Me, Myself & We

KAAITHEATER & MO* PRESENT

BENJAMIN BARBER

If Mayors Ruled the World LECTURE & DEBATE SU 29/09 20:30 KAAITHEATER | € 5

URBAN GURU BENJAMIN BARBER EXPLAINS WHY MAYORS SHOULD RUN THE WORLD How ‘hot’ can you be? You are invited all over the world to come and talk about a book that has not been published yet? This is what happens to the political theorist Benjamin Barber, once adviser to Bill Clinton.

His book, If Mayors Ruled the World, apparently strikes a chord. Barber will now introduce the book — hot off the press — at the Kaaitheater. This is also the first of a set of talks in our brand new series entitled Me, Myself & We. Our next guest is Michel Bauwens who will talk about new phenomena such as economic cooperation, peer-to-peer networks, urban agriculture, etc. (Tu 15/10).

23

‘CITIES ARE SMALL ENOUGH FOR DEMOCRACY’

— Karl van den Broeck

In 1996, the American Benjamin Barber became world famous for his book Jihad vs. McWorld. In it, he sought answers to the question of whether multinational organisations were able to deal with the conflict between aggressive modern materialism (McWorld) and the reactionary forces of fundamentalist Islam (Jihad).

‘I found that traditional organisations such as the UN or the IMF and the World Bank were paralysed by the sovereignty of their member states. They could no longer serve the interests of global democracy’, he said in a recent interview with fellow urban guru Richard Florida. ‘The result was that I went looking for alternative building blocks for global governance. And it soon became apparent that the city was an ideal candidate. The city is the answer to the difficult question of whether a global form of democracy still exists.’

From New York (via Skype), Barber explains his recent insights.

The frustration felt by Kathleen Van Brempt, a member of the European parliament, about the powerlessness of the Member States in the European Union probably sounds familiar to you.

‘The subtitle of my book is: Dysfunctional nations. Nation states cannot do what they should do on their own territory. Nor do they function in international relations and they are powerless to solve world problems.

Nation states were invented in the seventeenth century as autonomous jurisdictions. They had to govern citizens living in isolated areas all over the world. There were some trade relationships and sometimes wars were waged, but the people lived largely in silos.

In the 21st century we are faced with challenges that are all interconnected. Think of climate change, technology, the global economy, immigration, terrorism, pandemics, drugs and crime. Yet we still rely on these old nation states.’

Is it not a paradox to think that cities, which are even smaller than nation states, are better placed to tackle complex world problems?

‘No, it is not a paradox at all. Jean Monnet (one of the fathers of the European Union – KvdB) already said that nation states are too big to make real participation possible and too small to have real power in the modern world.

Cities have the advantage that they are small enough for democracy, but if they work together they are large enough to rule forcefully on a global scale. Taken separately, cities are of course as powerless as nation states, but if they work together in organisations like C-40 (a network of cities that aim to tackle climate change – KvdB) they are successful. Cities do not have to take issues like sovereignty into account. They can work together with cities elsewhere in the world in a way that states cannot.’

Cities are at the forefront in the fight against CO2 emissions, but also against smoking, obesity and other modern problems. Why can’t the EU engage in the fight?

‘To put it bluntly: in cities you have bridges, in states you have boundaries. If you 24

‘A parliament of mayors would not only serve the interests of cities but also of regions.’ want to implement a treaty on climate change then you should allow an international institution to measure the air quality in your country. The government in Washington doesn’t want that. Cities have a different view of these issues. They know what air pollution is, they want solutions.

In the C40, 58 cities work together to exchange experiences on public transport, road tolls, pedestrian zones, cycle paths and bike sharing. They do this without obstacles. If nation states want to do this they have to respect all the rules and conclude treaties. I see how slowly this goes here in the U.S.; my government has not yet ratified the conventions on maritime law and child abuse. Not because it does not agree with them, but because it sees them as a violation of the sovereignty of the United States.’

More than 75 percent of the population in the Western world and half the population of developing countries live in cities. Rural dwellers do not feel responsible for the problems of the city. Isn’t this gap too big?

‘It is true that because cities are densely populated, they have to face many more social problems; whether these are related to trade, mobility, crime, education or health.

On the other hand, cities are eminently suited to solving these problems. Most solutions that work in the city also work in rural areas, even though here they are sometimes seen as different.

The real paradox is this: Americans who vote for the Tea Party and live in rural areas, hate the city. But it is the city dwellers who pay the taxes and so enable the state to implement a policy to solve the problems of rural areas. The Tea Party says that cities should stop taking their money, but in fact many cities pay more taxes than they get back from the state treasury. In short, the separation between town and country is an illusion.’

You say that mayors of large cities are less biased. This is rather a bold statement to make. Do you then still need local elections?

‘You should not confuse democracy with ideology. Democracy simply means you can choose your own administrators and that they govern in a transparent manner.

A democratic system needs statesmen and women who can put their shoulder to the wheel. But nation states are ruled by people who are elected because they can make a good speech on abstract principles. Whether they are good administrators doesn’t count. Ideology means the downfall of democracy because ideology only allows you to choose your own prejudices and not concrete policy options. It is precisely because politics in cities are more democratic that it is also less ideological.

There is a great story about Teddy Kollek (mayor of West Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993 – KvdB) who was at a meeting and had to listen to the complaints of Christians, Muslims and Jews for hours on end. When he had allowed the delegation of bishops, rabbis and imams to have their say about their religious sites and their religious differences he exclaimed: ‘Gentlemen, spare me your sermons and I will fix your drains!’

25

‘The parliament of mayors would not impose laws on all the cities of the world.’

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, calls himself an anarcho-Tory and mayor Michael Bloomberg was first a Republican, then a Democrat and now he calls himself an independent. His ex-colleague in Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, founded the United Russia party together with Putin, but resigned because the party did not represent the interests of his city.’

I would just like to press this point a little more. Surely there is a difference between a left-wing progressive and a right-wing conservative city council. To fight crime you can declare zero tolerance or invest in community workers and reducing poverty.

‘There is no left or right to zero tolerance. It is a theory about how to catch criminals. Both left-wing and right-wing politicians want to fight crime. Zero tolerance is based on the empirically established truth that all those who commit major crimes are also involved in ‘small’ crime. So when you go after the petty thieves you will also manage to snare a few of the big boys. This has nothing to do with the prejudice that Blacks or Latinos are more criminal. It is a technique that works, both in progressive and conservative cities.

I have conservative friends who will reserve budgets for more education in prisons if I can persuade them that prisoners who participate in further education are less likely to be repeat offenders. I also have many progressive friends who are willing to try zero tolerance if it proves to be an efficient technique.’

In your book you launch a thought-provoking idea: there should be a world parliament of mayors.

‘In the last chapter of my book I wanted to launch a concrete proposal. I worked out the idea of creating a sort of ‘federation of cities’ that would have a parliament of mayors. Its members would consist of a constantly changing cast of mayors of megacities with a population of more than 10 million inhabitants, major cities with a population of 1 million and even small towns with a population of 50,000.

In this way, the informal way cities are already working together could be formalised. While I was working on my book I discovered that there are already dozens of major organisations in which cities work together. I have already mentioned the C40, but you also have the World Mayor Summit, Local Governments for Sustainablity (ICLEI), Metropolis, the European Union’s Secretariat of Cities, and so on.

They already take on a lot of tasks that a world parliament of mayors should take to heart. So my idea is not a radical innovation but a way to create a network of networks.’

Your book is not yet in the shops and yet everyone wants to know what you have to say. You appear to have hit a nerve.

‘Since I announced I was going to write a book and gave a few interviews, invitations have been pouring in for me to come and speak about it: in Seoul, in Edinburgh, in Antwerp. The mayors of Amsterdam and Hamburg also want to hear what I have to say. In the US I had audiences in Denver and Los Angeles.’

26

Do you think that organisations like the UN and the EU will easily tolerate a parliament of mayors in addition to themselves?

‘I am not advocating a new executive body that gives top-down orders to cities all over the world. I am talking of an organisation of like-minded people that comes into being from the bottom up. Cities can choose whether they participate or not.

Take bicycle sharing. It started in Latin America and has now been adopted in hundreds of cities all over the world. If a parliament of mayors promoted the system it would be adopted far more quickly. But this parliament will never proclaim a ‘law’ that requires cities to introduce bicycle sharing.

Cities are already taking measures to reduce CO2 emissions. Meanwhile the nation states and the UN have failed to successfully negotiate a new Kyoto protocol.

The parliament of mayors would represent more than half of the world population and an even greater share of the wealth. It would have a huge impact on public opinion.’

Richard Florida not only speaks of ‘mega cities’ but also of ‘mega regions’. In our part of the world this region stretches across six countries and includes cities like London, Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Amsterdam. Will mega regions replace the nation states?

‘Every city has an impact on a wider region. It is embedded in a system of local agriculture, trade and transport, as well as crime. A city does not stop at its own boundaries.

A parliament of mayors would not only serve the interests of cities but also those of regions; even if the citizens there do not vote for the mayor of the city.

Even if the nation states do not like this evolution, there is little they can do to stop it. After all, city dwellers are in the majority in every country. People who live in rural areas in the Netherlands or Belgium are not happy with the decisions taken in Amsterdam or Antwerp. Nevertheless, they have to accept they are living in a democracy and they are not in the majority. I am convinced that city-dwellers will not simply impose their will. They will serve the public interest and this includes that of the surrounding region.’

Historically speaking, democracy originated in the cities: first in Greece and then in the Low Countries and northern Italy. Are we returning to the golden age of the city states?

‘We return by moving forward. It’s a wonderful circle. Democracy did originate in the cities, in the polis. Afterwards the world population became too large to be ruled from the cities. This gave rise to the emergence of empires followed by the nation states, peoples... Fölker.

Today the scale on which these nation states operate is not big enough and so we are returning to the polis. But this new polis is a cosmopolis.

Young people, immigrants, coloured people and also rich people are all very cynical about the nation states. They do not believe that they can still be democratically governed. When they come to the city, their cynicism evaporates and this gives way 27

to a feeling that there are an enormous number of possibilities. Once again they believe that their opinion matters. In cities you have a more participatory form of democracy; with referendums, councils, district councils and numerous associations. If democracy can still work anywhere, it is in the city. This realisation is one of the most beautiful aspects of the renaissance of the cities.’

You believe city-dwellers are more progressive. Will the world also become more progressive if the cities govern them?

‘It is certainly true that city-dwellers often nurture ideas that we call progressive.

Sometimes it is also enlightened self-interest: if you know that 90 percent of the cities are built next to water, it is not illogical that city-dwellers are concerned about climate change.

Cities are also the target of terrorists. They do not attack a village square, but a marathon or market square in a large city. If cities are the engines of democracy, then the ideas and views of city-dwellers will become increasingly important.

The reactionary forces you see everywhere in Europe and in the Tea Party in the States are the convulsions of a dying minority who want to cling to ideas that have long been outdated. The more cities determine the future of the world, the more likely it is that the world will also become more sustainable and democratic.’

Benjamin R. Barber (b. 1939). American political theorist. Ex-adviser of Bill Clinton. Associated with the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. Author of Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World (1996) and Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age (2004). Also writes plays, librettos and screenplays.

Benjamin R. Barber, If Mayors Ruled The World – Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities, Yale University Press. >>> benjaminbarber.org This article originally appeared in De Morgen on 14 June 2013. Reprinted with the author’s permission.

Translation: Gregory Ball.

Nederlandse tekst op kaaitheater.be

A HOUSE ON FIRE PROJECT | WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE CULTURE PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

28

‘The reactionary forces you see in Europe and the U.S. are the convulsions of a dying minority who want to cling to ideas that have long been outdated.’

29

ME, MYSELF & WE

A KAAITHEATER SERIES ABOUT THE TENSION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL DESIRES AND THE COLLECTIVE CAUSE ELEANOR BAUER Midday and Eternity (the time piece)

How can you create a present on the basis of possible futures?

19, 20 & 21/09 >>> P. 10–11

SPIN Imagine Work

Why is our work environment becoming increasingly individualistic and competitive?

21/09 >>> P. 13

BENJAMIN BARBER If Mayors Ruled the World The American political scientist and urban guru presenting his new book.

29/09 >>> P. 18

NADIA TSULUKIDZE Me and Stalin

On the horror of the collective utopia in the Soviet Union and its present consequences.

11 & 12/10 >>> P. 32–33

MICHEL BAUWENS De wereld redden

Met peer-to-peer naar een postkapitalistische samenleving.

15/10

KATE McINTOSH All Ears

On humans and animals, on politics and group dynamics, etc.

23, 24 & 25/10 >>> P. 38–39

DE WARME WINKEL We are your friends

On what still unites us in today’s Europe.

14, 15 & 16/11

SCHWALBE Schwalbe zoekt massa

On the euphoria of being absorbed into the crowd, and the fear of the masses.

16 & 17/01

METTE INGVARTSEN

The Artificial Nature Project The Extra Sensorial Garden Speculations Evaporated Landscapes On the way we make objects and materials play a part in our collective field of play.

6, 7 & 8/02

CHRISTOPHE MEIERHANS Some use for your broken claypots

A fundamental questioning of our democratic system.

27 & 28/02

IVANA MÜLLER

We are still watching In Common What happens when people get together; how do we relate to a group and its members?

28/02

WE HAVE A DREAM

Ordinary Brussels people talk about their dream for cohabitation in the city.

1/03

LIA RODRIGUES Pindorama

Living together; how do we do it? What rituals, sacrifices and agreements are necessary for it?

10, 12 & 13/05

MEG STUART/DAMAGED GOODS Sketches/Notebook

A group of dancers, actors, musicians, and stage, lighting and costume designers look for what they have in common.

11, 12, 13 & 14/06

CHOOSE 4 PERFORMANCES = –25% ON THE STANDARD PRICE CHOOSE 10 PERFORMANCES = –50% ON THE STANDARD PRICE WWW.KAAITHEATER.BE/MEMYSELFANDWE 30