The making of Podemos: South America, Post-Colonial Populism and Flexible Hegemony

ABSTRACT

In this paper we seek to map the formation of the party Podemos from an approach focused on theoretical and political debates that preceed its creation. We will focus in three main discussions: 1) hegemony and the State; 2) on the “populist operation” and the autonomist critique; 3) the decolonial turn. We will try to understand a political proposal that emerges in dialogue with various discussions held with the experience of “progressive” governments in South America; the Spanish and the European left.

KEYWORDS:
Podemos; populism; postcoloniality; hegemony; Spain