David S. Meyer
I'm a professor of sociology and political science at the University of California, Irvine. I've been thinking, and writing about, protest politics for almost ever. This site offers comments on contemporary events, informed (I hope) by knowing something about history and about the academic study of social movements.
Monthly Archives: November 2011
More, Miley!
I didn’t think I’d be writing about Miley Cyrus again, but: Patricia Grim, identified as an “influential leader” in the Occupy movement, has endorsed Miley’s video, but challenged the singer to put her body on the front lines. According to … Continue reading
MILEY! Music!
Surely one of the one percent, Miley Cyrus has released a remixed video of “It’s a Liberty Walk,” dedicated to “the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in.” While the dedication praises sincerity and commitment … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged celebrities, culture, Miley Cyrus, Mileyh Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove, music, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, Taylor Swift
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Vacating Occupy LA
LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has consistently praised Occupy LA, camped out on the lawn in front of City Hall for two months. (The most interesting achievement, according to an environmental activist, was destroying the environmentally unsound green lawn.) Throughout the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Antonio Villaraigosa, Chalie Beck, consensus, eviction, Occupy LA, police, Thanksgiving
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Occupy unbound
Zuccotti Park, home for Occupy Wall Street for two months, is completely irrelevant to the future of the Occupy movement. Now that the activists have been cleared out, we’re watching to see what the most important place will be. In … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Davis, Day of Action, Occupy, pepper spray, police, students, tactics, tuition, university, University of California, violence, Zuccotti Park
2 Comments
The Occupation trap in history
Occupation isn’t a new tactic. Protesters have established permanent encampments to make political claims and support activism many times in the past. (See our Veterans Day discussion of the Bonus Army.) The camps, dramatic demonstrations of commitment, provide an ongoing … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged antiapartheid, antinuclear, bonus march, Cindy Sheehan, encampment, Faslane, Greenham Common, Hampshire College, Hooverville, media, Molesworth, Occupy Wall Street, peace camp, police, Seneca Falls, shantytown, South Africa, students, universities, Zuccotti Park
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Occupy without the Occupation
The police in Oakland and New York City have cleared out their local Occupy encampments. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who claims to be a supporter of Occupy efforts, saw the downtown encampment as unsustainable–and dangerous. The shooting death of one … Continue reading
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Tagged civil disobedience, innovation, Jean Quan, law, Michael Bloomberg, New York City, Oakland, Occupy, police, vigil, Wall Street
2 Comments
Veterans Day, Occupy, and the Bonus March
Occupation isn’t a tactic that started this fall. In 1932 US military veterans of the Great War (now World War I), facing a job market even worse than today, demanded that the Federal government pay them their promised bonuses–no more … Continue reading
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Tagged army, bonus march, DC, Douglas MacArthur, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, occupation, Occupy, police, The Great Depression, unemployment, veterans, Washington
8 Comments
Elizabeth Warren: Occupy’s Michele Bachmann?
Take a minute before you get offended. Of course, there are differences–more below. Elizabeth Warren, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the US Senate from Massachusetts, is the closest thing to an institutional face of a movement that has, … Continue reading
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Tagged bankruptcy, Elizabeth Warren, institutionalize, michele bachmann, Occupy, parties, tea party
2 Comments
Occupy, sexual assault, and internal control
An ABC News reporter called me yesterday to ask about the spate of sex crimes taking place in the Occupations (here’s Alyssa Newcomb’s story). I didn’t know anything, but a moment of online searching generated plenty of stories. A lot … Continue reading
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Tagged Baltimore, blog, crime, Dallas, discipline, internal control, Michael Bloomberg, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, sexual assault
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