 2022, she has been conducting research on urban politics in Barcelona and is currently engaged in the research project “Who owns the foundations? Infrastructures and the renegotiation of the public sphere,” led by Prof. Dr. Silke van Dyk.
Host:
Markus Kip
After studying philosophy and theology in Munich and San Salvador, he continued with sociology in Berlin and New York, and obtained his PhD in Sociology from York University in Toronto in 2016. He is the author of “The Ends of Union Solidarity: Undocumented Labor and German Trade Unions” (2017) and co-editor of “Urban Commons: Moving beyond State and Market” (2015).
Together with Ross Beveridge, he is the co-founder of the Urban Political Podcast.