Interviews with local politicians in Spain on "The articulation between commons and municipalism"

These interview transcriptions in Spanish are part of the work done for the University of Sheffield MA on Social Research 2018-2019. Ethics approval was granted collectively to the SMI605 module assignment. The files include the Students Ethic Form.

The assignment's aim was "[to] describe the understanding of the commons by activists and officials of the municipalist movement. It will try to identify how the urban commons and the municipalism are articulated across the personal understanding, the collective discussion, and the impact of the discussion about urban commons in the public discourse in social media." ( Students Ethic Form). The objective of the interviews was to identify how activists and officials of the municipalist movement in Spain understood the articulation between urban commons and municipalism.

The interview consisted of a presentation of a definition of "urban commons" and "municipalism" followed by four questions. Interviews were carried out in Spanish. Definitions and questions included below have been translated into English to provide a context:

Municipalism: Political project to build local power through radically democratic, feminist and equitable forms of social organisation, that incorporates the municipalist government of local institutions as one of its lines of action.

Urban Commons: Social organisation system based on the collective management of the material and immaterial resources found in urban contexts, following democratic, universal, sustainable and inalienable principles through communities involved in the production and reproduction of such resources,

Question 1: What do you think about the definition of municipalism? Do you find it easy to understand and agree with it? What would you add, remove or change? Do you have or prefer a different definition?

Question 2: What do you think about the definition of urban commons? Do you find it easy to understand and agree with it? What would you add, remove or change? Do you have or prefer a different definition?

Question 3: What is the relation between the two concepts? Can they be articulated in a political action? Why?

Pregunta 4: What are the three main conditions for developing the urban commons within the municipalist project? What main concepts and values can or must be articulated within the municipalist project?

The sampling was a) purposeful and b) opportunistic. A) The three persons interviewed - two elected officials and a political advisor - belonged to the municipalist movement, had a responsibility in the local government and had a presence in public debates. B) Participants attended the OIDP Conference co-organised by Barcelona City Council on the 26th and 27th of November 2018 and were available for the interviews.

The interview transcription reflects pauses and idioms. Each interview took approximately 30 minutes. Participants had the opportunity to review and amend their interventions.