Book Review: Contesting Austerity: Social Movements and the Left in Portugal and Spain (2008–2015) by Tiago Carvalho.

"Contesting Austerity: Social Movements and the Left in Portugal and Spain (2008–2015)" by Tiago Carvalho explores the responses of social movements in Portugal and Spain to the financial crisis and austerity measures implemented during the Great Recession. Carvalho examines the impact of structural adjustment programs and the interactions between institutional and non-institutional players in shaping anti-austerity movements. The book identifies different types of movements, such as nationalist, housing, student, anti-precarity, and Internet-based mobilizations. It also highlights the contrasting trajectories of mobilization in Portugal and Spain, with decentralization and grassroots activity playing a significant role in Spain's emergence of Podemos as a national force. [Extracted from the article]