The ‘Cooperative’ or ‘Cop-Out’ Council? Urban Politics at a Time of Austerity Localism in London

This chapter theorises ‘the urban political under late neoliberalism’ through an exploration of the linkages between ‘austerity localism’ and urban politics and democracy in local government in London. Drawing on qualitative empirical research, including policy analysis and interviews with local actors and activists, the chapter explores the active role that local government seeks to play in rendering austerity governable and post-political through a revelatory case study of the London Borough of Lambeth’s ‘Cooperative Council’ agenda—an attempt to develop new relationships with citizens through a proliferation of participatory practices. The chapter concludes with reflections on the ambivalent role of local government in furthering progressive political change in London ‘under late neoliberalism’.