Matina, M. orcid.org/0000-0003-4007-2087, Borchi, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-5683-458X and Pélissier, M. (2025) The rise of the commons, cultural spaces and policy in Southern Europe: why did this happen and why do we care? International Journal of Cultural Policy. ISSN 1028-6632
Abstract
Having long symbolised the inefficiency of shared ownership, the commons are re-emerging as an effective principle of social and cultural struggle against neoliberalism. The commons are also at the core of an interdisciplinary academic debate that has found important applications in the context of urban studies and cultural policy studies. In this paper, we analyse the origins of the spread of commons vocabulary and practice in community-run cultural spaces in Naples, Marseille and Athens and discuss their relationship with policy. We identify three different policy attitudes towards the commons: conflict and dialogue, multiple avenues for policy co-development, and indifference that reveal fundamental issues related to the relationship between the commons and state authorities, such as agonism, co-optation and mutual avoidance. By engaging with the concept of ‘new municipalism’ and potential partnerships between the commons and the state, we suggest that a pathway based on mutual trust, independence and adopting a cultural rights approach can enable new collaborations between policymakers and activists.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Commons; cultural policy;alternative and community-led cultural spaces; cultural rights |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > Performance and Cultural Industries (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Jul 2025 10:54 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jul 2025 10:54 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Taylor and Francis Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/10286632.2025.2518142 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:228613 |