Celina Su '99
Sometimes the most impactful contributions to social justice are the ones we don’t hear about in the national news: They’re the ones happening quietly right in our own neighborhoods. That style of activism is what Celina Su ’99 is all about—“the quotidian aspects of democracy that, at first glance, might be smaller scale, but are under-recognized and in actuality, incredibly important,” she says.
Su, a City University of New York urban studies and public policy professor, poet, and social activist, works within existing administrative systems to drive grassroots social change. Her forthcoming book Budget Justice: On Building Grassroots Politics & Solidarities (Princeton University Press), which will be released in fall 2025, explores a radically democratic approach known as participatory budgeting.
While municipal budgets might seem like an eye-glazing conversation topic, local funding gives life to essential services and projects for the community; the particulars can spell the difference between citizens receiving the health care they need or going without. What if local citizens had greater say about where city funding goes?
“Participatory budgeting is a process that came from post-military dictatorship Brazil that involves everyday folks, not just elected officials, in allocating city budgets,” Su explains. “When people in Brazil developed it, it lowered infant mortality in the cities where they did this, because people were given the power to really realign the budgets to meet their needs.”
The process involves five stages: process design, idea cultivation, proposal refinement, voting, and implementation and evaluation, according to Nonprofit Quarterly. A steering committee agrees on rules that will govern the process, allowing for transparency in priorities and guidelines. Then, ideas are collected through a series of local events at locations such as schools, public transportation venues, and stores. Volunteers then refine proposals in partnership with city and agency staff. The community comes together to vote, deciding on which projects to support. Lastly, the initiatives are implemented and then evaluated for efficacy.
“It’s part of a larger question of, not just whether, but how we make our world more democratic. Further, how should democracy bring about social justice?”
Su served on New York City’s participatory budgeting steering committee for over a decade. She also works with the People’s Plan, a New York-based social movement coalition of a few dozen organizations that are trying to fight austerity in New York and make the budgeting process more democratic. To hear her tell it, her endeavors in civic engagement are rooted in her time at Wesleyan. “Wesleyan was really helpful for me in thinking in truly interdisciplinary ways, centering values of justice across different departments,” she says.
Similarly, her poetry explores citizen subjectivity and her social science fieldwork from another angle. “There’s no way that I would’ve continued to write poetry as a social researcher if I hadn’t gone to Wesleyan,” she states. “That reflects my experience at Wesleyan, that no mode of inquiry is subordinate to another.”
The heart of Su’s mission is to connect individuals on the ground and instill a sense of purpose and power in everyday civic action. “What does it take to connect neighbors with one another? And for communities to hold government accountable in more democratic ways?” Su says. “I’m interested in figuring out the policies that we need to bring about social justice, and building the grassroots power we need to get there.”
