Vol. 6 No. 2 (2026): Studia Humanitatis Journal
Articles: monographic section

Affective polarization in spain (2020-2025): from feminism to migration

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  • Esther Clavero Mira ,
  • Juan José García Escribano ,
  • Carolina Lorenzo Álvarez
Esther Clavero Mira
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3688-8964 (unauthenticated) University of Murcia image/svg+xml

Bio
Juan José García Escribano
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7216-5803 (unauthenticated)

Bio
Carolina Lorenzo Álvarez
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1378-1873 (unauthenticated) University of Alicante image/svg+xml

Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33732/shj.v6i2.189

Published 2026-08-24

Keywords

  • Affective polarization,
  • Culture wars,
  • Racialization of political conflict,
  • Bloc identities,
  • Political sociology

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Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of affective polarization in Spain between 2020 and 2025, within an extended cycle of polycrisis that has reshaped the coordinates of political conflict. Its aim is to examine how specific issues activate identity-based and emotional dynamics that structure contemporary political conflict, addressing simultaneously the temporal intensity of the phenomenon, its ideological structuring and the shift of divisive frames. Drawing on a quantitative longitudinal-comparative design of a descriptive-interpretive nature, the study triangulates data from three secondary sources: the five waves of the National Survey on Political Polarization conducted by the Centre for Murcian Public Opinion Studies (CEMOP, 2021-2025), Study 3480 and the monthly barometers of the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS), and More in Common's 2025 Polarization Atlas. Findings reveal three concurrent processes: a sustained intensification of perceived social division, modulated by short-term episodes of cohesion; the persistence of the left-right axis as the main structural organiser of affective polarization, operating in bipolar terms; and a thematic shift in which migration gains centrality as the dominant activator of inter-group rejection, without replacing feminism. The discussion problematises polarization as a phenomenon strategically cultivated by political and media actors, and underscores the intersectional implications of the racialisation of conflict.
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