Barber's vision for cities

Political theorist Benjamin R. Barber argued that cities, not nation-states, could solve the world's biggest problems. His 1995 book Jihad vs. McWorld anticipated twenty-first-century political ruptures.

A global parliament of mayors

By two thousand thirteen, Barber proposed a Global Parliament of Mayors where city leaders could collaborate on climate change, crime, terrorism, migration and other challenges. The entity was formally convened in two thousand sixteen in The Hague.

“We have come full circle in the city's epic history. Humankind began its march to politics and civilization in the township, it was democracy's original incubator.”

Barber's optimism after Trump

After Donald Trump's electoral victory in November two thousand sixteen, Barber remained optimistic. He told the author that right-wing nationalism would become obsolete, calling it the last wave of political attempts to pretend sovereign states still work.

“These reactionaries are the last wave in a series of political attempts to pretend that sovereign states still work.”

Nationalism ascendant, not obsolete

Barber died of pancreatic cancer half a year later. Right-wing nationalism has not become obsolete but is ubiquitous globally and on the ascendance. America First dominates international politics, with countries viewing interdependencies as vulnerabilities.

Cities under siege

In Europe, multiethnic capitals are attacked by the far right as demographic threats. In the United States, cities face sweeping anti-migrant raids by federal authorities. Yet cities remain bastions of defiance against nationalist politics.

Minneapolis resists federal raids

After Minneapolis withstood a major incursion by ICE and other federal agencies, Mayor Jacob Frey hailed a spirit of resistance. He said America is made possible by the people cities invite in, not those they keep out.

“America is made possible by the people we invite in.”

Cologne's mayor defends migrants

Henriette Reker served two terms as mayor of Cologne, Germany until last year. She survived a two thousand fifteen assassination attempt by a far-right assailant angry about migration and endured death threats for supporting asylum seekers.

“Cologne has been accepting people who have come to the city for thousands of years.”

NYC and Toronto mayors meet

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow met earlier this month in Manhattan during the Urban twenty summit, held in parallel to United Nations General Assembly meetings. They discussed constraints from state and provincial governors.

“Friendship between cities doesn't need permission from our capitals. We can just do it.”

Sewer socialism in the Bronx

Mamdani gave mayors of Barcelona, Helsinki and Rome a tour of a wastewater-treatment plant in the Bronx. He described his approach as sewer socialism, using available resources to improve public infrastructure and city conditions through tangible governance.

Berlin's leftist victory

As Germany's far right gained in state elections, Berlin voters delivered victory to the leftist Die Linke party led by Elif Eralp, a forty-five-year-old lawyer of Turkish descent. Many call her Germany's Mamdani. She campaigns on affordable housing through apartment expropriation.

“This city belongs to all of us, not to the speculators.”

Mayors rising to national power

Mayors' ability to competently run cities and connect with local needs often sets them up for national politics. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham honed center-left politics as Manchester's mayor for almost a decade before his current role.

Istanbul's mayor detained

The most serious challenge to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's autocratic tenure came from Ekrem İmamoğlu, the popular mayor of Istanbul. Since two thousand twenty-five, İmamoğlu has been detained on corruption and bribery charges widely believed to be fabricated.

Networks of mayors organizing

Scores of cities join various political campaigns through networks including the C forty on climate policies, Michael Bloomberg's urban alliance for gun safety, and the Mayors Migration Council. The Pact of Free Cities, founded in two thousand nineteen, now has forty-five members.

Budapest's resistance to Orbán

Gergely Karácsony, the left-leaning mayor of Budapest elected in two thousand nineteen, often conflicted with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He said cities were islands defending civil society and L.G.B.T.Q.+ rights against illiberal populists concentrating power at the center.

“Thirty years ago, when our countries cast off communist dictatorship, we hoped that a new era had dawned for the peoples of Europe, an era of freedom, peace, rationality, and cooperation. Today, those ideals are being upheld by cities.”

Orbán defeated, Budapest vindicated

This spring, Orbán was defeated in a landslide by a united opposition. Karácsony said Budapest was necessary for this outcome, as democratic commitments and belief in social cohesion survived in the capital and returned to national politics.

“I believe Budapest was necessary for all of this.”

Democracy versus globalization

Karácsony acknowledged that alliances of mayors may not thwart the rise of the far right in many Western democracies. He warned that globalization is devouring democracy, and either democracy must humanize globalization or globalization will destroy democracy.

“Either democracy will humanize globalization, or globalization will destroy democracy.”