As the world once again faces a global energy crisis, communities across the planet continue to grapple with underinvestment and mismanagement of water systems and other critical infrastructure. While many focus on the promise of new technologies, the question of governance is evaded. We praise “democracy,” especially in the face of authoritarianism, but what do democratic public services actually look like?

This is the focus of a new publication, “Democratizing Public Services” (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 2022) by Anne Le Strat and Michael Menser. As deputy mayor of Paris, Le Strat led the deprivatization of the Paris Water utility that made it not only public but democratic. Menser, professor and co-founder of the Participatory Budgeting Project, is working with public power campaigns in New York to adapt the innovations of Paris to the electricity system in the United States. Both co-authors will be interviewed by professor and climate scholar/activist Ashley Dawson.

This event is co-sponsored by, among others, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung; the Center for Place, Culture and Politics; and NYU’s Center for the Humanities.