SYRIZA, Bloco and Podemos
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Transnational networking and cooperation among neo-reformist left parties in Southern Europe during the Eurozone crisis: SYRIZA, Bloco and Podemos Vladimir Bortun The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth. March 2019 Abstract European parties to the left of social democracy have always lagged behind the main political families in terms of transnational cooperation at the level of the EU. However, the markedly transnational character of the Eurozone crisis and of the management of that crisis has arguably provided a uniquely propitious context for these parties to reduce that gap. This research project aims to establish whether they achieved that by focusing on three parties that were particularly prone to seeking an increase in their transnational cooperation: SYRIZA from Greece, Bloco de Esquerda from Portugal and Podemos from Spain. For these parties not only come from the member states most affected by the crisis, both economically and politically, but they also share several programmatic and strategic features favouring such an increase. By using a mix of document analysis, semi-structured interviews and non-participatory observation, the thesis discusses both the informal and formal transnational networking and cooperation among the three parties. This discussion reveals four key findings, with potentially useful insights for wider transnational party cooperation that are to be pursued in future research. Firstly, the transnational networking and cooperation among SYRIZA, Bloco and Podemos did increase at some point during the crisis, particularly around SYRIZA’s electoral victory in January 2015. Secondly, since the U-turn of that government in July 2015, SYRIZA’s relationship with both Bloco and Podemos has declined significantly, as reflected in their diverging views of the EU. Thirdly, both the increase and decline have been largely determined by rather pragmatic considerations linked to the dynamics of domestic politics, showing that the primacy of national politics also applies to nominally the most internationalist party family. Fourthly, formal cooperation is perceived as more significant than informal cooperation, with the political group in the EP as the most important framework for cooperation, in contrast to the limited significance attributed to social movements or political foundations. In answering the main research question, the thesis also contributes to the current literature by providing the first comparative study of three of the most successful left parties in the EU today and by mapping the transnational networking and cooperation of left parties, whose informal dimensions in particular have been largely unexplored so far. i Contents list Abstract …………………………………………………………………… i Declaration ………………………………………………………………... v List of tables ………………………………………………………………. vi Abbreviations …………………………………………………………….. vii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………….. ix Dissemination ……………………………………………………………... xi Introduction ………………………………………………………………. 1 Theme ………………………………………………………………. 1 Research question …………………………………………………... 5 Literature review …………………………………………………… 6 Research design and methods ……………………………………... 19 Structure of the thesis ……………………………………………… 23 Chapter 1 – Comparing SYRIZA, Bloco and Podemos ……………… 25 Origins ……………………………………………………………... 25 Programme ………………………………………………………… 31 Strategy ……………………………………………………………. 38 Organisation and linkages ……………………………………........ 44 Conclusion ………………………………………………………… 51 Chapter 2 – The Eurozone crisis: national contexts and party developments ...………………………………………………………..… 53 Neoliberalism, the Eurozone crisis and the ‘austerity consensus’ … 53 ii Greece and SYRIZA since 2009 …………………………………... 58 Portugal and Bloco since 2009 …………………………………….. 67 Spain and Podemos since 2009 ……………………………………. 72 Conclusion ………………………………………………………… 77 Chapter 3 – Informal transnational networking and cooperation …... 79 Social movements …………………………………………………. 80 Academics and academic networks ……………………………….. 95 Political party foundations and Transform ………………………. 113 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….. 133 Chapter 4 – Formal transnational networking and cooperation …… 137 Bilateral relations ………………………………………………… 138 The EP political group: GUE/NGL ……………………………… 158 The Euro-party: PEL …………………………………………….. 166 Plan B ……………………………………………………………. 174 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….. 180 Chapter 5 – Incentives, obstacles and recommendations …………… 183 Incentives: Why cooperation increased (temporarily) …………… 183 Obstacles: Why cooperation remains limited ……………………. 194 Recommendations: What is to be done? …………………………. 205 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….. 208 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………… 211 Bibliography …………………………………………………………............... 218 iii Annex 1 – List of interviewees ………………………………………………… 252 Annex 2 – Questionnaire ………………………………………………………. 254 Annex 3 – Ethical approval letter ……………………………………………… 260 Annex 4 – UPR16 Form ……………………………………………………….. 263 iv Declaration Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award. Word count: 87,294 v List of tables 1. Overall average vote for main LPs in the Eurozone before and after the start of the Eurozone crisis ……………………………………………………………………………………. 4 2. SYRIZA academics in the 1st Tsipras cabinet ……………………………………… 98 3. SYRIZA academics in the 2nd Tsipras cabinet ……………………………………... 98 4. Current or former SYRIZA high-profile members with ties to UK universities …... 100 5. Bloco academics in prominent political positions …………………………………. 102 6. Podemos academics with ties to UCM …………………………………………….. 103 7. Perceived significance of academic networks and institutions ……………………. 108 8. International events with NPI as main organiser since 2010 …………………… 116-117 9. Sessions from 25MI summer/autumn schools with speaking guests from SYRIZA/NPI or Bloco/CUL:TRA ……………………………………………………………………… 120 10. Members of NPI who attended Transform events as speakers since 2009 ……….. 123 11. Members of SYN or/and SYRIZA (but not of NPI) who attended Transform events as speakers since 2009 ………………………………………………………………… 124-125 12. Members of Bloco or/and CUL:TRA who attended Transform events as speakers since 2009 …………………………………………………………………………………… 125 13. Transform events with participation from SYRIZA/NPI, Bloco/CUL:TRA or/and Podemos/25MI between 2009 and 2018 included ……………………………………. 127 14. Transform events with an explicit focus on Southern Europe ……………………. 130 15. Incentives for post-2009 transnational party cooperation in order of significance .. 185 16. Obstacles to post-2009 transnational party cooperation in order of significance … 196 vi Abbreviations 25MI – 25M Institute for Democracy AKEL – Progressive Party of Working People (Cyprus) ANEL – Independent Greeks ATTAC – Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Aid to Citizens CAG – Communist and Allies Group CP – communist party CUL:TRA – Cultural Cooperative of Labour and Socialism ECB – European Central Bank ENA – Institute for Alternative Policies (Greece) EP – European Parliament ESF – European Social Forum EU – European Union GJM – Global Justice Movement GUE/NGL – Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left IMF – International Monetary Fund IU – United Left (Spain) KKE – Communist Party of Greece LFI – La France Insoumise [Unbowed France] LPs – left parties MEPs – members of the European Parliament MoU – Memorandum of Understanding NLPs – neo-reformist left parties NPI – Nicos Poulantzas Institute NPM – ‘Now, the People!’ movement PASOK – Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Greece) PCE – Communist Party of Spain PCF – French Communist Party PCI – Italian Communist Party PCP – Portuguese Communist Party vii PEL – Party of the European Left PRC – Communist Refoundation Party PP – People’s Party (Spain) PS – Socialist Party (Portugal) PSOE – Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party RLS – Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung SGP – Stability and Growth Programme SYN – Synaspismos [Coalition of the Left and Progress] UCM – Complutense University of Madrid USFI – United Secretariat of the Fourth International WSF – World Social Forum YoB – Youth of Bloco YoS – Youth of SYRIZA viii Acknowledgements I wish to express my utmost gratitude to Professor Wolfram Kaiser for being the best supervisor I could have wished for: always helpful, dedicated and open. He has been genuinely supportive of my research aims and constantly guiding me to find the best ways for pursuing them. Indeed, Wolfram’s consistently thorough, insightful and prompt feedback has enabled this project to be qualitatively better than it would have been otherwise. I want to also thank Professor Karen Heard-Lauréote, Dr Nora Siklodi and Dr Angela Crack for their encouragement and support prior to and throughout this PhD, the members of the administrative staff for their impeccable and friendly assistance throughout these last three and a half years, in particular Anne Luddy, as well as all the colleagues who have helped me in my teaching duties. I am also thankful to my fellow PhD students Andy and Milan for their solidarity and friendship throughout these years – you will get there soon! Last but not least, I wish to thank my family back home in Romania, my father Titi, my mother Melania and my sister Ileana, for supporting me in more ways than I can