BCN4Peace launches in Barcelona with a conversation on democratic resistance and authoritarianism
Hub Social Barcelona hosted this Wednesday, 28 May, the conversation Neither Wars nor Tyrants, a gathering on democratic resistance and the construction of nonviolence that brought together 150 people and served as the first public presentation of BCN4Peace, the new alliance promoted by the International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP), the Centre Delàs for Peace Studies and the NOVACT Institute for Nonviolence.
In a global context marked by the rise of authoritarianism, the debate on rearmament in Europe and the war that began on 28 February 2026 between the United States, Israel and Iran, the event placed at the centre alternatives built by civil society, social movements and nonviolent practices.
The conversation featured Iranian peace strategist and political scientist Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini and Berkeley professor john a. powell, one of the intellectual influences behind the Black Lives Matter movement and anti-Trump resistance in the United States. Drawing from different experiences and contexts, both reflected on how fear-based narratives, dehumanisation and authoritarian structures are gaining ground worldwide, and on the role of civil society in confronting them.
“Tyranny does not emerge out of nowhere”
During the conversation, Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini warned about the mechanisms through which authoritarian regimes consolidate parallel structures of control and security. Referring to the United States, she compared the role of ICE to dynamics experienced in Iran for decades and warned that “tyranny does not emerge out of nowhere”, but rather “is structured and benefits those who participate in it”.
Naraghi-Anderlini also defended the strength of Iranian civil society and the central role of women in nonviolent strategies, warning that sanctions and violence often strengthen the most extremist sectors of power.
For his part, john a. powell reflected on how figures such as Donald Trump build a sense of belonging through fear and the dehumanisation of others. As he explained, “much of othering and dehumanisation is in service of belonging”, and for that reason he stressed the need to strengthen community ties and belonging as an antidote to authoritarian and exclusionary narratives.
BCN4Peace: a shared commitment to nonviolence and disarmament
The gathering also served to publicly present BCN4Peace, a strategic alliance promoted by ICIP, Centre Delàs and NOVACT, with the support of Barcelona City Council, aimed at strengthening the city’s role as an international reference for peace culture, nonviolence and disarmament.
BCN4Peace was created with the aim of bringing together under a shared framework the work that the three organisations have been developing for years from Barcelona in defence of peace and human rights, while opening this space to other social, institutional and community actors across the city.
During the institutional welcome, ICIP director Kristian Herbolzheimer linked BCN4Peace to the Catalan Forum for Peace launched last year and defended the need to build alliances between social actors and institutions in order to advance public peace policies.
The closing remarks were delivered by Barcelona’s Deputy Mayor Maria Eugènia Gay, who defended the need for Barcelona to continue “raising its voice” and placing human rights at the centre of all political, economic and social action.
