Food democracy and the right to the city: Re-assembling urban food environments in East-Central London

Abstract

Under the banner of “the right to the city,” scholars and activists reclaim the rights of urban dwellers to access, use and shape their urban space. However, few studies have examined how this right to the city is interpreted, negotiated and exercised in practice. To address this gap, we explore democratisation processes that aim to increase popular control over the production of urban food environments. Based on a case study of East-Central London and using assemblage thinking as an analytical framework, this article explores how more democratic food environments are being (dis)assembled. Our findings highlight the complexity of (dis)assembling practices, which are shaping a partial and fragile version of urban (food) democracy, shifting control away from capitalist structures but, at the same time, relying on state's support for co-designing and co-managing democratic food environments.