Tag Archives: labor

Wall Street still occupied!

Posted on October 14, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Maybe it was the petitions to stay the eviction bouncing around the internet (Moveon.org had one) and gathering tens of thousands of signatures in short order.  Maybe it was the Occupiers’ new Good Neighbor program–accompanied by vigorous cleaning efforts.  Maybe … Continue reading →

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Occupied Wall Street

Posted on September 30, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Some of the demonstrators who promised to stay at the protest on Wall Street until their one demand was answered nearly two weeks ago are still there.  Several dozen are camping out in Zuccotti Park, a private park nearby, and … Continue reading →

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A day for Labor

Posted on September 7, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Successful politicians exploit, buy off, and sell out the movements that sometimes buoy their campaigns.  This American story is an old one, and it’s one that leaves activists disappointed, wary, and cynical, even especially about the politicians who do the … Continue reading →

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Unemployment politics and the organizational deficit

Posted on July 11, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Slid into the Business section of Sunday’s NY Times, Catherine Rampell notes that the number of unemployed in the United States has climbed over 14 million, but that the unemployed are politically invisible: In some ways, this boils down to … Continue reading →

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How the courts disappoint

Posted on June 16, 2011 by David S. Meyer

American politics has provided some updates on our concerns about the courts and social movements (see: “You can’t count on the courts”).  Be sure that activists will be disappointed–and that they are extremely unlikely to give up. In Wisconsin, the … Continue reading →

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Cesar Chavez Day

Posted on March 26, 2011 by David S. Meyer

On my campus, we commemorated Cesar Chavez Day early, yesterday, rather than March 31 (his birthday), by closing.  The state established the holiday in 2000, and six other states have followed suit.  In California, the legislature calls upon public schools … Continue reading →

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On Wisconsin: After Defeat, Activists Pick New Arenas

Posted on March 12, 2011 by David S. Meyer

When a door closes, start trying the windows.  A defeat in Wisconsin has spurred a new wave of activism, and advocates have turned their attention beyond the state senate. In the United States, when activists lose a battle in one … Continue reading →

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It’s not just protest (Madison)

Posted on March 8, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Although those dramatic demonstrations, like the ones we saw in Madison, capture the imagination, by themselves, they won’t change a policy or a government.  Protest signals, supports, and coerces.  Changes in politics and policy depend upon how a broad range … Continue reading →

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Beyond Madison: Who’s Watching? Who’s Talking? Who’s Doing?

Posted on February 27, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Watch the crowd in a fight. That’s an old insight in the social sciences, stated pretty clearly by E. E. Schattschneider in The Semi-Sovereign People fifty years ago. The point: The losers in any political struggle have an interest in … Continue reading →

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On Wisconsin and beyond

Posted on February 23, 2011 by David S. Meyer

The protests in Madison are just the start of a larger struggle about budgets and labor across the United States. I’m on the Joy Cardin show on Wisconsin Public Radio, talking about the protests in Madison.  (I got to tell … Continue reading →

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