15-M movement and feminist economics: an insight into the dialogues between social movements and academia in Spain

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the relationship between the articulation of the 15-M movement in Spain and the expansion of Feminist Economics (FE) at the feminist base of this movement, in particular, in Feminism Committees (FC-15 M). We assert that this expansion was due to FE’s capacity to explain the 2008 crisis beyond its economic-financial dimensions and to analyse the effects of the political-economic austerity measures on the sustainability of life. We claim that a differentiating feature of FE in Spain is its permeability to dialogue with social movements. Therefore, it has become more politicized and critical than other academic fields. This influence has also been reflected in the structure and contents of the most recent FE national conferences, which from 2013 on included not only the classic academic strand but also training and political action strands. In order to explore this development, our methodology includes interviews with key informants; document analysis of material generated in the conferences and the Feminism Committees of 15-M; questionnaires to activists, academics, and practitioners of FE; and informal observation as direct participants of the described processes and events. The paper begins with an introduction to FE thought and its connections with so-called ‘Feminism for the 99%’ and continues with a methodological section. The twofold results section analyzes the dialogues between FE and FC-15 M. It concludes with a summary of the key ideas presented and some final remarks.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminist economics
• 15-M movement
• feminist committee
• feminist conference
• sustainability of life
• social movements

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the availability and generosity of all the women who have agreed to be interviewed and to dialogue and reflect with us, in particular Cristina Carrasco, Lina Gálvez, Amaia Pérez Orozco, as well as the activists of Setas Feministas and Feminismos Sol - Grupo Deuda. We would also like to express our gratitude for those who have contributed to the development of the Feminist Economics Congresses in Spain and, last but not least, to the people who put FE in practice and show us that it is possible to build a more just world.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Astrid Agenjo-Calderón

Astrid Agenjo-Calderón. Lecturer at the Department of Economics, Quantitative Methods and Economic History, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville (Spain). PhD in Social Sciences and Master’s Degree in International Economics and Development. Member of the EcoEcoFem Research Group (Feminist, Ecological and Development Economics), Working Group “Emancipatory Feminist Economy” of Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), and Ibero-American Network for Research in Work, Gender and Daily Life. Vice president of Gender Observatory on Economics, Policy and Development (GEP&Do). My research has focused on feminist political economy, with more than 30 scientific publications: (2021): “Genealogía del pensamiento económico feminista: las mujeres como sujeto epistemológico y como objeto de estudio en economía”, Journal of Social Studies 75 (1): 42-54; (2019) “Feminist Economy. Theoretical and political dimensions”, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 78(1): 137-166.

Raquel Clemente-Pereiro

Lucia del Moral-Espín. Lecturer at the University of Cadiz (Department of General Economics, Area of Sociology) where she teaches Social Policy and Research Methods at the Faculty of Industrial Relations. Her research is characterized by interdisciplinarity and is focused on Feminist Studies, Well-being, Childhood and the Commons. She is Spanish-University of Cadiz coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project “Smooth Educational Spaces and Passing Through Enclosures and Inequalities a. Opening community and knowledge through educational commons and the K02 Erasmus + Project Blended Short-cycle Training Courses on ‘Commoning Practices.’ Since 2017 she coordinates the Research Network 04 ‘Sociology of Children and Childhood’ of the European Sociological Association. She is part of the Gender Observatory on Economics, Politics & Development (GEP&DO) and the Ibero-American Research Network for Work, Gender and Daily Life.

Raquel Clemente-Pereiro. Consultant in Germinando Cooperative, an entity that is part of the Social and Solidarity Economy and that develops its activity in the fields of agroecology, environmental education and entrepreneurship of women in rural areas from an ecofeminist perspective. Activist in several feminist social movements in the city of Madrid.