Tag Archives: Oakland

Free speech on campus? Provocation and protest.

Berkeley has become the indispensable stop on the right-wing lecture circuit. Antifa (anti-fascist) groups in the Bay Area now reliably turn up on campus to try to make sure offensive ideas don’t pass unchallenged. Oakland Antifa has already announced a … Continue reading

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Tax day protests, 2012

Watch who takes to the streets tomorrow, the day federal taxes are due.    Tax day is a predictable occasion for protest.  Indeed, the Tea Party protests in April 2009 were the first visible signs of that powerful movement emerging. In … Continue reading

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Protest, police, and pepper spray at UC-Davis

Most students, including even protesters, don’t encounter pepper spray during their studies at the University of California. Last November, however, a campus police officer sprayed students protesting tuition hikes at the UC-Davis campus.  It’s worth looking at. And it’s worth … Continue reading

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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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The politics of deflection; Occupy and local politics

While most of the physical confrontation of the nearly two months of Occupy protests has been between demonstrators and local governments, particularly police, the conflicts aren’t very well connected to the substance of the grievances.  It’s not clear that mayors … Continue reading

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Violence, democracy, and a general strike

The efforts to clear out Occupiers in Atlanta, Oakland, and San Diego emphasize the difficult stalemate between local governments and the emergent Occupy movement. Although local officials may be mostly sympathetic to the concerns of the Occupiers, they’re also responsible … Continue reading

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Occupation is a tactic; violence demands innovation

Police and Occupiers in Atlanta and Oakland have engaged in violent confrontations, with the protesters getting the worst of it.  What’s all this mean?  What happens next? Let’s start at the beginning.  Protesters are occupying Wall Street–and hundreds of other … Continue reading

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