> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Reinventing spaces: May 6 – 12 on openDemocracy - URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/reinventing-spaces-may-6-12-on-opendemocracy/ - Published: 2013-05-11T23:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-04-23T01:25:57.000Z - Description: Where will a new Europe come from? From the bottom up, says Etienne Balibar! The worst crisis ever faced by the European construct is, for the French philosopher, exactly the right moment to reinvent what doesn't work. - Author: openDemocracy Supporters - Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:36, #appended-excerpt **Where will a new Europe come from?** [From the bottom up](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/b4f3365f8d&ref=opendemocracy.net), says Etienne Balibar! The worst crisis ever faced by the European construct is, for the French philosopher, exactly the right moment to reinvent what doesn't work. [Not so fast](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/5997aa7382&ref=opendemocracy.net), replies Bo Stråth, who agrees **Europe must offer alternatives** to the variety of citizens across the continent but asks what such a radical paradigm shift – from top-down to bottom-up – would entail for political Europe, social Europe and the European left. What is certain is that there have never been so many **calls to reassert social justice** in the European space, from the [anti-eviction movement in Spain](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/2e54a0acff&ref=opendemocracy.net) to the [Movimento 5 Stelle](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/9de0e3c21c&ref=opendemocracy.net) in Italy and the networks that campaign for a [financial transaction tax in Europe](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/d05997ff1e&ref=opendemocracy.net). Similarly, in [a new series of videos](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/785ce71f8d&ref=opendemocracy.net), contributors to the Oecumene project at the Open University explore citizenship, orientalism and occidentalism in Europe and beyond, including Bela Bhatia who focuses on [corruption and change in India.](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/65fec84fe2&ref=opendemocracy.net) Talking about reapproatriated spaces, have you ever wondered why so many hip shops, cafés and restaurants look like disaffected industrial zones? In a [brilliant Friday Essay](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/d373da6acb&ref=opendemocracy.net), Jonathan Moses explains how **brands such as Byron Burgers and Brewdog successfully captured the radical aesthetics**developed in anti-capitalist spaces. The article draws pessimistic conclusions: if even radical aesthetics can be commodified in a neoliberal economy, what hope is left, for example, for the UK National Health Service, where **anti-privatisation campaigners recently failed** to prevent the opening of the NHS to far more [private sector competition](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/22350386fc&ref=opendemocracy.net)? And although Graham MacPhee [warns us](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/8c64698e39&ref=opendemocracy.net) against the **temptation of an all powerful nation**, examples such as the efficiency of the [East Coast rail line](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/9cd2a1511e&ref=opendemocracy.net), one of the last nationalised segments of the UK rail network, show privatisation might not always be the best way to go. 50.50's Fatimah Kelleher explores the role [African women will play in digital futures](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/164aee2ceb&ref=opendemocracy.net), Manoela Miklos discusses [failed cities](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/72220621ff&ref=opendemocracy.net) in openSecurity's [Cities in Conflict](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/b644a6cac9&ref=opendemocracy.net) series, while on oDRussia Mikhail Loginov tells the [singular story](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/02fe5aec3e&ref=opendemocracy.net) of Vladimir Surkov, **Putin's once-mighty propagandist who has recently been ousted** from government. Around the world, our coverage of events this week examines the [patterns of change](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/ca063c30a0&ref=opendemocracy.net) that became apparent after the recent**Malaysian election**, the [power of religion](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/6af3fa774d&ref=opendemocracy.net) in Bangladesh and the[Boko Haram insurgency](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/59d6716375&ref=opendemocracy.net) in Nigeria. Finally, don't miss Jamie Mackay's analysis of '[Torture machines'](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/2f06a99071&ref=opendemocracy.net),**the poetic space of 1970s Italian autonomist collective A/Traverso**, and Xander Parish's [diary of a British dancer](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/f047a30e2d&ref=opendemocracy.net) in St Petersburg. **Don't miss:** - [Ma Jian on China's one-child policy](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/e9af8cdfdc&ref=opendemocracy.net) - [Life in the City Is Essentially One Giant Math Problem](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/28c8668525/c=y&story=fullstory&ref=opendemocracy.net) - [I’m still here: back online after a year without the internet](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/139bb5b4ef&ref=opendemocracy.net) **openDemocracy’s week in 1 minute is emailed to Members, Friends and authors who help pay for and create our great content. Please forward this to any contact you think might be interested and** [**want to join**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/c9e3797ad3/openDemocracy/bb28beb484/946f39415f/51634b1085/openDemocracy/d4022f1a75/TEST/e64101092e&ref=opendemocracy.net) **or email us (**[**supporters@opendemocracy.net**](mailto:supporters@opendemocracy.net)**).** **Where will a new Europe come from?** [From the bottom up](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/50705f8505/7262321cfa/b4f3365f8d&ref=opendemocracy.net), says Etienne Balibar! The worst crisis ever faced by the European construct is, for the French philosopher, exactly the right moment to reinvent what doesn't work.