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ABOUT THE BOOK

While liberal-representative democracies tend to conform to a consensus-based post-political paradigm where there is no space for alternatives and dissensus, new forms of democracy in practice are emerging from below. This book explores new socially innovative initiatives that have appeared following the 2011 global uprisings. Initiatives that flourish not only as alternative responses to current social needs but also as new forms of democracy, a democracy that comes from below, by and for the ‘have-nots’.
Combining theories of social innovation and collective leadership, this book analyzes how disadvantaged communities have addressed the effects of economic recession in two global cities: Barcelona and New York. It draws upon several socially innovative initiatives in four neighbourhoods, and offers new knowledge, ideas and tools, both to better understand how social needs could be effectively and democratically satisfied, and to foster social change initiatives at the community level. Civic capacity and democratic leadership practices emerge as crucial factors to make social change happen.
The book advances both theoretical and empirical understandings of social change and will appeal to scholars in urban studies, geography, leadership studies, political science and sociology. It will also be of interest to practitioners, policy makers and leaders in social organizations, as it provides ideas and tools to help foster social change.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents: Introduction and overview PART I - SOCIAL INNOVATION AGAINST THE CRISIS: FRAMING OUR RESEARCH 1. Social innovation and relational leadership: opening up new perspectives on social change 2. Geographies of crisis: comparing the United States and Europe through New York and Barcelona PART II - THEORIZING SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH NEIGHBOURHOOD FEATURES AND LEADERSHIP 3. Neighbourhood resilience, civic capacity and historical-geographical context 4. Democratic leadership: the work of leadership for social change PART III - COMMUNITIES ENGAGED IN SOCIAL CHANGE: ANALYSING SOCIAL INNOVATION FROM BELOW 5. Bushwick: emerging innovations in a dramatically gentrified neighbourhood 6. South Bronx: a whole community fighting social exclusion 7. Nou Barris Nord: community resistance in a highly vulnerable context 8. Sants: seeking autonomous self-management from below 9. Learning from socially innovative initiatives and leadership practices Index