publication

Crossing the ocean the influence of Bolivia's MAS movement on Spain's Podemos Party

Authors:
Yanina WELP
Esther del CAMPO
Jorge RESINA
2019

The influence of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) in Bolivia - the left-wing social movement led by Evo Morales, in power since 2005 - on the emergence of the political party Podemos in Spain is an outstanding case to use in order to trace a process of political ‘translation' (in Latour's definition). Before becoming professional politicians, both the founders of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias and Íñigo Errejón, had studied the Bolivian case, and were also advisers to the government. Until entering politics they had been academics, and it was pivotal for them seeing how radical political views could take concrete shape by accessing the government through regular elections and being backed by social movements. Our goal is twofold: on the one hand, to analyse the process of influence of personal networks and events; on the other hand, we observe the extent to which both political organizations share similarities but also display differences. Interviews with key actors as well as the study of secondary sources and outstanding events define our methodological strategy.