Spanish Democracy and 15-M
Chapter 1, “Spanish Democracy and 15-M,” explores the political opportunities provided by the historical, cultural, and economic context in which the movement emerged. It argues that translating economic grievances into sustained mobilization and protest requires the concerted effort of collective actors, as the variance in levels of mobilization across different European countries similarly affected by the crisis/austerity shows. It shows how in Spain one of the key strategies of the 15-M movement was to contest hegemonic narratives about the inevitability of the crisis and austerity, and the necessity of passing the costs of private bank bailouts onto the public. By framing the “democratic deficit” (i.e., the corrupt and uncaring political class) as responsible for both the crisis and its effects, the movement provided a powerful impetus for mobilization against both the economic-financial crisis and the legitimation crisis of “really existing” democracy. This ability to mobilize counter-hegemonic narratives helps explain different collective responses to similar material and political contexts; in other words, it helps make sense of why effective contestation can be found in some contexts (e.g., Spain) but not in others hit equally as hard (e.g., Ireland).