New versus Old Politics in Podemos: Feminization and Masculinized Party Discourse

Abstract

Little research has explored the gender dimension of political actors who have emerged in response to the erosion of Western mainstream parties after the Great Recession. This article analyzes the case of Podemos, a party inspired by the protest movement Indignados, which has disrupted the Spanish two-party system in only two years. Through the analysis of its leadership’s discourse, I expose the constitutive friction between Podemos’ commitment to “new” alternative practices and the “feminization of politics,” and the reproduction of “old” and “masculinized” politics through a competitive rationale. I characterize this rationale with four features that underlie a dominant masculine party culture: (1) emphasis on winning and aggressive strategy, (2) adversarial style and internal confrontation, (3) hierarchy based on intellectual authority, and (4) charismatic masculine leadership. I suggest that this originates from a populist notion of empowerment and political power that relies on a patriarchal and dominant understanding of successful politics.