“Exiliados” in Podemos: A grassroots approach of long‐distance activism in parties abroad

Abstract

This article proposes a grassroots approach and a process‐based analysis of emigrants' activism in parties abroad, through a case study on the Spanish party Podemos' circle in Paris. Building on ethnographic fieldwork and biographical interviews conducted between 2015 and 2016, I explore activists' individual trajectories to better understand the process leading them to join the party abroad. I find that Podemos Paris' activists, previously involved in anti‐austerity protests in Spain, feel part of a generation of young “exiles” forced to leave the country and deprived of their social and civic rights by the conservative government. Joining Podemos in Paris is thus a way to reconnect with Spanish politics and society, compensate for the “need to be part of it,” and contribute to the party's campaigns abroad and in the homeland by raising awareness on emigrants' condition among Spanish residents.