The municipalist moment in Los Angeles
We believe that the city of Los Angeles is ripe for building a new, cooperative ecosystem. An emergent landscape of economic and political alternatives is thriving alongside a robust movement for housing justice and tenant’s rights. However, the city’s geography is vast, our neighborhoods segregated, with some historical suspicions lingering between social movement actors across geography (south and east) and race (Black and Latinx).
Our project was launched in 2022 with the understanding that in order for this vibrant community to withstand the multiple crises — ecological, political, and economic — we must come together to build directly democratic and participatory alternatives. Thus, we have spent the last year mapping out our landscape, building relationships and a new movement culture, and convening protagonists through the Los Angeles People’s Movement Assembly. We facilitate a network of social movement organizations that build alternatives (such as community land trusts and worker cooperatives), provide mutual aid for the unhoused and frontline communities, build power at the base (like the tenants union), and reimagine institutions (including public banks).
Los Angeles for All is a project of Solidarity Research Center, a nonprofit organization that builds solidarity economy ecosystems using data science, story-based strategy, and action research. Solidarity Research Center works at the intersection of racial justice and solidarity economies. We are learning from other examples of municipalism, through our Municipalism Learning Series. Sign up for our mailing list to be apprised of future convenings. Please support our efforts if you have the resources.
Illustration by Caroline Woolard.
Phase 1 - Build a Network
We Los Angeles for All were launched on May Day 2022. Our initial aim was to use relational organizing to build a network of the autonomous left and convene neighborhood assemblies in 2023. Then, we would draft and ratify a people's platform in 2024.
Phase 2 - Map and Connect
Our plans shifted in October 2022, when audio was leaked of a private meeting between three city council members and a local labor leader that revealed an anti-Black agenda and backroom deals on redistricting. We used the movement moment to facilitate the Los Angeles People's Movement Assembly, starting in the eastside and then expanding to the scale of the city. We added three researchers to help map social movements.
Phase 3 - Reflect
We spent the summer retreating, resting, and recalibrating. We defined our vision and strategy, and added to our organizing capacity. We are also developing a directory of social movements in Los Angeles.
Phase 4 - Infrastructure
We spent the fall 2023 and the early part of 2024 learning and creating an infrastructure for our Los Angeles People's Movement Assembly. We studied models of collective governance, including the Zapatistas, Barcelona en Comu, and the CNT, and we identified values and principles that we hold in common. We embraced a modified form of sociocracy for our infrastructure.
Phase 5 - Power Mapping
We are mapping power from above and below in our city. We are studying the city charter, learning the limits of its power and how to challenge it. We are identifying constituted power in the city's government and corporations. We are also developing a deep canvassing campaign, to have 1:1 conversations by neighborhood, to locate constituent power.
Los Angeles for All
1920 Hillhurst Avenue #V920
Los Angeles, California 90027
United States of America
(323) 539-7654
