The Occupy movement
The Occupy movement has become the struggle of a generation--a lightning rod for the accumulated discontent in so many corners of U.S. society: about unemployment and poverty, about political complicity and corruption, about the vast and growing gap between the haves and have-nots. And it is tapping into the widespread sentiment that it's time to do something about it. Here, SocialistWorker.org has collected our featured coverage on the Occupy movement, plus articles that set out the background to the struggle.
Debates over a general strike call for May Day and the tactics of a recent protest in Oakland highlight some key questions facing the movement today.
The 1 percent is carrying out a carefully organized assault to destroy the Occupy movement--but our side is determined that the struggle will go on.
With a November 17 day of action one week away, Occupy camps are under attack by police and the media--but the movement has changed U.S. politics for good.
A movement that began with several hundred in New York is transforming the political debate worldwide--and giving momentum to future struggles.
The sharpest debate in Occupy Oakland is about an ultra-left trend that relies on the idea of propaganda of the deed.
A discussion about tactics and strategy has emerged after the successes of the December 12 West Coast Port Shutdown.
: Paul D'Amato The idea that activists should respect a "diversity of tactics" is really a way to short-circuit the discussion of our goals and how to achieve them.
: Todd Chretien Two very different actions on November 2--a mass march and picket of the port and a defeated building occupation--are raising a discussion of tactics.
: Amy Muldoon Lower Manhattan has been besieged by protesters in recent weeks, and one common focus among others has emerged: the police.
The Occupy movement has the potential to draw attention to how economic injustices overlap with racial injustices.
: David Judd Discussions among activists about challenging different forms of oppression often focus on the concept of privilege.
For a movement or struggle, hoping for general agreement after a thorough discussion is very different from requiring it.
: Danny Lucia The Occupy Wall Street movement in New York met police repression's subtler cousin during the November 17 day of action.
: Eric Ruder The call for Occupy activists to target holiday shopping doesn't advance the agenda of the movement because it focuses on the wrong target.
Participants in Occupy Wall Street talk about what's inspired them about the protests--and what they hope for the movement's future.
Despite all I was taught about "hard work," I have nothing to show for 25 years of labor except my class anger and $82,391 of debt.
: Lee Sustar A grassroots effort by both Occupy activists and rank-and-file workers is behind the effort to shut down West Coast ports December 12, despite claims to the contrary.
: Lee Sustar Thousands flooded back to New York's Zuccotti Park following a police raid--while UC Berkeley students answered a police raid with a strike and protest.
The University of California Board of Regents had to cut short teleconference meetings after student protesters took over.
The streets of Oakland echoed with the voices of protest as workers, students and activists responded to the Occupy movement's call for a general strike.
: Jen Roesch After successfully defending its encampment, Occupy Wall Street in New York City reached a new high point with a massive protest in Times Square.
Unions are weighing in on the side of the Occupy Wall Street protests--a burgeoning labor-left alliance that can take the struggle to a new stage.
: Danny Lucia Tens of thousands of protesters from all walks of life marched through Manhattan yesterday to proclaim, "We are the 99 percent!"
: Lance Selfa We know the 1 percent runs Wall Street and Corporate America, but their control extends into the supposedly democratic political system as well.
Can campaign finance reform laws transform U.S. politics, or are they doomed to be evaded by corporate interests?
: Eric Ruder While many forms of discrimination have been put behind us, fear and anxiety still stalks one of America's last despised minorities--the top 1 percent.
: Gary Lapon An Obama administration plan focused on student debt won't do much to solve the long-run problems people face.
: Nicole Colson With poverty on the rise and long-term unemployment at record levels, most families in the U.S. are scrambling to get by. But some are doing just fine.
: Alan Maass The plague of unemployment that took hold during the Great Recession is still upending the lives of millions of U.S. workers--with no end in sight.
: Sharon Smith Today's Occupy movement stands in a long tradition of struggles that have depended on the determination of activists that "we shall not be moved."
: David McNally This is an economic crisis that keeps mutating, generating new kinds of illnesses in the system--so with every "cure" comes signs of damage elsewhere.
: Lee Sustar When mainstream economists start citing capitalism's greatest critic, you know the crisis of the free market is severe.
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