Formation of populism in Spain: towards the explanatory framework of the 15-M Movement mindset
Formation of populism in Spain: towards the explanatory framework of the 15-M Movement mindset

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to identify the major cores of the 15-M Movement mindsetand explain how particular historical factors shaped it. The research problems are to identifythe types of relations the movement established between the people and the rulingelites in its political manifestos, and the sources of these discursively created relations.The research field encompasses the content of political manifestos published betweenthe Spanish general election on March 9, 2008 and immediately after the demonstrationsheld on May 15, 2011. To solve these problems, the research applies source analysis ofthe political manifestos. These are: (1) The Manifesto of ¡Democracia Real YA!; (2) TheManifesto of the Puerta del Sol Camp, and (3) The Manifesto “May 68 in Spain.” Theresearch uses the technique of relational qualitative content analysis to determine therelations between the semantic fields of the major categories of populism, ‘the people’and ‘the elites,’ as well as to identify the meanings formed by their co-occurrence. Thetool used is a content analysis instruction whose major assumption is to identify all theattempts to create images of ‘the people,’ ‘the elites,’ and relations between them.

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