Territorializing Democracy: Strategies of Popular Participation in Buenos Aires

Territorializing Democracy argues that the political control of space is key to understanding political participation in the city. Drawing on a decade of research in Buenos Aires, this book shows that participation is not simply a response to innovations in urban governance; it is a strategy rooted in the relational context of territory. Examining key sites of activism over recent years—campaigning for a people’s park, upgrading an informal settlement, the “national-popular” movement of Kirchnerism, and struggles over urban redevelopment—the analysis contributes to pressing democratic debates around autonomy and self-management, populism and clientelism, and democratic innovation and “participatory articulations.” Through the lens of space and geography, this book offers a relational analysis of popular participation, working between multiple neighborhoods and scales, across different struggles, and between the streets and political institutions, activists, and politicians. In doing so, Halvorsen proposes a dual understanding of the territorialization of democracy: a reflection of the changing political conditions shaping cities today and a tool for assessing how democratic practices emerge from specific, grounded struggles over space.