This book explores the conflict between the Catalan project to become independent and the Spanish state's opposition to any attempt of secessionism. The volume addresses some of the key political and academic issues of contemporary European societies: nationalism, separatism and sovereignty. The banned referendum in Catalonia in October 2017 unveiled the existence of multiple crises, from territorial to economic and political. Indeed, the Catalan issue is about the crisis of sovereignty: who holds legitimacy to make decisions, and who is in power legally and politically? The book is structured according to three themes: sovereignty and its people, where the realignment to independence, populism and the definition of the demos are discussed; collective identities and actions, to account for the shaping of 'us', the importance of collective memory and the cross-alliances forged during the referendum; and internationalization, focusing on Europeanisation, international media and comparative constitutional perspectives.

This book explores the conflict between the Catalan project to become independent and the Spanish state's opposition to any attempt of secessionism. The volume addresses some of the key political and academic issues of contemporary European societies: nationalism, separatism and sovereignty. The banned referendum in Catalonia in October 2017 unveiled the existence of multiple crises, from territorial to economic and political. Indeed, the Catalan issue is about the crisis of sovereignty: who holds legitimacy to make decisions, and who is in power legally and politically? The book is structured according to three themes: sovereignty and its people, where the realignment to independence, populism and the definition of the demos are discussed; collective identities and actions, to account for the shaping of 'us', the importance of collective memory and the cross-alliances forged during the referendum; and internationalization, focusing on Europeanisation, international media and comparative constitutional perspectives.

In the aftermath of the economic crisis, left-wing parties and leaders began to consider themselves populists or were labelled as such in media and public discourse. This trend can be witnessed in instances such as Syriza in Greece, Podemos in Spain, France Insoumise in France, DiEM25 at the European level and even Corbyinism in the UK. However, the problem still remains as to how we define left-wing populism in contemporary Europe as well as the main characteristics. This book conceptualizes left-wing populism as a combination of the populist impetus of expanding representation, through the appeal to "the people" against "the elites" and the agenda of the left to promote equality and social justice. This study undertakes an in-depth exploration into the concepts of sovereignty, class identity and "the people". Moreover, this book also discusses the institutional dimension of left-wing populism, in dialogue with republicanism and the international sphere, reflected in the debate between sovereignism and transnationalism. The result is an open conceptualization of left-wing populism in which populist parties acquire a hybrid form and incorporate different traditions and influences such as socialism, populism and republicanism in order to reach a social majority and expand democracy. This recent phenomenon of left-wing populism has showed potential to re-define the left-project, but also demonstrates its shortcomings regarding the scope of the political change and its capacity to make politics in a different manner, by and for the people. This invaluable text will prove an essential read for those in the fields of political theory and contemporary political studies.

New forms of solidarity are being shaped as a response to the European "refugee crisis." The state-in the form of national governments-has not been able to implement any viable or sustainable solution to the crisis, but the solidarity movement has been very visible and active in European countries. This book offers a conceptualization of three types of solidarity: autonomous, civic, and institutional solidarity. This framework is applied to three case studies, illustrating the emergence of different forms of solidarity: the City Plaza Hotel in Athens, the Danish "friendly neighbors," and Barcelona as refuge city.

This edited volume explores the context in which the Spanish party Podemos operates as both an agent and product of political cycles. It provides an account of the party's genealogy, ideological environment and relation to other political initiatives in Latin America and Western Europe. The contributors address the multiples dynamics generated by Podemos as a new party developed out of the economic crisis, the structural crisis concerning social democracy and the incarnation of the welfare state project, and, more generally, out of the Left. It will appeal to upper-level students and scholars interested in Spanish politics, history, culture and sociology.

Solidarity without Borders reads the micropolitics of migrants as political actors within a Gramscian context by observing alliances between migrants and trade unions, worker organisations and other radical constituencies. This book argues for Gramsci's theory of the formation of a transnational counter-hegemonic bloc, by studying methods of modern resistance and new forms of solidarity between these forming groups. With case studies of the Gezi Park Protests in Turkey, social movements in Ireland and the Lampedusa in Hamburg, the authors consider how diverse new migrant political actors, newfound cross-border alliances, and spaces of resistance shape the political dimensions of protest. As migrants are often deprived of agency and placed outside the mobilisations taking place across Europe, Solidarity without Borders demonstrates how new solidarity relations are shaped and how these may construct a new common ground for struggle and for developing political alternatives.

The book aims to counter the normative functioning of creativity in contemporary capitalism with a plethora of alternatives to radical creative practices. In the first part, titled "Creative Capitalism", five authors analyze the forms of contemporary capitalism: on the one hand, there are new ways of working which include flexibility, mobility, and especially precarity; on the other, there are new forms of recovery and accumulation. In the second part, titled "Multitudinous Creativities: Radicalities and Alterities", the book reflects on more autonomous creative experiments in the world. The third part, titled "Creativity, New Technologies, and Networks", analyses the issues related to the work of creative capitalism and the possible resistance within the digital and collaborative platforms.

Post-crisis perspectives refer to scenarios after a crisis, possible options of dealing with them, and the importance for defining these scenarios. This anthology seeks to identify paths and perspectives that go beyond the contemporary economic crisis. In searching for a post-crisis perspective it is necessary to deduce how the world/society/economics/institutions could/should be set up/organized on the other side of the economic crisis. What are the viable lines of continuation and stability? Which functions are beneficial and which are not? How should we think about money, debt, institutions, politics, and the Common? The contributions which make up this anthology offer valuable concepts and frameworks for thinking about all these questions and post-crisis society.

There are alternatives to neoliberal market economies: basic income, the money of the common and degrowth. This study highlights the potential of dissent from the initial questioning of the dominant system to the creation of new political agendas. It discusses the multiple manifestations of dissent and their contributions to shaping political alternatives; it also takes a closer look at organizations and the challenge they face trying to establish forms of resistance. The struggles of current social movements in Brazil, Turkey, Nigeria, Spain and the US exemplify practices of dissent.