Young Councilwomen in Spain: Evolution of Political Engagement and Political Identity Construction

The participation of women in legislative bodies has increased over recent decades. Despite this, however, women are still underrepresented at all political levels. The aim of this paper is to explore the political commitment and political identity construction of young women in Spain, by analysing the evolution of certain female members of the Spanish political party Podemos. The study followed a qualitative design, using the biographical method, with a series of semi-structured interviews being conducted to chart the evolution of councilwomen from this left-wing political party. The results were analysed on the basis of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory of human development. The findings indicate that the development of participants’ political commitment was influenced by factors from the microsystem and macrosystem. This piece of research aimed to contribute to the study of gender, youth, identity and political commitment, in order to expand our understanding of the life stories of young women who stand for election to local councils, taking the diversity of their trajectories and experiences into account also.