Making Democratic Citizens in Spain : Civil Society and the Popular Origins of the Transition, 1960-78

A fascinating study of the contribution of ordinary men and women to Spain's democratic transition of the 1970s. Radcliff argues that participants in neighbourhood and other associations experimented with new practices of civic participation that put pressure on the authoritarian state and made the building blocks of a future democratic citizenship Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 13 Preface......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 16 List of Abbreviations and Glossary......Page 18 Introduction......Page 20 Introduction: A multi-factor model—State policies, structural changes, and social capital......Page 38 The role of the state: Creating a new legal and discursive framework......Page 44 The role of structural change: Economic growth and urban crisis......Page 52 Social capital: The building blocks of mobilization......Page 56 Conclusion......Page 81 Introduction: Associations and the revival of civil society......Page 83 A point of departure: Associational life in the 1940s and 1950s......Page 86 A new era of associationism: The 1960s–1970s......Page 89 Conclusion......Page 127 Introduction: Gender, citizenship and the equality/difference paradox......Page 128 Invisible citizens: Women in the Asociaciones de Vecinos......Page 133 Problematic citizens: Women in the Asociaciones de Amas de Casa......Page 147 Conclusion......Page 172 Introduction: The associational milieu as a discursive “field”......Page 174 Constituting the discourse of “Familiarismo”: Venues and media channels......Page 177 The blueprint for Familiarista discourse: The ACF statutes......Page 179 Defining the boundaries of a culture of civic participation......Page 183 The family association movement during the transition......Page 205 Conclusion......Page 207 5 Women and Familiarismo: The Civic Discourse of the Homemaker Associations......Page 209 Defining the subject of the Asociaciones de Amas de Casa: Family, homemaker or woman?......Page 212 Debating the role of women in society: Between feminism and “immobilism”......Page 216 The AAC in civil society: Citizens and consumers......Page 221 State/civil society relations: Debating the terms of the collaborationist model......Page 228 The homemaker association discourse in the “general” public sphere......Page 234 The “dissident” AAC associations......Page 240 The homemaker association discourse during the Transition......Page 245 Conclusion......Page 252 6 The Civic Discourse of the Neighborhood Associations of Madrid: From Community Improvement to “Citizen Movement”......Page 254 The discourse of the Asociaciones de Vecinos: A conversation in statutes......Page 255 The roots of AV discourse in Madrid: From homeowners to vecinos......Page 259 Constituting the civic community in the AV Discourse: The horizontal axis......Page 263 The end of experimentation: The boilerplate statutes of April 1977......Page 276 The statutes of the AV versus the ACF......Page 278 The Asociaciones de Vecinos in the transition: The birth of the “citizen movement”......Page 280 Conclusion......Page 289 7 The Civic Community in Practice: Family and Neighborhood Associations as “Schools of Democracy”......Page 291 Introduction: When did associations function as “schools of democracy”?......Page 292 The “private” functions of the associations: From mutual aid society to social club......Page 294 The “civic” activities of the associations: From community fiestas to Auto-Soluciones......Page 300 The “civic” activities of the Associations: Performing self-government......Page 306 “Political” functions of the associations: Negotiating with the state......Page 316 Conclusion......Page 335 Conclusion/Epilogue......Page 338 Notes......Page 351 Bibliography......Page 415 Index......Page 425 The book explores the grass-roots contribution of ordinary men and women to Spain's much-celebrated democratic transition of the 1970s, through the lens of their participation in civic associations founded under the dictatorship. In neighborhood, family and homemaker associations established in an expanding civil society between the early 1960s and the late 1970s, Radcliff argues that participants experimented with new practices of civic participation that put pressure on the authoritarian state and constituted the building blocks of a future democratic citizenship. Whereas most studies of the transition begin with the formal institutional changes of 1976-78, this book situates its origins in a complex process that involved changing state policies, economic and social transformation and a growing culture of participation. In this analysis, the 1978 Constitution marked the culmination, rather than the start, of 'making democratic citizens' and, by extension, of Spain's democracy Dictatorship and civil society: explaining the roots of a New Associational Milieu "Measuring" civil society: the scope and vitality of the New Associational Milieu Gender and the role of women in the Associational Milieu "What is a Family Association?": the civic discourse of Familiarismo Women and Familiarismo: the civic discourse of the Homemaker Associations The civic discourse of the Neighborhood Associations of Madrid: from community improvement to "Citizen Movement" The civic community in practice: Family and Neighborhood Associations as "Schools of Democracy" Conclusion/Epilogue. This work examines the contribution of ordinary men and women to Spain's democratic transition of the 1970s. It argues that participants in neighbourhood and other associations tried practices of civic participation that put pressure on the authoritarian state and made the building blocks of a future democratic citizenship