15 years after the 15-M

These days mark the 15th anniversary of the outbreak of 15-M, that movement which now seems like prehistory to us, like almost everything that happened before the pandemic, and which many of my students do not even remember, either because they did not experience it or because history books take too long to incorporate truly relevant events. And even when they are incorporated, we look for subterfuges to tread lightly over uncomfortable episodes, as has happened with the systematic burial of democratic memory. That 15-M was, relevant, for various reasons.

Firstly, it was not an isolated mobilization, but rather similar events occurred in other countries, such as Greece (the generation of 700 euros in Syntagma Square in Athens) and the United States, with the Occupy Wall Street movement. A few years later, similar movements were replicated in other countries, such as the French Nuit Debout, already in 2016. In all of them, the common denominator was 'indignation'. Iceland's 'indignados', one of the mirrors of 15-M, brought down the government that led them to the crisis, let the banks fall, and judicially prosecuted those responsible.

There was indignation with the way an economic crisis was managed which, in addition to impoverishing a significant part of the population, bailed out banks that evicted families while prescribing significant cuts in education, healthcare, and social services. In a context where the corruption of the system's major parties, moreover, alienated citizens from representatives about whom we felt shame... 'There isn't enough bread for so many thieves' was one of the classic chants in the squares. There isn't enough bread for so many thieves' was one of the classic chants in the squares.

Secondly, 15-M was a social response that allowed people of diverse ideas to come together and imagine and discuss alternatives and put them into practice. The movement did not only set out to challenge the political and economic system in terms of discourse, but the assemblies in the squares, in themselves, represented a different way of understanding a democracy that should cease to be solely the domain of 'politicians': it should also be a participatory democracy.

That exercise of coming together, thinking collectively, and listening to each other had various offshoots. Much has been said about politics, with the emergence of Podemos and the crisis of bipartisanship, but not so much about other equally important issues. One was the reinforcement and expansion of feminism, which incorporated new generations of activists and grew exponentially, until it became a threat to the system. The ‘iaioflautas’ also set the agenda, and I would venture to say that the struggles for dignified pensions that have been maintained in recent years also grew in that context, hand in hand with the complaints against the fraudsters of the ‘preferentes’ who ruined thousands of elderly people. And on a local level, the Assembly of Teachers and the mobilization of the entire educational community, which led to the largest and most cross-cutting demonstration in the history of the Balearic Islands, just two years after 15-M, also drew from the spirit of the squares. These are just a few examples.

For many people, 15-M was their first civic school; there they learned the meaning of joining with others to change things. Of course, there were already other spaces to do that: parties, unions, associations, and formal entities of all kinds… But to what extent were they capable of understanding and managing so much discontent? Do they do it now? Or is it the far-right, absolutely subservient to the interests of the powerful, that takes advantage of this discontent – which still exists?

I fear that 15 years later, the outlook is a bit bleak, but we should certainly keep the lessons of 15-M well in mind. The main one is that with the master's tools, we will never dismantle the master's house, as Audre Lorde taught us. In recent years, political and social lefts have replaced the squares, the public and meeting space, with the master's tools: social networks and communication apparatuses that have little to do in a context of fascistoid reaction and concentration of capital, including that of the media and social networks with their algorithms. Less communication and more action. Enough thinking that by posting a story we have made the revolution, while others continue to atomize us and destroy society and shared dreams.

Let's reclaim the squares again, as a metaphor for any space or excuse that allows us to meet to think and decide collectively about anything. Also about the economy, which affects and destroys the lives of so many people and which cannot be left out of democracy. Because if we cannot also decide on this – in our case, if you wish, on tourism – it is not democracy. It is in any case, as Varoufakis says, oligarchy with elections. Or, simply, let's get together to take care of ourselves from so much normalized violence, including that of language.

Let's take advantage of this anniversary to rethink ourselves. Long live 15-M.