The Right to the City as a Counter-Hegemonic Construction Against Neoliberalism: Rebuilding Spaces and Times for Disruptive Perspectives

Abstract

In contemporary capitalist society, it can be asserted that we are experiencing a period of permanent crisis, which reinforces the contradictions and limits for the (re)production of capital. Neoliberalism, the materialization of the neoliberal idea put into practice, manifests itself in reality as a pact among the ruling class to maintain the accumulation of capital and their social power in the context of contemporary crisis. Beyond being just an economic policy idea, neoliberalism is understood here as a rationality, a way of understanding reality that has become hegemonic. The aim of this article is to examine the impacts of this conception on current society and how the idea of the right to the city can be presented as a counter-hegemonic proposal to neoliberalism. The methodology takes the form of a theoretical-reflective proposal that encourages the debate of ideas. The justification is rooted in the need for a structural change in modern society and the limits imposed by the capitalist mode of production, which have become even more evident due to major crises that have occurred in this century. These considerations present the right to the city as a space of hope in an alternative rationality of being in this society.