Mourning a master of participatory democracy
By Dr. Arch. Giovanni Allegretti, Senior Researcher, Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra
Yves Cabannes, emeritus professor of University College London, unexpectedly died in Lisbon this week. Born in France 72 years ago, Prof. Cabannes was actively involved in social movements and civic organizations in Brazil and Mexico during the 1980s and ’90s. He worked tirelessly on important social innovations related to regularising informal settlements, boosting cooperative movements in poor areas, and promoting social and complementary currencies, as well as practices of (peri)urban agriculture and innovative forms of participatory democracy. At present, he was a main consultant to the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan for the implementation of National Participatory Budgeting, an ambitious programme where 400 million dollars are invested.
An advocate of the municipalist movement, he worked in over 60 countries around the world, having coordinated the UN-Habitat/UNDP Urban Management Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, based in Quito, Ecuador (1997–2003). There, Prof. Cabannes oversaw the production of several training programmes and studies aimed to improve the effectiveness of municipal governments. He also held an important role in the creation of the URB-AL EU-funding scheme directed at the creation of a network of cooperation between European and Latin-American local and regional authorities.
His activities had a particular impact on the diffusion and qualitative improvement of participatory budgeting (PB) in a large range of countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. As a consultant, he was active in experiences of PB in cities as diverse as Lisbon, Rosario, Fortaleza, São Paulo, Paris, Chengdu, and Mexico City. Through the African branch of UCLG and the African Local Government Academy (ALGA), he also contributed to several communities of practice in Cameroon, Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, and Indonesia. Throughout his career, Prof. Cabannes wrote several books on the topic of participatory budgeting. The last, co-authored with his wife Cecilia Delgado, was Another City is Possible! Alternatives to the city as a commodity, and was the first dossier of a series. He also wrote 72 Frequently Asked Questions about Participatory Budgeting, an urban government toolkit series for UN-HABITAT, also published in Arabic and Chinese.
Between 2004 and 2010, Prof. Cabannes was Chairperson of the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat (AGFE), a collective of specialists and militants through which he supported urban peoples’ movements and their struggles against arbitrary evictions across many countries worldwide. A distinguished scholar and lecturer, he was also a teaching member of staff at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the Bartlett Development Planning Unit in London.
Prof. Cabannes was a consummate polyglot and systematic thinker fascinated by cultural differences. He was able to tailor consolidated democratic innovations to diverse contexts, always raising the bar for participatory practices through his wide vision, charisma, and capacity to lead change. He was not only a very special researcher (convinced of the need for academies to engage in social change), but a tireless activist, able to bring people together to put pressure on governments and international agencies. He believed that no participatory process is worthy of the name if it does not enforce rights for the most marginalized individuals and groups among us, and if it does not promote social and epistemic justice.
As a teacher, Prof. Cabannes was a fascinating lecturer and a supportive mentor. He always showed great respect to students and younger colleagues, from whom he loved to learn.
For all these reasons, the Participedia community mourns Yves Cabannes. We will work to keep his memory alive for the benefit of future generations, and honour his legacy by fighting for the improvement in quality and number of participatory approaches to governing territories and shaping public policies. Yves’ work and passion will not be forgotten, and the networks he helped create (including the OIDP, the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy) will continue to be places where one can find valuable learning and deep friendship, at the same time.
