Occupy movement

Occupy movement
Part of response to the late-2000s financial crisis, subprime mortgage crisis and impact of the Arab Spring
Occupy Movement, October 15 2011
Date	September 17, 2011 (2011-09-17) – ongoing (4808 days)
Location	Worldwide (List of locations)
Methods	Nonviolent protest Civil disobedience Occupation Picketing Demonstrations Internet activism General strikes Direct action
Status	Ongoing
Casualties and losses
Arrests: 6,400+, Injuries: 150+, Deaths: 24

The Occupy movement is an international protest movement which is primarily directed against economic and social inequality. The first Occupy protest to receive wide coverage was Occupy Wall Street in New York City's Zuccotti Park, which began on September 17, 2011. By October 9, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 95 cities across 82 countries, and over 600 communities in the United States. As of January 22 the Meetup page "Occupy Together" listed 2,818 occupy communities worldwide.

Occupy Wall Street was initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters, and partly inspired by the Arab Spring, especially Cairo's Tahrir Square protests, and the Spanish Indignants. The movement commonly uses the slogan We are the 99%, the #Occupy hashtag format, and organizes through websites such as "Occupy Together". According to the Washington Post, the movement, which has been described as a "democratic awakening" by Cornel West, is difficult to distill to a few demands.

Just after midnight on November 9 in London, Ontario, police evicted protesters from the city's Victoria Park, becoming the first forced evictions in Canada. On the afternoon of November 11 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and later on the night of November 14, authorities forcefully closed down camps around the world in cities such as New York, Oakland and Zurich. Occupy protestors immediately regrouped and vowed to continue their protests, often returning to the cleared sites. On November 24, Edinburgh City Council became the first governmental body in the world to grant the Occupy movement official recognition.

A worldwide poll conducted in January 2012 found that around 40% of respondents were familiar with the movement, and that just over twice as many were sympathetic to the Occupy movement compared to those with an unfavourable view.

Background

The Spanish Indignados movement began in mid May 2011, with camps at Madrid and elsewhere. According to sociologist Manuel Castells, by the end of the month there were already hundreds of camps around Spain and across the world. For some journalists and commentators the camping in Spain marked the start of the global occupy movement, though it is much more commonly said to have began in New York during September.

On May 30, 2011, a leader of the Indignados, inspired by the Arab Spring, called for a worldwide protest on October 15. In mid-2011, the Canadian-based group Adbusters Media Foundation, best known for its advertisement-free anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters, proposed a peaceful occupation of Wall Street to protest corporate influence on democracy, address a growing disparity in wealth, and the absence of legal repercussions behind the recent global financial crisis. Adbusters co-founder Kalle Lasn registered the OccupyWallSteet.org web address on June 9th. According to the senior editor of the magazine, "[they] basically floated the idea in mid-July into our [email list] and it was spontaneously taken up by all the people of the world, it just kind of snowballed from there." One of the inspirations for the movement was the Democracy Village set up in 2010, outside the British Parliament in London. The protest received additional attention when the internet hacker group Anonymous encouraged its followers to take part in the protests, calling protesters to "flood lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and Occupy Wall Street". They promoted the protest with a poster featuring a dancer atop Wall Street's iconic Charging Bull. The first protest was held at Zuccotti Park in New York City on September 17, 2011. The protests were preceded by a similar Occupy Dataran movement in Kuala Lumpur in July, seven weeks before Occupy Wall Street.

"We are the 99%" Slogan

Occupy protesters with "We are the 99%" signs in Bennington, VT

Main article: We are the 99%

The phrase "The 99%" is a political slogan used by protesters of the Occupy movement. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August 2011. It refers to the concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent; the top 1 percent of income earners nearly tripled after-tax income over the last thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report.

The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movement were beginning to enter the national political debate. According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927. In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15% —an example of the Pareto principle. Financial inequality (total net worth minus the value of one's home) was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%. However, after the Great Recession which started in 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85% to 87.7%. The Great Recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median household wealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gap between the 1% and the 99%. During the economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1% grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. In this period 66% of total income gains went to the 1%, who in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928. This is in stark contrast with surveys of US populations that indicate an "ideal" distribution that is much more equal, and a widespread ignorance of the true income inequality and wealth inequality.

Goals

Initially, journalists such as Shannon Bond for the Financial Times had said it was hard to discern a unified goal for the movement, though by later October Adbusters had been trying to "rally it around a single, clear demand" for a Robin Hood tax, with a global march in support of the Robin Hood tax planned for October 29. Naomi Wolf has argued that the impression created by much of the media that the protestors do not have clear demands is false. Wolf argues they do have clear demands including a desire to end what they see as the corrupting effect of money on politics. The New Yorker magazine stated that the claims of Lasn and White were specific: tighten banking-industry regulations, ban high-frequency trading, arrest all 'financial fraudsters' responsible for the 2008 crash, and form a Presidential commission to investigate and prosecute corruption in politics According to Bloomberg Businessweek, protesters want more and better jobs, more equal distribution of income, bank reform, and a reduction of the influence of corporations on politics. The movement has also been described as broadly anticapitalist.

In late November, the London contingent of the Occupy movement released their first statement on Corporations, where they called for measures to end Tax evasion by wealthy firms. The reason for the delay in articulating a clear demand was given as the time it takes to reach a consensus with the sometimes slow processes of participatory democracy. Efforts are still underway to reach consensus with other occupy groups around the world for a global statement.

A November article published in the Financial Times argued that a lack of unified goals is still preventing the movement having much influence on the political mainstream, with recent events at the 2011 G-20 Cannes summit suggesting the banks will succeed in forestalling the implementation of a "Robin Hood" style transaction tax.

The director of the Human Rights Coalition (Australia) believes the Occupy Movement must have a simple and ethical objective that can achieve mass support or it will fail. Namely the introduction of Swiss style direct democracy (citizen initiated referenda) to ensure governments are more democratically accountable. He believes the world needs more democracy to counteract fiscal irresponsibility, not socialism or fascism.

However others, such as Judith Butler and David Graeber, have criticized the demand that the movement have demands; they argue that issuing demands is counterproductive for the Occupy movement, as this legitimizes the very power structures the movement seeks to challenge.

Methods

Assembly hand signals

Activists have used web technologies and social media like IRC, Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup to coordinate the events. Indymedia have been helping the movement with communications, saying there have been conference calls on Skype with participants from up to 80 locations. Interactive live streams of events by independent journalists such as Tim Pool have been used to augment Mainstream media coverage. The progressive provider May First/People Link offered cost-free memberships for dozens of groups, including in Iran and Germany, to host websites, emails, and email lists securely.

There has been a great deal of discussion about the lack of both leaders and demands. Speaking on October 7, Kalle Lasn of Adbusters said that in the early stages demands and leaders were the "mysterious part" that allowed the movement to grow, but he believed that in the coming weeks clear demands would begin to come out of the general assemblies that the movement holds daily. Then, commenting on October 17, Adbusters said, "Across the globe the 99% are marching! You have inspired more than you know. People are digging into Act One of the long Spring", and went on to suggest, "Its now time to amp up the edgy theatrics [ tactical frivolity ]...deviant pranks, subversive performances and playful détournements of all kinds".

Indeed, the movement has gone further to create a diverse, multi-media culture of art production and distribution, which is being archived and gathered by institutions such as the National Museum of American History and New York Historical Society. The purpose of much of the art produced is to visually impact the mainstream through imagery to create solidarity and unity among the 99%.

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund has released a model community bill of rights for occupy organizers to adopt locally, pushing through laws that strip corporations of their personhood rights and elevating the rights of citizens.

In December, Occupy Homes embarked on a movement to assist home owners who have lost their homes or are scheduled to lose their homes to foreclosure due to what they call the illegal practices used by banks that took advantage of consumers. The group plans to occupy foreclosed homes, disrupt bank auctions, and block evictions.

Structure

The General Assembly meeting in Washington Square Park, New York City on October 8, 2011

The movement has been described as having an "overriding commitment" to Participatory democracy. Much of the movement's democratic process occurs in "working groups," where any protestor is able to have their say. Important decisions are often made at General assemblies, which can themselves be informed by the findings of multiple working groups. General assemblies take place at most Occupy sites every evening at 7PM. Decisions are made using the consensus model of direct democracy. This often features the use of hand signals to increase participation and operating with discussion facilitators rather than leaders - a system that can be traced in part to the Quaker movement several centuries ago, to participatory democracy in ancient Athens, and to the spokescouncils of the 1999 anti-globalization movement. At the assemblies, working group proposals are made to meeting participants, who comment upon them using a process called a stack; a queue of speakers that anyone can join. In New York, Occupy Wall Street uses what is called a progressive stack, in which people from marginalized groups are sometimes allowed to speak before people from dominant groups, with facilitators, or stack-keepers, urging speakers to "step forward, or step back" based on which group they belong to, meaning that women and minorities get to go to the front of the line, while white males must often wait for a turn to speak. The progressive stack concept has been criticized by some outside of the movement as "forced equality" and "unfair."

Nonviolence

The occupy movement began with a commitment to nonviolence. In late May 2011, sociologist Manuel Castells congratulated Spanish occupiers for that fact that not a single violent incident had been reported after 11 days of camping all over Spain. Castells said that nonviolence was of fundamental importance, and was echoed by various other sociologists and social hisotorians including Lester Kurtz, Prof. Maurice Isserman and Prof. Tom Juravich. Juravich and others have however said that conflict can be important in attracting attention, with much to be gained if occupiers are seen as victims of the violence, providing occupiers keep their own aggression strictly within limits. In the words of one occupier, it can help them gain media coverage if they "make things a little sexy and badass" . Not all occupiers have upheld the commitment to nonviolence, with aggressive tactics being used in Spain from as early as 15th June, and with some Journalists saying the New York branch of the movement did initially accept protestors who had not signed up to nonviolence.

In September, sympathetic coverage given to the movement by the media was substantially increased after the circulation of a video of pepper spray being used by a police commander against peaceful female protestors. In early October Naomi Klein congratulated New York occupiers for their commitment to nonviolence. By November 2011, media sources began to report an increase in violence, with occupiers being raped by other occupiers, at least one murder and incidents of violence from occupiers against the police, including one officer allegedly stabbed with scissors. Some occupy camps have responded by requiring that all occupiers sign a resolution to be nonviolent if they wish to stay. Rick Hampton for USA Today said the vast majority of occupy members have been nonviolent. Reviewing the global movement in December 2011, Anthony Barnett said its nonviolence remained an immense strength.

In late January 2012, the movement's commitment to non violence was questioned after clashes with the Police that saw about 400 arrests in the US city of Oakland. Some protestors and witnesses said the Police initiated the violence, others admitted there was violence against the police but blamed Black bloc anarchists and agent provocateurs. A survey taken in California after the arrests found that 26% of respondents said they had withdrawn their previous support for the movement.

Chronology of events

See also: Timeline of Occupy Wall Street

The Occupy movement protests began on September 17, 2011. On 9 October 2011, activists in cities in over 25 countries repeated calls for a global protests on 15 October. A list of events for October 15 included 951 cities in 82 countries. On October 15 events were held in many cities worldwide.

Weeks 1 - 4 (September 17 – October 14)

On September 17, 1,000 protesters marched through the streets, with an estimated 100 to 200 staying overnight in cardboard boxes. By September 19, seven people had been arrested.

At least 80 arrests were made on September 24, after protesters started marching uptown and forcing the closure of several streets. Most of the 80 arrests were for blocking traffic, though some were also charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Police officers have also been using a technique called kettling which involves using orange nets to isolate protesters into smaller groups.

Videos which showed several penned-in female demonstrators being hit with pepper spray by a police official were widely disseminated, sparking controversy. That police official, later identified as Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, was shown in other videos hitting a photographer with a burst of spray.

Protesters rallying near New York police headquarters, St. Andrew's Church in the background.

Initially Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and a representative for Bologna defended his actions, while decrying the disclosure of his personal information. After growing public furor, Kelly announced that Internal Affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board were opening investigations, again criticizing Anonymous for "[trying] to intimidate, putting the names of children, where children go to school," and adding that this tactic was "totally inappropriate, despicable." Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. started his own inquiry.

Public attention to the pepper-sprayings resulted in a spike of news media coverage, a pattern that was to be repeated in the coming weeks following confrontations with police. Clyde Haberman, writing in The New York Times, said that "If the Occupy Wall Street protesters ever choose to recognize a person who gave their cause its biggest boost, they may want to pay tribute to Anthony Bologna," calling the event "vital" for the still nascent movement. "After Ron Kuby, an attorney for one of the protesters, demanded Mr. Bologna’s arrest, [Bologna] was instead docked 10 vacation days and given a [...] reassignment to Staten Island, where he lives," according to an account by blogger Daniel Edward Rosen.

On October 1, 2011, protesters set out to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times reported that more than 700 arrests were made. The police used ten buses to carry protesters off the bridge. Some said the police had tricked protesters, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across. Jesse A. Myerson, a media coordinator for Occupy Wall Street said, “The cops watched and did nothing, indeed, seemed to guide us onto the roadway.” However, some statements by protesters supported descriptions of the event given by police: for example, one protester Tweeted that "The police didn't lead us on to the bridge. They were backing the fuck up." A spokesman for the New York Police Department, Paul Browne, said that protesters were given multiple warnings to stay on the sidewalk and not block the street, and were arrested when they refused. By October 2, all but 20 of the arrestees had been released with citations for disorderly conduct and a criminal court summons. On October 4, a group of protesters who were arrested on the bridge filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging that officers had violated their constitutional rights by luring them into a trap and then arresting them; Mayor Bloomberg, commenting previously on the incident, had said that "[t]he police did exactly what they were supposed to do."

On October 5, joined by union members, students, and the unemployed, the demonstration swelled to the largest yet with an estimated 15,000 marchers joining the protest. Smaller protests continue in cities and on college campuses across the country.

Thousands of union workers joined protesters marching through the Financial District. The march was mostly peaceful—until after nightfall, when scuffles erupted. About 200 protesters tried to storm barricades blocking them from Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. Police responded with pepper spray and penned the protesters in with orange netting.

Inspired by Occupy Wall Street, British protesters organized an occupation of the London Stock Exchange to bring attention to what they saw as unethical behavior on the part of banks. One of the organizers of the protest said the protests are focused against "increasing social and economic injustice in this country." In his opinion, "the Government has made sure to maintain the status quo and let the people who caused this crisis get off scot-free, whilst conversely ensuring that the people of this country pay the price, in particular those most vulnerable."

Week 5 - 7 (October 15 – November 4)

A crowd of protestors in Congress Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia on October 15, 2011.

On October 15, tens of thousands of demonstrators staged rallies in 900 cities around the world, including Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, São Paulo, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, and many other cities. In Frankfurt, 5,000 people protested at the European Central Bank and in Zurich, Switzerland's financial hub, protesters carried banners reading "We won't bail you out yet again" and "We are the 99 percent." Protests were largely peaceful, however a protest in Rome that drew thousands turned violent. Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered in Times Square in New York City and rallied for several hours. Several hundred protesters were arrested across the U.S., mostly for refusing to obey police orders to leave public areas. In Chicago there were 175 arrests, about 100 arrests in Arizona (53 in Tucson, 46 in Phoenix), and more than 70 in New York City, including at least 40 in Times Square. Multiple arrests were reported in Chicago, and about 150 people camped out by city hall in Minneapolis.

In the early morning hours of October 25, police cleared and closed an Occupy Oakland encampment in Frank Ogawa Park in Oakland, California. The raid was chaotic and violent, but Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan expressed his pleasure concerning the operation because neither the police nor the public suffered any injuries. A street march that afternoon protesting the closure culminated in a confrontation between police and protesters, who sought to re-establish the Ogawa Plaza encampment. During this confrontation, protester Scott Olsen, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, suffered a skull fracture caused by a tear-gas projectile or smoke canister fired by police.

By 29 October 2011, there were about 2300 occupied zones around 2000 cities worldwide.

On November 2, protesters in Oakland, California shut down the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the nation. Police estimated that about 3,000 demonstrators were gathered at the port and 4,500 had marched across the city, however a member of the Occupy movement was quoted by the BBC as estimating as many as 30,000 may have taken part.

On November 3, self-published author Hannah Faye published Occupy the World: From the Heart of the Protesters which contained the first documented responses of 27 protesters from Chicago, Illinois and New York, NY to the question: Why are you here?

Week 8 - 10 (November 5 – November 25)

On November 5, Frankfurt took the day of the Guy Fawkes Night as occasion for an extra loud and long demonstration, and Occupy Portland made its "Move Your $" campaign. November 11 was another international protest day.

On November 11, Remembrance Day in Canada, police forcibly removed tents from Victoria Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia and arrested 15 protestors. On the night of 14 November, a coordinated crackdown was undertaken by authorities around the world, with several camps being forcibly cleared. Examples of such camps include Zuccotti Park in New York, Oakland, Oregon, Denver and Zurich. For some of the other camps such as the one at St Pauls in London, no physical action was taken, but on 15 November authorities stepped up legal action to gain authorization for a forcible eviction. On November 13, one of the smallest protest activity was raided and received national attention in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Police in military gear raided a vacant building where protestors loosely affiliated with the local Occupy encampment were detained. Seven protesters and two journalists were handcuffed. Protesters from around the world and commentators such as former Financial Times editor Richard Lambert have suggested that the shift to confrontational tactics by authorities is more likely to spur on the movement rather than cause it to disband. John Gapper, chief business commentator at the FT, offers a different view. Gapper says even some protestors admit it may be a good thing that camps are being closed down, as they were beginning to alienate even members of the public who were initially fully sympathetic with the movement. Gapper says some of the key intellectual action in the movement is now taking place not in the camps but in the Alternative Banking Group, which was set up by the diplomat Carne Ross and the rocket scientist Cathy O'Neil.

Occupy Boston received a major legal victory on November 17 after a judge ordered police to allow protestors to remain encamped in the park. A hearing is scheduled for December 1.

During a November 18, 2011 demonstration at UC Davis, campus police Lieutenant John Pike used pepper spray on seated students. The incident drew national attention and led to further demonstrations, petitions, and calls for Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi to resign. On 22nd November, occupiers mic checked President Obama to draw his attention to the treatment they had received from the police, including thousands of arrests.

Weeks 11–15 (November 26 – December 31)

Green party leader Caroline Lucas discussing green economics with occupiers at London's Bank of Ideas on 06 December 2011.

By December, occupiers had begun to divert their energies beyond protest camps and a narrow focus on the banks, instead seeking to engage further with mainstream politics and joining forces with established activist groups to support causes broadly compatible with the interests of "the 99%". Interviewing one of the informal leaders of the movement, Financial Times journalist Shannon Bond found that issues of concern included: "the unemployment rate, household debt, student debt, the lack of prospects for people graduating from college and foreclosures." In the US, Occupy Homes joined with other existing human rights activists groups and began to occupy foreclosed homes, disrupt bank auctions, and block evictions. On 22 December The Washington Post reported that some of the cities which had forcefully disbanded occupy camps were now facing legal challenges.

2012

On 2nd of January, Occupy Nigeria began after Nigeria's President Jonathan ended fuel subsidies. There was support from the global movement, but most of the activity took place in Nigeria itself, with a report from CSM saying strikes were effectively shutting down whole cities. On January 16th President Jonathan responded by announcing he would bring prices back down by partially restoring the fuel subsidy.

While students have been involved with Occupy since its inception, early 2012 has seen increasing formal interaction between the Occupy movement and academia. In the US, Universities including Columbia and Roosevelt have begun offering courses about the movement, in the case of Columbia the course includes field work where students join in with Occupy activities. In Great Britain, Occupy's outwork teams are planning school visits to give talks about the movement and related issues.

In late January, Occupy protested at the World Economic Forum.

Protests

See also: List of Occupy movement protest locations and 15 October 2011 global protests

Australia

Police evicting Occupy Melbourne protesters

"Occupy" demonstrations took place in Canberra, Wollongong, Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne., as well as smaller towns around the country. At the Occupy Melbourne protest on 21 October 2011, approximately 150 protesters defied police orders to clear the area, and were subsequently removed with force. 95 arrests were made and 43 reports of police violence were filed. Occupiers returned the following day in a walk against police violence, re-occupying multiple sites since.

Belgium

In Brussels a large Occupy demonstration took place on 15 October involving between 6,500 and 8,000 participants. The protest was largely peaceful, although seven people were arrested following vandalisation of the Dexia bank headquarters and financial tower. The Occupy Antwerp (Antwerpen) movement had its first gathering on Saturday 22 October at the Groenplaats, next to the cathedral. About 150-200 people attended a speakers corner. The socialist party (PVDA) was present and served free soup as well as information about its proposed "milionaires' tax".

To date, there have been four Occupy protests in Leuven. Three took place on the Grand Market in the centre of the city and one took place at a building of the city's Catholic university. The number of protesters in these rallies varied from 100 to 250. These protests have not included prolonged camping, but the protesters say that it is a possibility in the future.

Occupy Ghent (Gent) began on October 29 with 400 people in the South Park (Zuidpark). They received a visit by supporters attending the "second day of Socialism" (de Tweede Dag van het Socialisme), also held in Ghent on the same day.

Canada

Occupy Montreal demonstration on 15 October 2011

Main article: Occupy Canada

"Occupy" demonstrations have been taking place in at least 20 Canadian cities since October 15. On that day, 5,000 people gathered in Vancouver to protest social injustice, while 150 stayed the night in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. 2,000 people marched in Toronto on October 15 and around 100 continued to occupy St James Park, and 1,000 gathered in Montreal to march down Ste-Catherine Street; 85 tents were set up in Victoria square. Beginning on October 23, 2011 approximately 40 people occupied Memorial Park on Minto St in downtown Sudbury and still continue to do so.

Events have been concentrated in provincial urban areas, and there have yet to be any demonstrations in the territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories, or Nunavut.

There are currently a number of court proceedings across Canada on whether or not the eviction of protestors and violence from police is an infringement of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Colombia

Around 800 student protesters began occupying universities across Colombia on 12 November.

Cyprus

On the 19th November 2011 protesters started the "No Borders Camp" Or "Occupy Buffer Zone", a permanent occupation of the United Nations controlled buffer zone in the centre of the capital, Nicosia, demanding an end to the decades-long division of the Island. The movement uses the Twitter hashtag "OccupyBufferZ".

Denmark

On October 15 2011, 2,000 protesters showed up on the square in front of the city hall of Copenhagen, protesting in sympathy with OWS. Immediately after the demonstration a "Occupy Copenhagen" camp was established. The camp, internally nicknamed "Plaza One Love", lived through harsh climate conditions and a couple of eviction attempts for two months, until it was torn down by the Municipality of Copenhagen and Danish police, on December 21. The movement has shifted to a mobile camp tactic, and still holds GA every wednesday and other activities throughout the week. Article in Politiken 15. October 2011

France

Some 300 protesters started occupying Paris's financial district, La Défense, on November 4, 2011. Since then, their camp has been torn down almost daily by police forces, who have even confiscated blankets and food, leaving protesters sleeping in the cold outdoors without protection. On November 11, following a call made on social networks, some 400 additional people joined the occupation. Occupy protests have also begun at Nantes, Lyon, Grenoble, Marseille, Perpignan and more than 50 cities.

Germany

Occupy Berlin protests on 15 October 2011, pictured in front of the Reichstag

See also: Occupy Berlin

In Berlin, Occupy movement together with Occupy Frankfurt and Hamburg initiated its protests outside the Reichstag on Friday 15 October. Occupy Frankfurt has now taken residence in front of the European Central Bank, and a similar action is being prepared on the premises of the St. Mary's Church, Berlin. On 12 November major Occupy protests took place in Berlin and Frankfurt. Police reported that around 9,000 people peacefully protested near the headquarters of the European Central Bank, and that "several thousand" people took to the streets of Berlin; organisers of the protests claimed that turnout was around 8,000 in Berlin and 10,000 in Frankfurt.

Hong Kong

On October 15 an Occupy camp was established outside the Asian headquarters of HSBC Holdings in Central. As of December 11 the camp was still in place, with around 20 permanent residents. Still going in 2012, General Assembly on the Free School is scheduled for 7 Jan 2012.

Israel

On October 15 an occupation named "Occupy Rothschild" began in Rothschild Boulevard, Tel Aviv. The occupation was related to the 2011 Israeli social justice protests which began in Rothschild on July 14.

Italy

See also: 2011 Rome demonstration

On October 15, 2011, about 200,000 people gathered in Rome to protest against economic inequality and the influence of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund on government. Many other protests occurred in other Italian cities the same day.

In Rome masked and hooded militants wearing makeshift body armor, in black bloc fashion, participated in the protests centered in St John Lateran square and committed numerous violent acts, throwing Molotov cocktails and other homemade explosives, burning and blowing up cars, burning buildings, and smashing up property such as ATMs and shop windows. The Roman Catholic church Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano received extensive damage, including a statue of the Virgin Mary being thrown into the street and destroyed. Several unexploded petrol bombs were reportedly found on several streets by Italian police. Over 1,000,000 euros of damage (equivalent to over 1.3 million dollars) was recorded. At least 135 people were injured in the resulting clashes, including 105 police officers, several of whom were left in critical condition, and two news crews from Sky Italia. Two protesters had their fingers amputated by exploding smoke bombs. Almost 20 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.

After the October 15 demonstration, peaceful people occupied the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme square and started camping as in other cities worldwide. The name of this Rome's group, related to international Occupy movement, is Accampata Roma.

Malaysia

See also: Occupy Dataran

The Occupy Dataran movement first held their assembly at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) 7 weeks before Occupy Wall Street on July 30, 2011 to create an alternative to the current representative democracy using the popular assembly model based on principles of participatory democracy. As part of the 15 October 2011 global protests, over 200 people took part in 15 October's Occupy Dataran, the largest assembly to date. In late October, the movement spread to Penang with Occupy Penang and Kelantan with Occupy Kota Bharu.

Mexico

Occupy began in Mexico City on 11 October with a hunger strike in front of the Mexican Stock Exchange highrise. Edur Velasco, a 56-year old labor economist and university professor, has been on a 42 day-long hunger strike sitting in a tent outside Mexico City's stock market, demanding that the government guarantee greater access to higher education among the youth. Days after his initiative, it came as a surprise to see the multiplication of tents setting up outside the stock exchange building. Now the movement has a broad base. Police has remained discreet around the corner sitting in their trucks. Occupy Mexico, comes at a time of many other nationwide protests, mainly condemning the Mexican Drug War, which many associate with the economic interests of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mongolia

S. Ganbaatar, the head of Mongolia's Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU), has announced that the association joins the worldwide occupy protests of Wall Street and other high streets on 20 October 2011. He claimed that bankers are charging higher interest rates from customers and corporates. In the most recent data in September 2011, the weighted average annual MNT lending rate is 16% in Mongolia.

New Zealand

The Occupy Auckland protest camp in Aotea Square, Auckland on December 9, 2011

Main article: Occupy protests in New Zealand

In October 2011 Occupy protests began in six New Zealand cities - Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill - with protests in Auckland drawing up to 3,000 supporters.

A seventh Occupy protest started on November 19 in the Lower Hutt suburb of Pomare by a group called "Pomare Community Voice" to highlight what they call the "loss of community" caused by the demolition of state homes in the area.

On January 23, police moved in on four sites in Auckland. Two arrests were made and police said campers were in breach of council bylaws regarding camping. The sites were at Aotea Square, 360 Queen st, Victoria Park and Albert Park.

Nigeria

See also: Occupy Nigeria

Occupy Nigeria is an anti fuel subsidy removal protests that started in Nigeria on Monday 2nd January 2012 in response to fuel subsidy removal by the Federal government of Nigeria on Sunday, 1 January 2012. It is a movement against corruption in Government & public service, insensitive & inhuman treatment of Nigerians by Government & Security agents.

Norway

See also: Occupy Oslo

The Occupy movement in Norway began on October 15 with protests in Oslo and Bergen as part of the Global Day of Action. In Oslo the movement has since then met every Saturday in the city centre, usually at Eidsvolls plass in front of the Parliament, but sometimes at other sites, like Spikersuppa and Youngstorget. In Bergen the movement meet on Saturdays at Vågsallmenningen 4 (Holbergsstatuen).

Republic of Ireland

See also: Occupy Dame Street

The Occupy Dame Street camp in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Six towns and cities in Ireland are now being occupied; Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Letterkenny, and Athlone. Protests were held in Dublin, Cork, and Galway. The Irish Times described the movement in the following terms: "The group has no hierarchical structure, has set up a Facebook page and Twitter account – with the social media links attracting a very mixed, and sometimes critical, reaction." The protest in Dublin was organized by "Pots & Pans - Ireland", and #OccupyDameStreet protest group, who then invited Real Democracy Now! Shell to Sea, Tir na Saor and many other non political groups to participate and all set up camp outside the Central Bank of Ireland in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. On 22 October is was reported that over 2,000 people took part in a demonstration organized by Occupy Dame Street.

South Africa

Main article: Taking Back South Africa!

In South Africa, a movement called Taking Back South Africa! sprung up as an initiative primarily aimed at protesting and inciting mass action against the economic and social inequality in the county. It consists of a loose informal affiliation of on the ground groups and individuals across South Africa as well as internet based groups.

South Korea

Hundreds of protesters held rallies in the South Korean capital Seoul on October 15 and October 22 under the slogan of "Occupy Seoul". Protesters focused on issues such as a recent free trade agreement with the United States as well as costs of tuition and rent.

Switzerland

On October 15, Occupy protests, its participants numbering at about 500-1,000 took place in front of the offices of UBS and Credit Suisse on the Paradeplatz in Zurich. 100 protesters later established an occupation on the nearby Lindenhof, which was evicted by the police on November 15.

United Kingdom

See also: Occupy Edinburgh, Occupy Glasgow, and Occupy London

A tent at the Occupy London encampment in the City of London

As part of the 15 October 2011 global protests, protesters gathered in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow and Edinburgh. The London Stock Exchange in Paternoster Square was the initial target for the protesters of Occupy London on October 15, 2011. Attempts to occupy the square were thwarted by police. Police sealed off the entrance to the square as it was private property, and a High Court injunction had been granted against public access to the square. 2500-3000 people gathered nearby outside St Paul's Cathedral, with 250 camping overnight. The canon of St. Paul's, Reverend Giles Fraser, said he was happy for people to "exercise their right to protest peacefully" outside the cathedral and an indefinite encampment was established. Additional smaller protests occurred in Birmingham and Nottingham. As of 17 October an indefinite encampment had also been established on College Green in Bristol. On 29 October a camp was also established in Victoria Gardens, Brighton, and grew from six tents to around twenty within one week. Further Occupy camps are taking place in Liverpool Bath, Bradford, Cardiff Leeds, Sheffield, Thanet, Newcastle upon Tyne, Plymouth, Exeter, Norwich and Lancaster. On Jan 8 2012, Lancaster Police arrested four members of Occupy Lancaster who were occupying a disused hotel in the city centre.

In Northern Ireland, Occupy Belfast initiated its protest outside the offices of Invest NI on Friday 21 October. Occupy Belfast has now taken residence at Writer's Square, in the Cathedral Quarter. It is expected that an Occupy Derry will take place in the near future.

Scotland: Backing from City Hall

In Scotland camps have been organised around the financial district of St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh since 15 October.

St. Andrews Square is the home of the Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters in the Dundas House mansion. Edinburgh City Council has officially backed the Occupy Edinburgh Movement and all Occupy movements worldwide.

Protesters from Occupy Glasgow had set up in the civic George Square on 15 October but moved to Kelvingrove Park where the council would provide running water, toilets and safety fences after the council obtained a court order.

On 11 November, police arrested 170 EDL members on Armistice Day when intelligence revealed EDL members planned to attack campers at St Paul's Cathedral.

On 15 November an Occupy camp was established in the centre of Leicester near the Highcross shopping centre. On 25 November an Occupy camp was established in Liverpool near the Walker Art Gallery. As of 30 November 2011 following national strike action, a body of students occupied The University of Sheffield Arts Tower in solidarity with, but not limited to, the occupy movement.

United States

Main article: Occupy movement in the United States

See also: List of Occupy movement protest locations in the United States

One of the marches to the Port of Oakland during the 2011 Oakland General Strike on Nov. 2, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street protests began in New York City on September 17, 2011. By October 9, similar demonstrations were either ongoing or had been held in 70 major cities and over 600 communities across the U.S. According to anarchist activist and academic David Graeber, one of the original organizers of OWS, the groundwork for the September 17 occupation of Zuccotti park was laid by weeks of planning meetings in New York, conducted in general assemblies.

At least 80 arrests were made on September 24, when protesters marched uptown, forcing the closure of several streets. Police officers have been using a technique called kettling which involves using orange nets to isolate protesters into smaller groups. The video of a young woman being sprayed with pepper spray by a police officer while inclosed in netting received a great deal of media attention.

On October 1, protesters in New York City set out to march across the Brooklyn Bridge. The New York Times reported that more than 700 arrests were made. The police used ten buses to carry protesters off the bridge. Some said the police had tricked protesters, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across. Jesse A. Myerson, a media coordinator for Occupy Wall Street said, "The cops watched and did nothing, indeed, seemed to guide us onto the roadway."

On October 25, during the Occupy Oakland protests, following multiple violation notices from city officials, police officers in riot gear from various Bay Area law enforcement agencies cleared both camp sites during the early hours of the day. Police fired tear gas canisters at the protestors, allegedly in response to objects being thrown at them. Protest organizers said that many of the troublemakers were not part of the Occupy movement. Two MSN reporters described the raid was described as "violent and chaotic at times" and resulted in over 102 arrests. Scott Olsen, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, and a member of Veterans for Peace, suffered a skull fracture caused by a projectile that witnesses believed was a tear gas or smoke canister fired by the police.

Zuccotti Park closed to overnight camping on November 15, 2011

On November 2, protesters in Oakland, California shut down the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest port in the nation. Police estimated that about 3,000 demonstrators were gathered at the port and 4,500 had marched across the city, however a member of the Occupy movement was quoted by the BBC as estimating as many as 30,000 may have taken part.

At about 1 am on November 15, police cleared the Zuccotti Park encampment. Many journalists complained that police made a deliberate decision to keep journalists away from the park during the raid. New York City journalists responded to what they perceived as "alarming suppression, abuse and arrests of reporters" by forming "The Coalition for the First Amendment" to "monitor police-press relations as a way of spotlighting police activities that threaten constitutional protections". Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie of the International Press Institute commented: "It is completely unacceptable to hinder reporting on a subject that is undoubtedly of public interest. Such reporting is vital to democracy, and authorities at every level of government – federal, state and local – must honour their constitutional obligation not to infringe upon the freedom of the press.”

On December 6, Occupy Homes, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, embarked on a "national day of action" to protest the mistreatment of homeowners by big banks, who they say made billions of dollars off the housing bubble by offering predatory loans and indulging in practices that allegedly took advantage of consumers. In more than two dozen cities across the nation the movement took on the housing crisis by re-occupying foreclosed homes, disrupting bank auctions and blocking evictions.

Reactions

See also: Reactions to the Occupy movement

Political

Iran On 12 October 2011, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei voiced his support for the Occupy Movement saying, "Ultimately, it will grow so that it will bring down the capitalist system and the West."

Brazil On 15 October 2011, President Dilma Rousseff said, "We agree with some of the expressions that some movements have used around the world [in] demonstrations like the ones we see in the US and other countries."

Canada On 15 October 2011, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressed sympathy with the protests, stating "There's growing worry about a lack of opportunities for the younger generation — particularly in the United States — and it's up to governments to ensure youth are able to capitalize on their education and find good jobs." He later commented, "I can understand some legitimate frustration arising out of that."

India On 19 October 2011, Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, described the protests as "a warning for all those who are in charge of the processes of governance".

United Kingdom On 21 October 2011, Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the protests were about fairness. "There are voices in the middle who say, 'Look, we can build a better financial system that is more sustainable, that is based on a better and proportionate sense of what's just and fair and where people don't take reckless risks or, if they do, they're penalized for doing so.' " On 6 November 2011, Opposition leader Ed Miliband: "The challenge is that they reflect a crisis of concern for millions of people about the biggest issue of our time: the gap between their values and the way our country is run." He mentioned that he is "determined that mainstream politics, and the Labour Party in particular, speaks to that crisis and rises to the challenge".

On Saturday 26 November 2011, Edinburgh City Council set a worldwide precedent by voting in favour of the motion to support the aims and sentiments of Occupy Edinburgh and the Occupy Movement as a whole. This motion was presented by the Scottish Green Party, was seconded by the Scottish Labour Party and was slightly amended by the SNP and LibDems. The only party not to back the motion was the Conservatives. "We regard this as a fantastic step forward in the opening of dialogue with the Scottish government.", stated Occupy Edinburgh.

United States On 16 October 2011, President Barack Obama spoke in support of the movement, though also asked protesters not to "demonize" finance workers. Local authorities in the United States have collaborated to develop strategies to respond to the Occupy movement and its encampments, and political leaders in eighteen United States cities consulted on cracking down on the Occupy movement, according to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who participated in a conference call. Within a span of less than 24 hours, municipal authorities in Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Oakland and New York City sent in police to crack down on the encampments of the Occupy movement.

In a markedly different approach, the city administration and police in New Haven, Connecticut, have worked with Occupy New Haven to ensure the safety of protesters occupying the upper section of the New Haven Green. As of 23 January 2012, Occupy New Haven has been running continuously on the Green for 100 days with no plans to discontinue the physical encampment.

Venezuela Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez condemned the "horrible repression" of the activists and expressed solidarity with the movement.

Media

An article in the centre-left Labour Party-affiliated British magazine Progress published on 25 November criticised the Occupy protesters as representing "an unpalatable smorgasbord of religious, political and cultural ideas."

The Korean Central News Agency of North Korea (the state press) has described the Occupy movement as being "in protest against exploitation and oppression by capital, shaking all fabrics of society."

A survey for the think tank Center for American Progress suggested that the occupy movement had succeeded in substantially boosting the coverage of the Job crisis in the American media.

Foreign Affairs has had various articles covering the movement. In the January/February 2012 issue, Francis Fukuyama compares and contrasts the Occupy movement with the "right-wing" Tea Party movement who is "anti-elitist in its rhetoric, its members vote for conservative politicians who serve the interests of precisely those financiers and corporate elites they claim to despise."

Other

Egyptian protesters from Tahrir Square have lent their support of the movement. A message of solidarity issued by a collective of Cairo-based protesters declared: "As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme. An entire generation across the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things."

In early December 2011, business magnate Richard Branson said the movement is a "good start", that they have been protesting for valid reasons, and that if the business community takes some of their concerns on board they will have made a difference.

On 15th December, Jesse Jackson said that Jesus Christ , Gandhi and Martin Luther King were all occupiers, and that: "Occupy is a global spirit, which is now sweeping the nation and the world, fighting for justice for all of God's children".

A global survey of 23 countries published by Ipsos on 20th January 2012 found that only about 40% of the worlds citizens are familiar with the movement. Over twice as many reported a favourable response to the movement compared to those who dislike it. Support for the movement varied markedly among countries, with South Korea(67%), Indonesia(65%) and India(64%) reporting the highest sympathy - while Australia (41%) , Japan (41%) and Poland (37%) reporting the lowest.

Impact

The full range of impacts and social consequences or ramifications of this fledgling global movement may be impossible to gauge at this time; however, some known impacts to date include the following:

Social impact

In the United States, the protests have helped shift the national dialogue from the deficit to economic problems many ordinary Americans face, such as unemployment, the large amount of student and other personal debt that burdens middle class and working class Americans, and other major issues of social inequality, such as homelessness. The movement appears to have generated a national conversation about income inequality, as evidenced by the fact that print and broadcast news mentioned the term “income inequality” more than five times more often during the last week of October 2011 than during the week before the occupation began. The Occupy movement raised awareness regarding undeserved wealth and lack of fairness in American society.

Labor unions have become bolder in the tactics they employ and have been using digital social media more effectively because of the Occupy movement. In New York City, the Occupy Wall Street protest has also provided hundreds of protesters to help in picket actions conducted by labor unions.

On November 10, 2011, The Daily Telegraph reported that the word "occupy" had been the "most commonly used English word on the internet and in print" over the past 12 months according to a top ten list published by media analysis company Global Language Monitor. In January 2012, members of the American Dialect Society voted with an overwhelming majority for "Occupy" as the word of the year for 2011.

Political impact

On 27 December 2011 the Financial Times argued that the movement had had a global impact, altering "the terms of the political debate." Other commentators have taken a more critical view, suggesting the occupy movement has been a disruptive waste of time. Even some sympathetic commentators such as Anthony Barnett, have suggested that in Spain, where the movement once had the support of well over 70% of the population with millions taking part, the popularity of Occupy is now past its peak and has achieved no consequences of any significance. However there were numerous successes at local level and The Economist has reported that Spanish protestors caused their government to pass various laws including new limits on the amounts banks can claw back from defaulting borrowers.

In November 2011, U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch, member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the "Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Constitutional Amendment," which would overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision recognizing corporate constitutionally-protected free speech rights and would ban corporate money from the electoral process.

Also in November 2011, Paul Mason said that the occupy movement had started to shape the global policy response to the Late-2000s financial crisis, being mentioned so often at the 2011 G20 summit that if occupy had been a brand "it would have a profile to die for among the super-elite".

Various journalists along with Jared Bernstein former chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, have suggested that Occupy influenced the President's January 2012 State of the Union address , with the movement creating the political space for Obama to shift to the economic left and speak about the desirability of the rich paying a greater share of the tax burden. President Obama no longer mentions the Occupy movement by name, which analysts say reflects the fact that by early 2012 Occupy had become a divisive issue, unpopular with much of the public.

Lawsuits

Following actions by police and municipal officials to use force in closing various Occupy tent camps in public spaces, lawsuits have been filed, while others are being planned.

See also

• List of Occupy movement protest locations
• Timeline of Occupy Wall Street
• We are the 99%

Other U.S. protests

• 2011 United States public employee protests
• 2011 Wisconsin protests
• Occupy Homes
• Tea Party protests
• Law enforcement and the Occupy movement

Other international protests

• 2010–2011 Greek protests
• 2011 Chilean protests
• 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
• 2011 Israeli social justice protests
• 2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protests and 2010 UK student protests
• Arab Spring
• 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests
• Spanish 15M Indignants movement

Related articles

• Bonus Army
• Corruption Perceptions Index
• Coxey's Army
• Empowered democracy
• Grassroots movement
• Green Feather Movement
• Hooverville
• Income inequality in the United States
• List of countries by distribution of wealth
• List of countries by income equality
• Plutocracy
• Selected Historical income tax rates in the U.S. (1913–2010)
• The One Percent
• Wealth inequality in the United States

Further reading

• Berg, A.G. and Ostry, J.D. (September 2011) "Equality and Efficiency" Finance and Development (Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund)
• Graeber, David (30 November 2011). "Occupy Wall Street's anarchist roots". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
• Graeber, David. "Concerning the Violent Peace-Police: An Open Letter to Chris Hedges". Retrieved 9 February 2012.
• Graeber, David. "Occupy and anarchism's gift of democracy". Guardian. Retrieved 9 February 2012.

External links

• Portal to various essays by social scientists written on the movement, provided by Berkeley University
• 10 Films that Explain Why Occupy Wall St Exists
• Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities
• Occupy Together
• We All Occupy Directory/Resource Lists
• Occupy Agenda
• Wiki Occupy
• www.15october.net
• Occupy Together Meetups Everywhere at Meetup
• occupytv
• National Student Protest Scheduled: 10/13/2011—List of participating colleges, from occupycolleges.org

News media

• Occupy movement collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Occupy Wall Street collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Blodget, Henry (October 11, 2011). "Charts: Here's What The Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About..." Business Insider. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
• "Occupy" photographs from around the nation from the Denver Post

Related websites

• Inequality.org, from Program on Inequality and the Common Good, an Institute for Policy Studies project
• The Equality Trust