Crisis and Social Mobilization in Contemporary Spain by Benjamín Tejerina Ignacia Perugorría

Author:Benjamín Tejerina, Ignacia Perugorría [Benjamín Tejerina, Ignacia Perugorría]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472431363
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 29139910
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

p.98

Another controversial and usually hidden dimension of the 15M is its social composition. While hegemonic media and some surveys stressed the predominance of young people with a middle-class origin (Calvo et al. 2011), our observations of the Sol camp, assemblies and work groups in Madrid return a very heterogeneous composition of different ages, social class and political background. At the core of this composition was an experienced, or feared, precariousness of life (Política en el borde de la cornisa 2011). The category of precariat encompasses all those who rarely enjoy a safe and well-paid job, those dependent on the uncertain support of welfare policies and those who are not entitled to full citizenship rights. Women and Internet users contributed to more inclusive and novel forms of political language within the movement. For the first time ever the weak ties of this heterogeneous precariat or multitude (Mudu 2009) became politically active in Spain and were able to challenge the social fragmentation and stigmas of marginalization generated by the elites. According to Pastor (2011), the strong autonomy of this movement from the political parties and workers’ unions appealed to a wide range of newcomers to the political arena as a means of opposing political and economic elites and their neoliberal policies. Simultaneously, no single political program fueled the movement.6

How, then, did the 15M turn to local public spaces and squatting buildings as relevant matters of its activity? Apparently, the initial scale outlined by this protest was the arena of national politics. As we have seen, the transnational origins and resonances were also immediately at play. Interestingly, the local scale of the Sol camp offers an important perspective to understand both the 15M’s evolution and its identity configuration. During the protest camp’s month of life, general assemblies occurred regularly and became the privileged locus of sovereignty and deliberation. Around 23 committees and 18 working groups formed the political structure of internal organization, keeping continuous and close, albeit occasionally conflictive, contact with the general assemblies. During the first week of existence, apart from bringing thousands of visitors to the camp and participants into the assemblies and small groups, one of the key initiatives was the organization of neighborhood popular assemblies. This move was aimed at preventing a decline in the mobilization in case the camp was suddenly evicted. Although the camp resisted all threats until June 12, 2011 (even after that date, some installations and protesters remained on site), starting on May 28 around 116 popular/citizen assemblies started to gather weekly in the neighborhoods and municipalities of the Madrid metropolitan region.7 These 15M assemblies worked as new social movement organizations (SMOs), side by side with the work groups which remained active after the self-dismantling of the camp. Without setting up tents and other physical structures, the 15M popular assemblies reproduced the spirit of the occupation of Puerta del Sol and provided new breadth and strength to the whole movement. In addition to the celebration of weekly assemblies in Sol (although much less well attended

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