Social Movements and Democracy in Spain: Review of Democracia, dignidad y movimientos sociales. El surgimiento de la cultura cívica y la irrupción de los «indignados» en la vida pública. Rubén Díez y Enrique Laraña

Abstract

Over the last decade, Spain became one of the global hotspots for social movement contestation. The emergence of the 15M movement, or Indignados, was of significance not only in Spain, where it gave rise to the longest wave of mobilisation since the transition to the democracy but also internationally as its practices, repertoires and discourses became the blueprint for Occupy movements around the world. In Spain, the Indignados movement unleashed protest potential that transformed mobilisations between 2011 and 2014. The potency of these protests led to a shift in the public debate and the emergence of new parties such as Podemos and Ciudadanos. The 15M was not only a consequence of austerity under the Great Recession. It also transformed democracy, bringing to the fore new frames and repertoires that impacted institutional politics.