..........................................................................................................................................

Laura Saija (University of Catania, Italy)

The focus of this year’s iteration of the workshop “you participate, they profit: collective action, power and urban change” takes its title from the famous poster produced by French art students during the uprisings of 1968. Its history speaks eloquently to long-standing debates about power,participation and urban political struggles.
By taking this image as a cue, the workshop aims to critically explore the forms of collective actionand democratic participation found in cities, and how they might be challenged and rethought inresponse to the crises of the historical present. Key questions include: how do people come together in pursuit of common goals? What forms does collective action assume today in different latitudes?How does it relate to the changing physical, social, and economic fabric of urban space? What are its impact on urban governance and what is its contribution, if any, to more inclusive and just transformations?