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6 - Austerity, Regionalism, and Dueling Populisms in Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2023

Matthew Rhodes-Purdy
Affiliation:
Clemson University, South Carolina
Rachel Navarre
Affiliation:
Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts
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Summary

This chapter analyzes the complex interplay of economic and cultural issues that provoked discontented movements on both the left and right in Spain. Initially, resentment over EU-backed austerity policies allowed the left-populist Podemos party to break into Spain’s party system. But the rise of a populist left that embraced multiculturalism, exacerbated by continuing economic struggles, provoked a powerful reaction on the other side of the aisle when Catalonia attempted to declare independence. This threat to national unity led to the reemergence of right-wing nationalism in the form of a new radical right political party, VOX. Using original data collected as part of the Political Systems Attitudes Study, the chapter shows that support for VOX was driven primarily by cultural discontent, but as argued throughout the book, cultural discontent itself was driven by the ongoing economic crisis.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Age of Discontent
Populism, Extremism, and Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Democracies
, pp. 129 - 153
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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