But who are the real players behind the economic exploitation of urban space? What allows them to act the way they do – and how can their actions be politically and societally monitored, controlled, and thwarted?

X Properties examines the impact of financial capital on the social and cultural production of the city, its forms of relationality and subjectivity. The book is published on the occasion of the homonymous research and event project at neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK). The text contributions by Christian (Syndikat-Kollektiv), Christoph Casper, Jana Gebauer, Kathrin Gerlof, Katrin Lompscher, Louis Moreno, Raquel Rolnik & Isadora Guerreiro & Paula Freire Santoro and Pheli Sommer combine Berlin case studies with global perspectives on the de/financialisation of the city.

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But who are the real players behind the economic exploitation of urban space? What allows them to act the way they do – and how can their actions be politically and societally monitored, controlled, and thwarted?

X Properties examines the impact of financial capital on the social and cultural production of the city, its forms of relationality and subjectivity. The book is published on the occasion of the homonymous research and event project at neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK). The text contributions by Christian (Syndikat-Kollektiv), Christoph Casper, Jana Gebauer, Kathrin Gerlof, Katrin Lompscher, Louis Moreno, Raquel Rolnik & Isadora Guerreiro & Paula Freire Santoro and Pheli Sommer combine Berlin case studies with global perspectives on the de/financialisation of the city.

The post X Properties appeared first on EECLECTIC.

In the first parliament of the reunited Berlin, efforts to anchor these expanded political rights in the new constitution were largely defeated. However, a provision for legislation by the people was adopted.

As a result, in the state of Berlin laws can be passed directly without the parliament by popular vote. In recent years, two laws have been passed in this way: the public disclosure of municipal water contracts and the preservation of the Tempelhofer Feld. Although a majority of Berliners—in all districts—voted in favor of the latter in May 2014, the governing parties soon tried to overturn this legislation passed by the citizens. In response, a new citizens’ legislative proposal, “Volksentscheid Retten”, was initiated in 2016 to strengthen legislation by popular vote in the constitution.

These two processes, in 1989/90 and 2016, aimed to enable all Berliners to participate in shaping the constitution. This book traces the connection between the two.

The post Zur Verfassung. Recherchen, Dokumente 1989–2017 appeared first on EECLECTIC.