De la rue à la mairie
On the eve of the 2026 municipal elections, an ethnographic perspective on the exercise of power and the crisis of representative democracy.
The Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme is organising an evening presentation of the book De la rue à la mairie (From the Street to the Town Hall), to be published in January 2026 in the 'Interventions' collection by Éditions de la MSH.
This 'Livres en dialogue' session will welcome the author of the book, David Hamou, in conversation with journalist Rokhaya Diallo.
At the end of the event, you will have the opportunity to ask our guests any questions you may have.
Based on extensive ethnographic research, this book offers an in-depth look at municipalism, analysing the housing rights movements in Barcelona, the experiences of former activists within the municipal government, and the interactions between these two dynamics. Beyond Barcelona, the main aim is to put forward concrete strategic proposals for the construction of "social municipalism" as an alternative to neoliberalism and state sovereignty, capable of fuelling the imagination of democratic possibilities.
David Hamou holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Paris-Nanterre. His research focuses on the commons, new forms of democracy, urban social movements and non-state institutions. He has published a thesis on the new synergies between social movements for the right to housing and public institutions in the context of the municipalism experiment in Barcelona. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Brasilia in Brazil, he is a member of Casa Comum, a citizen-led project for democratic reconstruction in the post-Bolsonaro era.
Rokhaya Diallo is an award-winning journalist, author and director, recognised for her work in support of human rights. She is a columnist for the Washington Post and the Guardian and a researcher at Georgetown University's Gender+Justice Initiative research centre (Washington). In France, she has taught at Paris I-Sorbonne and is a television and radio commentator. Rokhaya Diallo is the author of a dozen books, including Dictionnaire Amoureux du Féminisme (Plon) and comic books, and has directed eight documentaries, including Où Sont les Noirs and La Parisienne Démysthifiée. With Grace Ly, she also created Kiffe Ta Race, the first French-language podcast dedicated to racial issues, ranked among the best podcasts by Apple. In 2022, Rokhaya Diallo created W.O.R.D., the first school dedicated to public speaking with the aim of democratising access to the public sphere.
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