Social movements and participatory democracy: Spanish protests for peace during the last decade of the Cold War (1981-1986).

Abstract

This article aims to analyse two major aspects of the Spanish anti-NATO groups and the ways in which they framed their protests during the 1980s.6 First, it helps to understand how the peace movement verbally formulated an ideal notion of democracy and what this framing entailed for Spanish society shortly after a tangled process of democratisation. Second, it explores the experimentation of Spanish grassroots groups with notions of participatory and direct democracy that included a form of self-government in which citizens would participate in shaping collective decisions in an environment of equality and deliberation7 during the period of consolidation of the countryís new democratic institutions.8 The democratising practices implemented by these movements are the main topic of this study. Spanish mass demonstrations for peace became an experience of practising democracy in a country where, despite serious democratisation efforts, social structures remained largely hierarchical and inequitable