Contesting Neoliberal Urbanism on the European Semi-periphery: The Right to the City Movement in Croatia

This essay is a case study of the Right to the City movement in Croatia, one of the largest citizens’ struggles in the country’s recent history. Firstly, we argue that the movement managed to avoid the supposedly unavoidable Michels’s iron law of oligarchy. Outlining the movement’s trajectory in five phases, we show how it always prioritised social impact over institutional self-preservation. Secondly, we analyse movement outcomes as viewed by activists. In interviews with activists we establish features of evolving activist citizenship as well as ways in which participation in the movement influenced the forging of alliances among organisations and initiatives.