In Spain, on May 15, 2011, a movement against austerity measures began. In a time when representative democracies were under threat, 15M came to life as a virtuous and democratic response to the slide into far-right populism and authoritarianism. More than a social movement, 15M became a mode of being with transformative, democratizing potential.

In Democracy Here and Now, Pablo Ouziel offers a grounded analysis of 15M. At the time of the movement and during the ensuing encampments, Ouziel travelled extensively, speaking to participants, and keeping an ongoing record of his conversations. Presenting an original participatory mode of research, the book reveals six types of intersubjective, "joining hands" relationships that 15M has brought into being and works to carry on in creative ways. The book shows how the movement’s way of being and temporality persists in Spain following the square occupations, while 15M citizens continue to learn and move forward in less perceptible ways.

Democracy Here and Now sheds light on a deeply relational, intersectional, and eco-social mode of democracy, and shows how 15M’s ongoing democratization practices are exemplary of similar grassroots movements around the world, broadening our understandings of what it means to be democratic in the here and now.

Pablo Ouziel is an associate fellow at the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria and a visiting fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton.

Pablo Ouziel's profile page

James Tully is emeritus distinguished professor of Political Science, Law, Indigenous Governance, and Philosophy at the University of Victoria.

James Tully's profile page

“Ouziel argues that 15M served as a tipping point in democratic Spain because it manifested civic freedom, a culture of caring, and even a way of life. He believes it persists because its self-created participatory cooperation is interspersed with a civil citizenship. This distinction between civil and civic citizenship nicely contributes conceptually to understanding social movements. Mainstream political scientists and theorists will question the author’s hopeful argument about 15M’s long-term impact."

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