The struggle for the new commons in the Brazilian free transit movement (original) (raw)

This paper analyzes the Brazilian free transit movement of June 2013. I begin by contextualizing the movement as being part of a new Left that emerged following the 2008 global crisis. I argue that the movement was a reaction to neoliberal continuities in Brazil and to the limits of the Workers' Party's (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) strategy for social transformation. In addition, the movement took meaningful steps towards creating a new commons, a political space in which a postcapitalist future is prefigured. However, the movement continues to struggle to develop new forms of democratic participation that can move it decisively beyond mere negation of the existing political system.