Tensions between populist and feminist politics: The case of the Spanish left populist party Podemos

Abstract

This paper analyzes the interplay of left populist and feminist politics through a case study of Podemos (‘we can’), a Spanish left populist party that reproduces a dominant gendered logic of politics despite its feminist interpretation of democratic renewal. I argue that this is the result of fundamental contradictions between the feminist and populist projects of political transformation that coexist in the party. Even if left populism offers a more productive terrain for gender equality than right populism, central tenets of populism disrupt feminist commitments and goals. Chief among these are the oversimplification of the political field based on a limited diagnosis, the exclusionary appeals to the homeland and to a homogenizing collectivity of the people, the dominant masculine and personalistic logics of charismatic leaders, the prioritization of electoral success over other forms of political transformation, and the resulting gendered political culture that marginalizes empowerment, inclusion, and participatory democratic practices.

Ideology and Party Positions on Gender Issues in Spain: Evidence from a Novel Data Set

“…Feminist scholarship argues that the recent political polarization over gender equality is "part of a broader conflict, where what is truly at stake is the future of democracy" (Graff and Korolczuk 2022, 3). Several studies have analyzed the illiberal core of populist radical right parties' anti-feminist and anti-gender equality stances and concluded that this illiberalism represents a danger to democracy (Alonso and Espinosa-Fajardo 2021;Caravantes 2020;Graff and Korolczuk 2022;Lombardo 2019, 2021).…”

“…Traditionally, left-wing parties have represented the interests of the most disadvantaged groups in society, including women. A vast literature on ideology and gender has shown that left-wing parties nominate more women as candidates than right-wing parties (Duverger 1955), have a higher proportion of female parliamentarians (Kittilson 1999;O'Brien 2018), and are more sensitive to women's demands for gender equality (Caravantes 2020;Kantola and Lombardo 2019;Sacchet 2008).…”

“…Despite the relevance of gender politics for understanding the populist shift in Western European political systems (Alonso and Espinosa-Fajardo 2021;Caravantes 2020;Graff and Korolczuk 2022;Kantola and Lombardo 2021), there are no comparative quantitative data with which to measure partisan stances on gender issues (O'Brien 2018). Moreover, only a handful of academic publications analyze party manifestos from a gender perspective (Beloshitzkaya 2020;Greene and O'Brien 2016;Homola 2019;Kittilson 2011;O'Brien 2018;Sanders, Gains, and Annesley 2021;Weeks 2018Weeks , 2022.…”

The Hindutva Brand of Populist Politics and the Women Question

“…The other characteristic traits often identified with populism are: persuasive, charismatic style of leadership, assertion of a sense of nostalgia about a glorious, distant (alleged) past, an emotional longing and an 'emotional governance' (Richards, 2013) for bringing forth that past into the future for the native land (Abts and Rummens, 2007;Kampwirth, 2010;Kriesi, 2014). This longing for the homeland and the nostalgia for the 'heartland' are elemental tools of pitting the masses against the 'others' and the elites -the establishments which were neutral (Caravantes, 2021;Elchardus and Spruyt, 2016;Rydgren, 2012;Wodak, 2015).…”

Polarization in the Spanish press: A study of political sectarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Spain's political system has been polarized since the economic recession of 2008 and the emergence of two competing forms of populism (Vampa, 2020): far-left Podemos (literally "We can") and, more recently, far-right Vox ("Voice" in Latin). Podemos, a party characterized by its many ideological contradictions (Caravantes, 2021), had stood out as the only far-left party to play a key role in Europe (Ramiro and Gómez, 2016), and was the only populist national party in Spain until the electoral success of far-right Vox in 2018 (Turnbull-Dugarte, 2019) and 2019 (Turnbull-Dugarte, Rama and Santana, 2020). The polarization resulting from (or reflected by) the appearance of these two parties in Spain differs from political polarization in the US, where the division between the Democrats and the Republicans remains the driving force of American politics.…”