Reimagining the Urban Commons in Italy: Reform, Social Innovation, and Transformation(19 Research in Urban Sociology)

Building and expanding on the literature of case studies of urban commons that have emerged which question the development of urban commons theories and concepts and identify results and contradictions, this edited collection progresses our understanding of the different aspects, characteristics, challenges, contradictions and potential of the urban commons in Italy. Presenting different case studies of urban commons and socially innovative and democratic practices in Italian cities, the chapters analyse the different contexts and specific political and socio-economic needs that are being addressed. Uncovering the motivations, discourse and actions of the different actors involved as well as the dynamics among them, the authors investigate negotiating with commons actors and the state involving conflict, negotiation and collaboration, as well as the relationship with the surrounding urban environment and local institutions and how they intertwine. In which ways do the urban commons and their socially innovative governance challenge the urban development model? In which manners do urban commons initiatives advance the right to the city? How do territorial and local communities contribute to the creation and diffusion of social innovation, recognising its structuring effect? With chapters written by scholars with expertise in urban studies, sociology and political science, this collection is a multidisciplinary effort needed to fully understand an evolving phenomenon in social sciences. It is an important contribution to theoretic debates on the urban commons in Italy, wider Europe, and beyond.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Marco Alberio and Charmain Levy Chapter 1. The ‘Expressive’ Function of Urban Commons; Antonio Putini Chapter 2. Unveiling “Opposition and Territorial Commoning”: Insights from the Self-Managed Places of Rome; Simone Ranocchiari Chapter 3. Commons as Utopias of Care: The Case of the Social Centre Lucha; Ilaria Pitti Chapter 4. The Commons as a Form of Urban Citizenship: From Post-Capitalist Resistance to Community Cohesion in Bologna; Charmain Levy, Marco Alberio, and Anna Rita Parini Chapter 5. A Fleeting Utopia: Artistic Imagination and the Ephemerality of the Commons in Turin; Marco Rossi and Antonio Vesco Chapter 6. A School as a Common: How Community Participation Can Improve a Public Service and Transform it into a Common; Chiara Belingardi Chapter 7. Communities and Common Consciousness: Exploring Commonalities for Pionta Park; Francesca Bianchi and Gozde Yildiz Chapter 8. Shared Administration of the Commons and the Challenge of Urban Nature: The Case Study of Bologna; Roberta Bartoletti and Franca Faccioli Chapter 9. Rethinking Top-Down Approaches in the Ethics of Co-Design: The Case of Reggio Emilia Collaborative Governance Model; Irene Manzini Ceinar, Nicoletta Levi, and Giulia Sgarbi Chapter 10. Regeneration of Urban Commons and the Role of Culture: Bologna as a Case Study; Giulia Allegrini, Teresa Carlone, and Roberta Paltrinieri Chapter 11. Renewable Energy Communities: What Transformative Potential for Local Areas?; Domenica Farinella and Monica Musolino

About the Author :
Charmain Levy is Professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), Canada, where she teaches International Development Studies. Marco Alberio is Professor of Economic and Labour Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna, Italy.

Review :
This collective work offers an international audience a richly documented and analytical study of urban commons in Italy, in all their diversity and inventiveness. It is a major contribution to the global debate on commons, conceived in their dual dimension of conflict and construction. Since the Rodotà Commission, Italy has become a vast laboratory for urban commons. This book is the best testimony to date, both scientifically and in terms of its commitment. Italian cities are the scene of a vital struggle between capitalist control (speculation, gentrification, overtourism) and the citizenship of the commons. It is this struggle that gives this scientifically rigorous book its universal dimension. This book is a wonderful piece of literature on the commons that has its roots in the ancient governance and legal traditions of Italy, but speaks of a possible futures in which many more communities and cities across the Planet find their way back to their similar governance and legal traditions rooted in solidarity instead of competition, cooperation instead of conflict, trust and reciprocity instead of hate and egoism. Bringing together instructive experiences of commoning from northern to southern Italy, and placing them in dialogue with values typically aspired to by commons – solidarity and democratic governance, equal rights, ecological and social sustainability, satisfaction of needs of commoners and other beneficiaries, appropriation of space and territorial rights – this collection of passionate narratives makes a valuable contribution to the proliferation of commoning thought and practice In Europe.