Cultural commons as a key for bottom-linked policies. A look at the support for public and community partnerships in Barcelona

Abstract

This article aims to heighten our understanding of community managed cultural facilities, considering that these may be key for the future of cities. The research includes observant participation, thematic analysis of group debates and in-depth interviews with activists and professionals in the domain of community action in Barcelona. I document the construction of active collaboration networks of a wide variety of organizations fostering cultural commons in Barcelona, and highlight the efforts they have made to develop performance assessment tools. The conclusions consider the issue of mutual understanding between neighborhood movements, community action professionals, and the social economy sector. I underline how public-community partnerships can use networking activities to develop a constructive and critical approach to public service delivery and enhance collective learning about economic democratization (...)