Commodification and Digital Political Participation: The “15-M Movement” and the Collectivization of the Internet

Abstract

La mercantilizacion y la participacion politica digital: el “Movimiento 15-M” y la colectivizacion del Internet A mercantilizacao e a participacao politica digital: o Movimento 15-M e a coletivizacao da internet DOI: 10.5294/pacla.2018.21.4.3 The objective of this article is to analyze an emerging process in the network society: the commodification of the Internet and political communication. This strategy of technological capitalism is becoming increasingly present in the lives of citizens around the world, and it represents a new challenge for critical thinking. In this article we will show the debate around this process and we will point out a few examples. However, despite the existence of this process of commodification, society is not taking a passive attitude. On the contrary, we have cases of social movements, such as the Spanish 15-M, which identified this process and designed a strategy to try to reverse it. However, and despite the efforts of this movement, many of the achievements of the 15-M against commodification have lost their validity. In this paper we review the current state of the debate on the commercialization of politics and, through a qualitative study, we show how the 15-M defined this process and established instruments to fight it. In the conclusions we discuss this process and show its current situation in Spain.