Interrelations and dissemination of protest among social movements. The influence of previous social movements on the 15M movement.

What role do submerged networks play in new cycles of collective action? How do influence and contagion effects occur between social movements over time? This work analyzes the patterns of protest diffusion and the interrelations within the community of alternative social movements, highlighting the collective learning processes that triggered the 15M movement as a phenomenon of political unrest in Spain.

This book addresses the central question of the processes behind the diffusion, influence, and interrelationship between movements that led to the emergence of the 15M Movement. It explores how social movements in Madrid transfer innovations, legacies, and lessons learned through different processes of diffusion, interrelationships, and change. The analysis is structured around three cycles prior to the 15M Movement: the 2000-2004 cycle, marked by the emergence of the Global Justice Movement; the 2005-2008 cycle, with a change in context and the relevance of underground and youth networks; and the 2009-2011 cycle, characterized by collective networks that sustained a mesomobilization influential in the outbreak of the 15M Movement. The book problematizes the lack of attention in Spain to the sociohistorical processes of social mobilization and cultural change from a diachronic perspective. It provides crucial empirical insight for understanding the role of social movements in contemporary political reality, shedding light on the temporal dynamics of long-wave mobilization and the interactions between movements, civil society, public opinion, and the state. In this sense, it opens a new line of research in Spain on the relevance of legacies and the influence between different social movements, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the interaction processes that precede large waves of mobilization.