In Boston Review: Baiocchi Observes Spain's Indignados

January 26, 2012

In the January/February issue of the Boston Review, Institute Associate Professor Gianpaolo Baiocchi has co-authored an article on Spain’s indignados, described as “a mass movement whose participants come together directly as equal citizens – not as members of interest or identity groups, or through representatives – to debate the merits of policy.”

The indignados, the authors say in “No Parties, No Banners: The Spanish Experiment with Direct Democracy,” represent not only a striking departure but a profound challenge to conventional democratic politics.

Baiocchi has also been blogging about the indignados, as a visiting researcher at IESA, in Córdoba, Spain. Here is an excerpt: "'These are our weapons' is one of the chants of the indignados of Spain. When you hear it, you are supposed to raise your hands up in the air. ... I find it a very moving chant."

Baiocchi leads the Participatory Democracy Project at the Watson Institute.