Errekaleor: a communal democracy laboratory in a neighborhood in the Basque Country

Abstract

The growing crisis of the liberal democracy model has enabled the emergence of alternative models. One of the most innovative has been that of communal democracy, which is postulated as an antagonistic proposal to the dominant perspectives. Faced with representativeness and the liberal subject, he claims a community subject that is self-governing. In this research, an analysis is made of the experience of the self-managed neighborhood of Errekaleor, located in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country), where an attempt is being made to develop a model of communal democracy. The methodology used is ethnographic in nature, with a great weight of observation and in-depth interviews. Among the main findings, the germ of an alternative model stands out, in which practices of self-government, self-management and mutual care stand out.

Keywords

• communal democracy
• community subject
• self-government
• self-management
• care