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.
Tag Archives: Occupy Wall Street
May Day 2013
Wednesday’s May Day events remind us about how the people who participate in an event define it for their own purposes. Initially a celebration of Spring, organized around May poles (and May flies?), for more than 100 years, May 1 … Continue reading
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Tagged austerity, Greece, Haymarket, immigration, labor, Los Angeles, May Day, Occupy Wall Street, unions
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Recovery for Occupy Wall Street’s library
In the weeks that Occupy Wall Street created a protest village in lower Manhattan, activists put together a lending library of more than 5,000 volumes. When the police cleared the demonstrators out of Zuccotti Park, contractors hauled all of the … Continue reading
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Tagged civil liberties, democracy, freedom of speech, law, library, litigation, Michael Bloomberg, Norman Siegel, Occupy Wall Street, police, repression
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Meme war: Kalle Lasn keeps pitching
More than a year past the start of Occupy, Kalle Lasn of Adbusters has been pushing an anti-consumerist campaign, Buy Nothing Day. Because of Lasn’s charm and media savvy, and because of Occupy, the campaign got some mainstream attention, but … Continue reading
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Tagged Adbusters, consumerism, ideas, Kalle Lasn, meme, mind bomb, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street
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Occupy Sandy and mutual aid
Piotr Kropotkin was an anarchist because he believed that absent government, people would help each other. Born a Russian noble, Kropotkin renounced his title and spent his life as an activist and theorist, and proclaimed his allegiance to poor. He … Continue reading
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Tagged 350.org, advocacy, anarchism, climate change, Kropotkin, mutual aid, Occupy Sandy, Occupy Wall Street, organization, professionalization, service
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Global campaigns to surround parliaments
We saw the reemergence of broad and disruptive anti-austerity protests in Greece and Spain this week. Although the causes of fiscal crisis and dramatically increased borrowing costs in the two countries, the proposed remedy from Europe was the same: strict … Continue reading
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Tagged Adbusters, anti-austerity, austerity, civil servants, Euro, Greece, Halloween, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, Spain, unions
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Is Occupy one?
I mean: is Occupy now one year old? Is it still around? Is it unified? A year ago on September 17, the Occupation of Zuccotti Park began, with a beautiful poster and far less participation and promise than it soon … Continue reading
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Tagged 99 percent, democracy, elections, horizontal, influence, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, organization, politics, tea party, Zuccotti Park
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Occupy to office
Tracy Postert’s protests with Occupy Wall Street led rather directly to a job inside nearby. Ms. Postert, a biochemist with a Ph.D., had suffered bouts of unemployment over the years, and had a hard time finding another job in science. … Continue reading
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Tagged investment, jobs, Occupy Wall Street, protest, Warren Buffett
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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
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Tagged celebrities, culture, Miley Cyrus, Mileyh Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove, music, Occupy, Occupy Wall Street, Taylor Swift
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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
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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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