Shaminder

Parmar Concordia University April 19, 2013

Community Planning Professor Le Bel Citation style used: A.P.A.

The Modern Social Movements Efforts to Counter the Neoliberalization of Democracy, Planning and Community Introduction The 1960s, particularly in the United States, saw widespread use of radical action movements to combat social problems, which had resulted from the systematic unequal distribution of resources. These movements were local in nature and are referred to as neighborhood rebellions (Mayer, p. 90) of the 1960s. Some of the most successful movements focused on radical squatting and anti-gentrification. In todays context, we see a heavily altered (if not eroded) form of community. Recent reports in London have shown that governments have attempted to introduce legislation that will prohibit squatting settlements and communities built from squatting, even when properties have been completely abandoned for over a decade (The Real News, 2013). According to Mayer (2007), neoliberal policies have guided this erosionary process and have ensured that familiar patterns that once characterized community action are no longer prominent in urban spaces in western democracies: As neoliberal restructuring strategies have reconfigured individual states across the various Western welfare regimes, a variety of social movements have responded by addressing and challenging neoliberal urban policies and their consequences. However, these policies and their consequences have transformed not only the forms and spaces of urban governance but also social movement terrains, breaking up familiar patterns and creating new frontiers and cleavages of contestation (p. 90).

Shaminder Parmar There are two major aspects of Mayers quote that will be explored. The first is that the change in urban governance is partly a failure of social movements to create an adequate structure of opportunity for community participation. The second is that many of these social movements have had success in attempting to compete with neoliberal policy on a more regional and global scale, while more-localized movements have experienced varying results. In relation to the first aspect, Mayer (2007) suggests that social movements have issued a response to neoliberal restructuring, but that neoliberal policies have left a considerable impact on the concept of urban governance. Part of the reason for this chance is the failure of social movements to address the need to create an adequate structure of opportunity for community members to be able to participate on a comprehensive level. McAlister (2010) and Kuzakabe (2013) explore examples of such proto-urban governance styles that have merged in Japan and Northern Ireland. This paper will provide evidence that such governance structures are indeed influenced by neoliberal policy and they do not accurately reflect the characteristics of deliberative democracy. The second part of this paper will examine how social movements have attempted to counter neoliberal policies by organizing on more-global and regional levels (as neoliberal organizations often do). Several examples show that communities such as Flushing, New York, who have attempted to organize on a more-localized scale have been unable to organize as effectively as the sense of community has disintegrated in the face of neoliberal policies and community boards have been ineffective in organizing community members at various scales to combat this. Both parts of this paper examine the social response to neoliberal restructuring of urban governance and social movements. And although there have been some success in the new social response, more detailed insight shows that these movements are failing to deliver on the key aspects of truly effective community participation. 2

Shaminder Parmar Urban Governance and the Structure of Opportunity When studying forms of governance that fail to create a structure of opportunity for its citizens to get involved, the case of pre-1994 Northern Ireland provides us a clear example. ESCAP (2013) defines governance as the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). The period prior to 1994 in Northern Ireland reflected direct rule, where power was heavily stored in the hands of the few. In this time, planning was made even more complex, as various departments were created to handle different planning issues and the general public was left confused as to how the system worked. When further case studies are explored in this paper, we will see that this direct rule is still reflected in the new urban governance structures that have been implemented by the social response to neoliberalism. After the Irish Republican Army and combined Loyalist paramilitary groups declared a ceasefire, participation began to be cautiously encouraged. McAlister (2010) argues that citizens in Northern Ireland, who had been denied the opportunity to influence planning for so long, welcomed the opportunity to engage in [even the most] minimalist form of participation, as historically opportunities for participation were relatively non-existent (p. 539). The democratic deficit (p.540) that currently exists in Ireland, according to McAlister, is attributable to the lack of participation that the Irish governance structure had allowed. The effects of democratic deficit have been felt even in countries that laud themselves as highly democratic states. The lack of participation from low-income residents and even homeless people in the Downtown Eastside region in Vancouver has lead to a systematic pullout of social services and businesses from the area. Bornstein (2010) argues that in the 1990s, high rates of drug use and drug-related deaths, neo- liberal reductions in governmental services[finally] prompted city officials to enter into partnerships with other levels of government, community service providers and local businesses to address the areas problems (p. 202). In both cases, we see evidence of an eventual increase in the scale of participation. In this sense, the scale of participation can be measured by Arnsteins (1969) ladder of 3

Shaminder Parmar Participation. She argues that the notion of increased citizen participation is not always accurate. The social response to the lack of opportunities for citizen involvement, has been in many cases to create a system in which citizens believe they are participating in the planning process, but in reality are not. Although she mentions several stages of participation that are similar in nature, Arnstein (1969) refers to the manipulation stage as an illusionary form of participation (p. 218). False advocates of increased participation have promoted manipulation tactics (where committees of community actors are formed and then told that they will have an influence on planning decisions when in reality they will not). Proponents of urban renewal projects have used manipulation tactics in the face of community resistance to suppress any form of protest. The failure for social movements to recognize these tactics, disguised as participation, has lead to increased power for proponents of neo-liberal strategies to control space and urban governance. However, there are examples where citizens have been able to identify such tactics under the threat of urban renewal and launch an effective response. Residents of Villa Autodromo in Rio have been threatened with renewal from the government and developers since a plan for the Rio Olympics required that the slum essentially be destroyed to make way for other development projects. Residents had been approached by officials and told that there would be compensation packages for residents, but proactive research from residents revealed that developers did not ask for the slum to be cleared, but that the government had specifically asked for clearance so they could make better use of that land. In many instances, governments influenced by neo-liberal policies are able to push the case for urban renewal to uninformed and misinformed blocs of the public. Many such proponents would define urban renewal as the Portland Development Commission (2013) has done: Urban renewal is a state-authorized, redevelopment a and finance program designed to help communities improve and redevelop areas that are physically deteriorated, suffering economic stagnation, unsafe or poorly planned.

Shaminder Parmar However, when community actors understand that in many cases, the renewal is meant to renew the physical space, rather than the lives of existing lower-income residents, the definition of urban renewal becomes much more bleak. Kuzakabe (2013) describes instances in Kyoto, Yasu City and Takashima City, where new forms of urban governance have risen as more-democratic responses to the stranglehold that capital-motivated institutions have had since the late 1960s. A massive municipal merger of communities in 2005 led to the development of 10-year temporary Community Councils (p. 20) which would help oversee the new master plan for the area. These Councils composed of 15-20 members from industries, community organizations, businesses, etc. Their main role has been to gather opinions and monitor progress for the city plan; however, the system failed to meet the goals that were promised of it. Eventually, the communication between the Councils became estranged, certain industries began to dominate membership and they failed to make insightful recommendations. The merger took place and power was, again, concentrated in the hands of a few and taken away from the communities. Organizing Beyond the Local Scale The nature of deliberative democracy is that through deliberation and the discussion of different ideas and opinions, communities can reach a consensus that is beneficial to all members. This notion reflects highly localized ideals, in that the smaller the community, an increased number of people are likely to have their voices heard. However, the nature of neoliberal policies is that they break down community borders and encourage an influx of capital, culture, workers and more. Neoliberal policies encourage a dilution of what can make communities unique places, ensuring that places are then treated as efficient, machine-like generators of income rather than spaces for healthy communities. Many successful organizations have responded by fighting such policies on multiple scales, as they argue that neoliberalism must be fought on more regional and global levels. Organizations that have organized locally however, have seen varying success. 5

Shaminder Parmar Mayer (2007) agrees that social movements that have organized on a global scale have been successful in creat[ing] spaces for reflecting and ex-changing local experiences with movements from other parts of the world (p. 105). These multiscalar approaches have allowed organizations such as Mumbai14, Alegre and World Social Forum to take their message to the local level so that neighborhoods have been able to retain their local identities while opposing neoliberal policies on a multiscalar level. A lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology called Diversifying cities: migration, habitation and community development (2008) discussed the important of having tolerance and acceptance in a society where historical borders that separated us in the past are no longer as clearly defined. This type of tolerance and acceptance is prominent in Flushing, New York, a neighborhood that Hum (2010) describes as being quite distinct in [its] racial and class composition, neighborhood typology, and relationship to the urban political economy (p. 461). Although experts have yet to come up with a common definition of a neighborhood, it can be understood as a space where people share common values and are able to interact and relate with each other on a consistent basis. Flushing has been an area where in the face of efforts to decentralizing planning (introduced by Mayor Bloomberg), the largely Asian and Latino community has attempted to organize community boards to at least force their input on planning initiatives in their neighborhoods. However, without adequate support from industry experts, pressure from private interests to fail and the inability for actors to reconcile racial issues, the effort failed to provide a public forum for community actors to participate in a meaningful way and voice their opinions. Hum (2010) expresses this struggle as a racial struggle for community identity (p. 473). This type of organization is local in nature and represents the type of neighborhood rebellion efforts that were seen in the 1960s. However, the context is different, in that today, decentralization policies have worked to counter such localized movements. Regardless, some neighborhoods such as the Old Port in Montreal have been able to retain their local identity, even with pressure to commoditize the area to generate capital 6

Shaminder Parmar from regional and international consumers. Community groups in the area heavily opposed a proposed casino and entertainment district project along the Peel Basin region. In addition to demanding that more social services be introduced to the area, the community did not want to endure the same fate of identity deconstruction and gentrification that other historic communities such as Little Burgundy had endured. Pruijt (2013) cites others who suggest that the inevitable fate of urban movements is institutionalization leading to identity loss (p. 40). Identity in this case refers to a set of characteristics that define a localized area. However, the community groups in the Peel Basin region were able to harness the strong sense of identity that the community felt and use it to combat and eventually reject the casino project. Conclusion Neoliberal policies and actors, since the 1960s have began to erode the ability of individuals and community actors to conduct meaningful participation in efforts to influence planning in their neighborhoods. Community actors have issued a response to this with differing methods of social organization. However, by creating systems of urban governance that fail to provide community actors with an adequate opportunity to participate, the movement has only encouraged the type of governance that they have set out to deconstruct. Secondly, evidence shows that organization at scales other than just the local (but are not disconnected from the local) have had success in combatting neoliberalization if not at the least, have raised awareness for the damage it causes to communities. Communities such as Flushing, New york are examples of localized efforts that have failed to repel decentralization of the planning process due to the lack of local identity. While communities in the Peel Basin region have used their strong sense of community to direct a well-organized assault on incoming mega-projects that threatened their neighborhood. Eventually, we notice varying degrees of success among the social response to neoliberal policies. Studying the cases that have been presented in this paper help describes the commonalities among successful organization attempts and common characteristics among groups that failed to create the conditions for meaningful citizen participation. 7

Shaminder Parmar References Al Jazeera. (2013, February 8). Rios red card [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/viewfinder/2013/01/2013181253860560.html Arnstein, S. (1969, July). A ladder of citizen participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216-224. Bornstein, L. (2010, December). Mega-projects, city-building and community benefits. City, Culture and Society, 1(4), 199-206. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNESCAP. (2013). What is good governance?. Retrieved April 17, 2013, from http://www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/projectactivities/ongoing/gg/governance.asp Hum, T. (2010, April). Planning in neighborhoods with multiple publics: Opportunities and challenges for community-based nonprofit organizations. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 29(4), 461-477. Kusakabe, E. (2013, February). Advancing sustainable development at the local level: The case of machizukuri in Japanese cities. Progress in Planning, 80, 1-65. Mayer, M. (2007). Contesting the neoliberalization of urban governance, in H. Leitner, J. Peck and E.S. Sheppard (eds.), Contesting Neoliberalism: Urban Frontiers. (pp. 90-115). New York: Guildford. McAlister, R. (2010, April). Putting the community into community planning: Assessing community inclusion in Northern Ireland. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 34(3), 533547. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2008, April 4). Diversifying cities: migration, habitation and community development [Video file]. Retrieved from

Shaminder Parmar http://video.mit.edu/watch/diversifying-cities- migration-habitation-and-community- development- 9360/ Portland Development Commission - PDC. (2013). Urban renewal. Retrieved April 17, 2013, from http://www.pdc.us/our-work/urban-renewal-areas.aspx Pruijt, H. (2013, January). The logic of urban squatting. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(1), 19-45. The Real News. (2013, February 8). The squatters in London [Video file]. Retrieved from http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid =74&jumival=9654#.UUOhVxxWySo