Luzie Gesternhöfer, M.A.

research assistant

Areas of expertise

  • Property disputes over critical infrastructure
  • Urban politics
  • New municipalism and urban commons
  • Social inequality
  • (Re-)municipalisation
  • Social-ecological approaches to transformation
  • Curriculum vitae

    Since January 2025 Research Associate in the research project “Who Owns the Foundation? Infrastructure Regulations and the Renegotiation of the Public Sphere” (led by Prof. Dr Silke van Dyk) within the DFG Collaborative Research Centre TR294 “Structural Change in Property”

    October 2022 to December 2024 Research Associate in the research project “Contests over the Public Sphere and the Future of the Commons. Property Relations in the Context of Welfare State Transformation” of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Structural Change of Property”

    March 2021 to September 2022 Student assistant in the research project “Contests over the Public Sphere and the Future of the Commons. Property Relations in the Context of Welfare State Transformation” of the DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Structural Change of Property”

    October 2019 to September 2022 Master’s degree in Sociology, specialising in “Sustainability and Social Transformation” and “Work, Economy and Welfare” at Friedrich Schiller University Jena; Master’s thesis on the (re-)municipalisation of water infrastructure and new municipalism in Barcelona

    October 2015 to September 2019 Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Human Geography at Friedrich Schiller University Jena

  • Publications

    van Dyk, Silke; Gerstenhöfer, Luzie (2026): „Remaking Public Politics? New municipalism, participatory governance and urban welfare in Barcelona, in: PaCo. Partecipazione & Conflitto. The Open Journal of Sociopolicial Studies, 19 (1), 2026, p. 377-395. 

    Gerstenhöfer, Luzie (2025): “Der geplatzte Traum vom öffentlichen Wasser: Warum Barcelona die Wasserinfrastrukturen nicht kommunalisieren konnte”, in: sub\urban, 13 (2), 255-284. https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v13i2/3.999External link

    Helen Bönninghausen, Luzie Gerstenhöfer, Maria Pfeiffer, Marco Sonnberger and Anne Tittor (2024): Energiewende für alle? Zum komplexen Zusammenhang von Energiewende, Mitbestimmung und Eigentumsverhältnissen, https://sfb294-eigentum.de/de/blog/energiewende-fur-alle-zum-komplexen-zusammenhang-von-energiewende-mitbestimmung-und-eigentumsverhaltnissen/External link.

    Silke van Dyk, Luzie Gerstenhöfer and Markus Kip (2024): Sozial- und Solidarwirtschaft im neuen Munizipalismus: Eine Entprivatisierung der Stadt? In: Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 34 (4), DOI: 10.1007/s11609-024-00541-4.

    Luzie Gerstenhöfer, Markus Kip and Silke van Dyk (2024): Solidarwirtschaft mit Hindernissen. Eine Bilanz des neuen Munizipalismus in Barcelona, in: Luxemburg. Gesellschaftsanalyse und linke Praxis, https://zeitschrift-luxemburg.de/artikel/solidarwirtschaft-mit-hindernissen/External link.

  • Lectures

    "8 years in power - Bewegung in der Regierung. Eine Bilanz des Neuen Munizipalismus in Barcelona", lecture by Silke van Dyk and Luzie Gerstenhöfer as part of the ad hoc group “From Transition to Transition: Spain after 12975 – between role model and crisis laboratory”, DGS, 26 September 2025, University of Duisburg-Essen.

    "Remaking of Public Politics? New Municipalism, Community Participation and Urban Welfare in Barcelona “, lecture by Luzie Gerstenhöfer as part of the AMPS Livable Cities Interdisciplinary ConferenceExternal link, La Salle-Ramon Llull University, Barcelona. (18 July 2025).

    "Daseinsvorsorge als Quelle von Macht. Die gescheiterte Entprivatisierung der Trinkwasserversorgung in Barcelona", Keynote speech by Luzie Gerstenhöfer as part of the workshop "Wasser, Macht und Ungleichheit", 15 May 2025, Jena, https://www.gw.uni-jena.de/74393/wasser-macht-und-ungleichheit-ein-interdisziplinaerer-workshop-zu-einer-umkaempften-ressource de.

    "What diverse options are there for resourcing the expansion of public-commons partnerships?", Contribution by Luzie Gerstenhöfer on the occasion of the International Conference on Plural Economy, BLOC4, Barcelona, 24 October 2024.

    "De-Privatizing the City: Contesting Public Services and the Social Economy in Liverpool and Barcelona", Presentation by Silke van Dyk, Markus Kip and Luzie Gerstenhöfer at the colloquium "Think and Drink"External link, Georg-Simmel-Zentrum Berlin, 10 June 2024.

    "(Re-)Kommunalisierung und das Eigentum an und den Zugang zur Ressource Wasser", lecture by Luzie Gerstenhöfer as part of the ThWIC Lecture Series organised by the Thuringian Water Cluster at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, 10 December 2024.

    „Challenging private property: Lessons from the failed municipalisation of water infrastructure in Barcelona”, lecture by Luzie Gerstenhöfer at the Urban Studies Seminar and Transnational Institute Workshop “New municipalism, democratic public ownership, and the politics of the common”, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 18–22 September 2023.

    „Neuer Munizipalismus als doppelte Demokratisierung? ,Commonification’ des Öffentlichen und öffentliche Regulierung der Commons in Barcelona“, presentation by Silke van Dyk, Luzie Gerstehöfer and Markus Kip at the conference „Lokale Ökonomie & CommonsExternal link“, 3. July 2023, Schader-Forum in Darmstadt.