The extent of change: An analytical proposal about the consequences of social movements

Abstract

The analysis of the consequences of the social movements has been peripheral until quite recently. Further, the few comparative studies on this topic have reached disparate conclusions. Problems of conceptual vagueness, as well as the adoption of different methodologies, might explain, amongst others, this disparity. Our proposal is to focus on the political results that social movements obtain at the meso level and that respond to the explicit demands articulated by them. Likewise, we defend that such results can and must be analysed as connected with changes that occur on the cultural and biographical levels in the medium and long run. We use the 15M movement and its political results, as exemplified by the emergence of new parties that have brought about novel policies and innovative participatory experiments, as an example of our proposal.