ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the context in which the Comuns emerged as a political force. It examines the rise of Barcelona en Comu: how rethinking within alternative left parties and among social movement activists led to its creation in 2014 and its electoral triumph just a year later. The book focuses on the difficulties of minority government, made worse by divisions between left-leaning parties as the Catalan independence process unfolded. It examines the Colau administration’s efforts to extend public participation and introduce transformative policies in a number of key policy areas, among others, those relating to social inequality, the local economy, the environment and gender issues. The book devotes to the Comuns’ efforts to graduate to intervention at the Catalan level through CatComu.
