ABSTRACT
Podemos has made it their mission to become a political party that manages to supersede the tension between the grassroots and the leadership. Podemos’ subjectivity is also constructed in the visceral, similarly to the Indignados movement. This chapter discusses the common notion of Podemos as a party which balances between horizontality and verticality, and how this is seen as a clear illustration of the visceral tension. It argues that the dimension of horizontality and verticality does not sufficiently capture how Podemos may differ from the Indignados, and that a focus on intentionality/spontaneity better brings out the tension between the party and the movement. The Citizens’ Council, the executive body of the party, is divided into thematic working areas. The different organizations working against evictions, against privatizations in the health care sector, all of them fought their own battle, and many of them were also against a party formation.
