
Global Remunicipalisation and the Post-Neoliberal Turn
A comparative research project investigating remunicipalisation in Europe, Latin America and the United States
About us
Funded by the European Research Council (ERC), the ongoing, six-year research project titled “Global Remunicipalisation and the Post-Neoliberal Turn” (GLOBALMUN) is based at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom. Since January 2019, the project team has been undertaking a transnational comparative case study investigating the phenomenon of remunicipalisation.
What is 'remunicipalisation'?
Remunicipalisation refers to a global trend since 2000 for cities to take formerly privatised assets, infrastructure and services back into public ownership. As such, it marks a significant departure in existing urban governance processes, signalling a decisive shift against the dominant form of neoliberalism that has held sway since the 1980s.
The research advances the distinctive thesis that remuniciplisation represents a critical moment in the demise of neoliberalism, signifying a shift towards a post-neoliberal urban governance regime. This has fundamental implications for cities in terms of how they are managed, who is involved and who benefits from urban development processes, with the re-introduction of more state-driven and potentially more democratic public forms.
Project aims and objectives
The overarching aim of the research is to critically interrogate remunicipalisation and its implications for an emergent post-neoliberal urbanism. To address this aim, the project has three objectives:
- to develop a typology and conceptualisation of remunicipalisation that captures its diverse spatial, political and social forms,
- to assess whether remunicipalisation leads to more progressive forms of state and public action,
- and, to critically evaluate the democratic potential of the new forms of municipal public ownership.
Project methods
The research employs a multi-method transnational comparative analysis over 6 years, which involves an extensive global survey element, a comparative analysis (across Europe, Latin America and the US), and a multi-sited ethnographic phase of individual remunicipalisation case studies in each country.
Public Futures database
Submit new cases and view existing statistics and data on global remunicipalisation cases
News and events
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22 NovLaura Stegemann will attend the Our Future is Public Conference 2022 in Santiago, Chile from 29 November to 2 December. Laura will attend in person but the conference can also be joined virtually.
Publications and working papers
Read selected publications and working papers from the Global Remunicipalisation team