Occupy Wall Street Research Papers

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- by Timothy N Laurie
- •
- 10
  Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Marxism

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- by Dana Williams
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- 7
  Social Movements, Gentrification, Urban Sociology, Public Space

In this article, I compare the origins and early development of the Occupy movement with that of the Spanish 15M, the Indignados or ‘outraged,’ movement. How movements are integrated into longer-lived global networks has been... more

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- by Jill Hopke
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- 7
  New Media, Mixed Methods, Collective Action, Social Network Analysis (SNA)

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- by Alfonso Montuori
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- 59
  Sociology, Cultural Studies, Future Studies, Political Sociology

he article discusses the book "Debt: The First 5000 Years," by David Graeber, in relation to the Rolling Jubilee debt repayment project by the organization Strike Debt, which stemmed from the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) social movement.... more

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- by Hagi Kenaan
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- 30
  Optics, Visual Anthropology, Everyday Aesthetics, Resistance (Social)

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- by Phil Henderson
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- 14
  Indigenous Studies, Feminist Theory, Colonialism, Capitalism

The article discusses a number of cases relating to the latest trends in the development of the party-political systems in the US and EU countries. Article presents analysis of such U.S. movements as “Occupy Wall Street”, “Tea Party” and... more

The article discusses a number of cases relating to the latest trends in the development of the party-political systems in the US and EU countries. Article presents analysis of such U.S. movements as
“Occupy Wall Street”, “Tea Party” and M5S and the Alternative for Germany among the European parties.
On this basis, the causes of the contemporary crisis of the party-political system are analyzed. Among the reasons of such a crisis the authors include: the presence of the losers from globalization, especially
in the lower middle class; increased competition from migrants both in terms of access to jobs, and in obtaining social benefits; the psychological readiness of a number of losers of the middle class to explain the deterioration of their socio-economic situation as a consequence of the global “conspiracy of elites”;
the erosion of the traditional structure of industrial society and the consequent degradation of the existing political consensus of the center-right and center-left parties that was an engine of the globalization; the separation of the globalized elite from the middle class of Western countries in the standard of living; virtualization of politics and the emergence of new types of mass communication, low controlled centrally and allowing various alternative forces to easily find contact with a mass audience; tactical errors by mainstream forces and traditional media controlled by them in counter-attempts to demonize new political movements, which intensifies protest moods among the dissatisfied part of the middle class.
As a result, a broad antiglobalistic identity emerges in Western politics. Alternative movements mobilize a significant number of supporters, using the image of the enemy: either a migrant or a global capitalist.
Alternative movements press on their centrist competitors as a result of а “grip from the inside” (in the U.S.) or as a result of a “challenging outside” (in the EU countries). In the EU countries, this trend
has led to partial dismantling of party systems, as well as the distribution of seats in parliament in favor of representatives of new parties. In the U.S., under the influence of the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy movement, the moderate wings within the Republicans and Democrats were weakened, which was one of the important factors that led to the victory of D. Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

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- by Kirill Petrov
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- 7
  Globalization, Party Politics, Far-Right Politics, Occupy Wall Street

In Trump's Counter-Revolution, Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen looks behind the craziness of Donald Trump to decipher the formation of a new kind of fascism, late-capitalist fascism, that is intent on preventing any kind of real social change.... more

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- by Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen
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- 10
  American Politics, Democratic Theory, Fascism, Democracy

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- by erika biddle
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- 5
  Social Movements, Contemporary Art, Modern Art, Occupy Wall Street

This is an open access annotated bibliography created for Occupy Wall Street as part of the MyMETRO Researchers Pilot Project. The citations in this annotated bibliography address specific impacts of climate change on plant & animal... more

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- by Ari Ress and +1
  Darcy Gervasio
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- 4
  Climate Change, Global Warming, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Movement

Shortly before the demise of the worldwide Occupy movement, two watershed events mark its final transformation. Two collaborations with international art exhibitions in Germany, that not only changed the fate of the movment, but brought... more

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- by Sebastian Loewe
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- 12
  Performing Arts, Political Art, Conceptual Art, Visual Arts

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- by Troy A Belford
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- 4
  Civil disobedience, Social Protest, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Movement

"This book is an interrogation of humanity's new potentials and threats brought by technology when the question of social change is becoming more crucial than ever. The selected essays in this anthology confront questions from a... more

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- by Jacob Johanssen
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- 13
  Critical Theory, Psychoanalysis, Media Studies, Climate Change

Debt cancellation in its Ancient Near Eastern context is an act and prerogative of sovereign power. This raises challenges for conceptualizing debt cancellation/Jubilee today as a radical or progressive practice.

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- by Devin Singh
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- 13
  Critical Theory, Religion, Theology, Sovereignty

Cosa significa protestare per le strade, perché occupare uno spazio nella città? Veniamo da un recente risveglio, da anni che hanno riportato la politica nelle piazze e nelle strade. In tutto il mondo uomini e donne sono scesi in piazza... more

Occupy Wall Street was a movement of many faces. Its impact on the public debate was significant, sparking support and criticism from a variety of sources. The occupation of the park, a ‘privately owned public space’, awoke the interest... more

Occupy Wall Street was a movement of many faces. Its impact on the public debate was significant, sparking support and criticism from a variety of sources. The occupation of the park, a ‘privately owned public space’, awoke the interest of the media, triggering nationwide media coverage and generating significant online activity.

Behind an almost two-month occupation of a 3,100 m2 park in downtown Manhattan, an element crucial to Occupy Wall Street gaining scale and achieving significant media coverage emerges: Its discourse. Acknowledging that a discourse encompasses a set of ideas, values, identities and activities signified by the use of certain semiotic choices, this paper explores how the different bits and pieces of the Occupy Wall Street discourse play out in the social, political and communication arenas. The methodology is based on empirical and exploratory research. Interviews are conducted with professors, activists, protesters, journalists and editors, most of them based in New York City. Meanwhile a media analysis is performed based on online activity, mainstream media coverage and tag clouds generated out of hundreds of articles from three leading newspapers of various types and political inclinations.

Results reveal a social movement represented by protesters whose one common aspect was their frustration with the economic, social and political systems in the United States. This responds to an ideology named “the critique of capitalism.” Despite lacking a single, unified message, Occupy Wall Street managed to deliver strong semiotic choices behind the narrative of “We are the 99 percent,” ultimately producing a compelling, media savvy discourse.

OWS also accomplished influencing the public conversation by relying on social media networks. This was reinforced by the very occupation of Zuccotti Park, which would symbolically reenact the movement’s narrative and serve as a storefront for journalists to gather constantly changing stories. In contrast, OWS’ depiction in the news varied considerably, showing a constantly shifting and volatile narrative particularly subject to events of a violent or unsettling nature. This generated increased media coverage, but ultimately affected both public support and the movement’s morale. Still, if there is one thing that Occupy Wall Street indisputably achieved, it is bringing back the public debate on the aggravating issue of economic inequality and its repercussions on the American people.

This chapter examines the discursive constructions of debt, deficits and austerity in service to neoliberal globalization. Drawing in particular upon the relatively recent turn toward austerity in Europe as enforced by the “troika” of the... more

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- by Shawn Cassiman
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- 12
  Economics, Education, Resistance (Social), Neoliberalism

This paper weaves together two recurring themes in philosophical and political debates of recent years: the idea, loosely inspired by Walter Benjamin, that describes melancholia as a dominant structure of feeling and desire among the... more

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- by Rodrigo Nunes
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- 16
  Gilbert Simondon, Walter Benjamin, Melancholy, Political Organization

Digital Rebellion examines the impact of new media and communication technologies on the spatial, strategic, and organizational fabric of social movements. Todd Wolfson reveals how aspects of the mid-1990s Zapatistas... more

Digital Rebellion examines the impact of new media and communication technologies on the spatial, strategic, and organizational fabric of social movements.

Todd Wolfson reveals how aspects of the mid-1990s Zapatistas movement--network organizational structure, participatory democratic governance, and the use of communication tools as a binding agent--became essential parts of Indymedia and other Cyber Left organizations. From there he uses oral interviews and other rich ethnographic data to chart the media-based think tanks and experiments that continued the Cyber Left's evolution through the Independent Media Center's birth around the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle.

Melding virtual and traditional ethnographic practice to explore the Cyber Left's cultural logic, Wolfson maps the social, spatial and communicative structure of the Indymedia network and details its operations on the local, national and global level. He looks at the participatory democracy that governs global social movements and the ways democracy and decentralization have come into tension, and how "the switchboard of struggle" conducts stories from the hyper-local and disperses them worldwide. As he shows, understanding the intersection of Indymedia and the Global Social Justice Movement illuminates their foundational role in the Occupy struggle and other emergent movements that have re-energized radical politics.

"Combining the passion of an activist and the reasoned arguments of a scholar, Wolfson wonderfully details the emergence of the Cyber Left. In Digital Rebellion he not only celebrates its political potential but also, and more importantly, provides a lucid critique of the forms it has taken thus far."--Michael Hardt, co-author of Declaration and Empire

"Makes an original contribution through the depth of the empirical case studies of Cyber Left organization. . . . I cannot think of another book that puts so much of the story of the U.S. left's experiments with the creation of an 'electronic fabric of struggle' within a single volume. . . . The author's knowledge, thoughtfulness, and political passion is evident." --Nick Dyer-Witheford, author of Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games

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- by Todd Wolfson
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- 55
  Critical Theory, History, Sociology, Social Movements

"Reading Geoffrey Pleyers’ account of the alter-globalization movement has a certain poignancy, as well as engendering a sense of excitement and the glimmer of new possibilities. ... Pleyers is very good on the limitations and... more

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- by Geoffrey Pleyers
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- 9
  Sociology, Political Sociology, Social Movements, Globalization

This paper looks at how citizen journalism is shifting the power from traditional media and its influence on the general public. This paper also particularly focuses on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which incidentally sparked similar... more

Panel 1 - Critique of history and history of critique with Christian Garland, Harry Cross & Matt Bolton

British Sociological Association (BSA), Durham University, 20th September 2017

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- by Thomas Nail
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- 165
  Creative Writing, Critical Theory, History, Cultural History

Gerechtigkeit sollte die Grundlage allen politischen Handelns sein. Doch was, wenn staatliche Maßnahmen und Gesetze dieser Norm widersprechen? Können dann auch in Demokratien Akte des zivilen Ungehorsams gerechtfertigt sein? Und wenn ja,... more

The spread of the Occupy movement across the globe has reinvigorated the political, expanding the horizon of possibility after over thirty years of closure imposed by neoliberalism. While a literature which analyzes the interlinking... more

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- by Matthew Morgan
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- 8
  Police, Protest, Neoliberalism, Financial Crisis of 2008/2009

My book review of Kate Crehan’s "Gramsci’s Common Sense: Inequality and Its Narratives"

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- by Sara Salem
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- 4
  Marxism, Gramsci, Antonio Gramsci, Occupy Wall Street

Hitler participou de movimentos ocultistas desde sua juventude e sua biografia está repleta de fatos misteriosos que deixam entrever uma espécie de predestinação satânica que o levaria ao poder. Porém, outras forças ocultas, materiais até... more

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- by Rogério Mattos
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- 3
  Adolf Hitler, Nazismo, Occupy Wall Street

It is not uncommon to conceive of the Occupy Movement as a powerful civic protest that failed to mobilize politically. The literature on #Occupy is limited to: a) academic accounts of how the movement fits existing theories about social... more

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- by Maksim Kokushkin
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- 8
  Critical Theory, Social Movements, Political Economy, Social Movement

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- by Eleonora Staykova-Misheva
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- 6
  Hacktivism, Anonymous, Memes, Occupy Wall Street

First proof of the book - so not the same as the published version, but close to it. For citation purposes it would be advantageous to cross-check with final published version.

In this interview, Walter Benn Michaels talks about his trajectory from being a student involved in the anti-war movement in the late 1960s to becoming an English professor, whose critique of what he calls " left neoliberalism " and his... more

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- by Lee M Pierce
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- 7
  Critical Theory, Social Movements, Rhetoric, Precarity

The great political achievement of the modern era, stable representative democracies that legitimate power, are everywhere under attack. No thinker can better help understand our present democratic disillusionment than Hannah Arendt.... more

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- by Roger Berkowitz
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- 10
  Jacques Rancière, Protest, Democracy, Hannah Arendt

""Politics is always about nomination. It is about naming a political subjectivity and organizing politically around that name.– Simon Critchley (2007, 103) This paper situates Guy Standing’s recent work on ‘the precariat’ within a... more

""Politics is always about nomination. It is about naming a political subjectivity and organizing politically around that name.– Simon Critchley (2007, 103)

This paper situates Guy Standing’s recent work on ‘the precariat’ within a broader body of literature exploring processes of ‘precarisation’, at work and across the social field. It sets out the differential distribution of ‘precarity’ (including on the basis of gender, geography, status and sector) resulting from transformations in labour and the political economy, the rollback of social democracy and of ‘industrial citizenship’ (where these existed), as well as from processes of globalisation. The paper argues that, like many other works, Standing’s book, The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class, de-couples its discussion of precarious, neoliberal labour and life from the explicitly utopian agenda of radical reform it ultimately proposes. Drawing on Kathi Weeks’ engagement with Ernst Bloch’s work, the paper suggest Standing’s utopianism remains abstract, detached from an analysis of the social forces, movements and struggles that might bring it into being. It makes use of Antonio Negri’s distinctive, heterodox interpretation of V.I. Lenin to provide a framework for theorising how concrete utopian projects of radical political transformation – which is to say, ‘realist’ or materialist ones – are extrapolated out of spontaneous struggles; the predominant ‘will’, ethics and structures of which are always largely determined by the social, political and economic context from which they emerge. It is shown how, on the basis of this approach, Negri (in his collaboration with Michael Hardt) has constructed the notion of ‘multitude’ as a potential model for political organisation today – apposite to the precarious reality described by Standing and others. They draw on Baruch Spinoza’s political philosophy – often counterposing it to that of Thomas Hobbes – to affirm the capacity for common political action and decision despite heterogeneity, and to ground political organisation in social conflict rather than contract. Finally, drawing on Alain Badiou’s distinction between ‘immediate’ and ‘historical uprisings’, the paper explores the degree to which a number of contemporary movements and struggles might have tentatively achieved what he calls ‘qualitative extension’ – establishing connections and a ground for common action across social spaces and strata – potentially setting in motion enduring projects of political organisation and constitution that resemble the multitude model.""

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- by Ben Trott
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- 30
  Marxism, Social Contract Theory, Hobbes, Post-Marxism

Across the last decade we have witnessed a growing wave of resistance across the globe. In this article we argue that it is critical to utilise class analysis to understand contemporary social movements. We maintain that class analysis... more

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- by Todd Wolfson and +1
  P. Funke
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- 16
  Cultural Studies, Social Movements, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies

The Occupy Wall Street movement gained global appeal as protest camps spread across the United States and to over 80 countries and 95 cities around the world. The slogan “We are the 99 percent” captured a sentiment of rising economic... more

Towards a Post-Exceptionalist American Studies. Ed. Winfried Fluck and Donald E. Pease. REAL: Yearbook of Research in English and American Literature 30 (2014): 445-482.

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- by Nick J. Sciullo
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- 7
  Social Movements, Law, Marxism, Capitalism

This paper sets out to develop two related ideas. First, it seeks to identify how both violence and neoliberalism can be considered as moments. From this shared conceptualisation of process and fluidity, I argue that it becomes easier to... more

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- by Simon Springer
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- 209
  Critical Theory, Discourse Analysis, Sociology, Cultural Studies

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- by Florian Malzacher and +1
  Perjovschi S Dan
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- 8
  Social Activism, Political Art, Activism, Art and Politics

Dünyanın üzerinde bir hayalet geziniyor… sosyal medyanın hayaleti. Bu hayalet yeni bir dünyanın dilini konuşuyor ve sanaldan gerçeğe tüm sokaklarda artık bu dil konuşuluyor.

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- by barış çoban
- •
- 78
  Sociology, Media Sociology, Social Movements, Communication

"The ‘Arab spring’, the Spanish ‘Indignados’, the Greek ‘Aganaktismenoi’ and the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement all share a number of distinctive traits. They made extensive use of social networking and were committed to the direct... more

"The ‘Arab spring’, the Spanish ‘Indignados’, the Greek ‘Aganaktismenoi’ and the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement all share a number of distinctive traits. They made extensive use of social networking and were committed to the direct democratic participation of all as they co-ordinated and conducted their actions. Leaderless and self-organised, they were socially and ideologically heterogeneous, dismissing fixed agendas or ideologies. Still, the assembled multitudes that animated these mobilisations often claimed to speak in the name of ‘the people’, and they aspired to empowered forms of egalitarian self-government in common.

Similar features have marked collective resistances from the Zapatistas and the Seattle protests onwards, giving rise to theoretical and practical debates over the importance of these ideological and political forms. By engaging with the controversy between the autonomous, biopolitical ‘multitude’ of Hardt and Negri and the arguments in favour of the hegemony of ‘the people’ advanced by J. Rancière, E. Laclau, C. Mouffe and S. Žižek the central aim of this book is to discuss these instances of collective mobilisation, to probe the innovative practices and ideas they have developed and to debate their potential to reinvigorate democracy whilst seeking something better than ‘disaster capitalism’.

***

Contents: Introduction: radical democracy and collective movements today: responding to the challenges of kairos, Alexandros Kioupkiolis and Giorgos Katsambekis; Post-hegemony: politics outside the usual post-Marxist paradigm, Benjamin Arditi; Letter to a Greek anarchist: on multitudes, peoples, and new empires, Richard J.F. Day and Nick Montgomery; Sovereignty of the people, Jodi Dean; Occupy and autonomous political life, Saul Newman; Hegemony or post-hegemony? Discourse, representation and the revenge(s) of the real, Yannis Stavrakakis; Generalised antagonism and political ontology in the debate between Laclau and Negri, Paul Rekret; A hegemony of the multitude: muddling the lines, Alexandros Kioupkiolis; The multitudinous moment(s) of the people: democratic agency disrupting established binarisms, Giorgos Katsambekis; Representation and political space in Laclau and Hardt and Negri, Andy Knott; Autonomy and hegemony in the squares: the 2011 protests in Greece and Spain, Marina Prentoulis and Lasse Thomassen; Index.

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Reviews:

‘People or Multitude, Hegemony or Autonomy, Laclau or Negri? This is the crucial dilemma the “age of resistance” we have entered poses to theory and politics. This sophisticated volume brings together some of the most interesting younger scholars to examine the many aspects of the dilemma. The alternatives are mapped in their full complexity and are backed with detailed empirical evidence from the movements in Spain, Greece and Occupy. This collection will become a classic in radical political philosophy.’
--Costas Douzinas, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

‘At a time when we have to make sense of the worldwide protests unfolding since 2011 this book comes at exactly the right moment. Intervening into the heated debates around the question of political representation and the necessity of constructing a new left wing hegemony, this book is a must-read for everyone interested in the topic of collective protest.’
--Oliver Marchart, Düsseldorf Art Academy, Germany"

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- by Giorgos Katsambekis and +1
  Alexandros Kioupkiolis
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- 22
  Social Movements, Post-Marxism, Slavoj Žižek, Antonio Negri

Occupy Wall Street

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