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Self‐Organised Practices of Social Participation; or How Individualisation is Collectively Contested in the Raval

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  • Olaf Tietje

    (Department of Sociology, LMU Munich, Germany)

Abstract

In this article, I focus on current developments in the Raval district of the Spanish metropolis of Barcelona and show how social participation can be made possible despite hostility. Social participation is the opportunity for subjects to take part in society and, in this way, to experience “belonging to society.” “Belonging to a society” means experiencing both active and passive opportunities to shape and use socially founded and politically constituted community relationships and infrastructures. The example of the Raval shows how neighbours can be activated as a collective through self‐organised practices of social participation. In the context of a welfare state in transformation, social participation is partly being transferred from the state to civil society actors. Focusing on the issues of housing, security, and care, this article shows how, on the one hand, this transferring of responsibility contradicts individualisation and creates something in common. On this basis, the residents can find collective answers to individualised problems and improve social participation. On the other hand, it shifts the weight of social responsibility unto civil society, which means that social participation is no longer guaranteed by the state and, as in the case of the Raval, becomes dependent on more or less randomly developed structures in the social environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Olaf Tietje, 2025. "Self‐Organised Practices of Social Participation; or How Individualisation is Collectively Contested in the Raval," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:9090
    DOI: 10.17645/si.9090
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monica Degen, 2003. "Fighting for the global catwalk: formalizing public life in Castlefield (Manchester) and diluting public life in el Raval (Barcelona)," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 867-880, December.
    2. Narasimha D. Rao & Jihoon Min, 2018. "Decent Living Standards: Material Prerequisites for Human Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 225-244, July.
    3. Pera, Marina, 2020. "Potential benefits and challenges of the relationship between social movements and the commons in the city of Barcelona," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
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