15-M Mobilizations and the penalization of counter-hegemonic protest in contemporary Spain

ABSTRACT

This article discusses 15-M and anti-austerity mobilizations in Spain from the perspective of repression and penalization. The literature has paid a great deal of attention to the consequences of this cycle of protest in relation to the quality of democratic participation and governance; it could be argued that the 15-M movement has raised the standards for key aspects of Spanish democracy. In articulating new counter-hegemonic claims, however, 15-M mobilizations have created an opportunity for new forms of repression. Drawing on criminology, socio-legal studies, and mobilization literature, we argue that this cycle of protest has been penalized. This involves a combination of technologies of repression that include invasive policing, securitization, and criminalization. Penalization needs to be seen as a dissent-suppressing mechanism, a negative response by political authorities and private actors that thrives when societies suffer from widespread anxieties about insecurity and crime.

KEYWORDS:

• Penalization
• Spain
• 15-M mobilizations
• repression
• securitization
• criminalization

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kerman Calvo

Kerman Calvo, (PhD, Essex University), is Associate Professor in Sociology at the Universidad de Salamanca.

Aitor Romeo Echeverría

Aitor Romeo Echeverría is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Communication, Universidad de Salamanca.