TIME What is Occupy? Inside the Global Movement

by Time-Life Books

The grassroots movement that started Sept. 17, 2011, with a protest in a park near Wall Street has mushroomed into a series of demonstrations in hundreds of cities around the world. In a year of protests from the Middle East to Madison, Wis., the Occupy uprising, a passionate outcry for economic justice, has been defined by its lack of definition. Now from TIME comes an illuminating collection of stories that answers many of the key questions about How did it get started? What’s behind the anger of the so-called 99% this group claims to represent? Who leads this leaderless movement? What should its agenda be? How can it transcend the occupation of tiny Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan? What Is Occupy? includes chapters from the pages of TIME by columnists Joe Klein and Rana Foroohar, as well as new chapters original to the book, plus the results of exclusive TIME polls.

Genres: Politics

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2011

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A COLLECTION OF SHORT WRITINGS ABOUT THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT

TIME magazine notes in its Foreword to this 2011 book, "In this new book... we bring you stories on the political effects of the movement, the key moments of its early days and its global resonance. We also present a forum of prominent voices, both supportive and critical of the movement."

The first essay notes that in this new decade of economic and political peril, "the street protesters set the agenda. Spontaneous activism, organized through social media, had toppled Arab dictatorships and rattled advanced democracies." (Pg. 7) Celebrities such as Jay-Z, Michael Moore, Alec Baldwin and Cornel West had made "pilgrimages" to the sites of the protest (pg. 6).

One essay discusses the origins of the movement: e.g., an editor at the anticonsumerist magazine "Adbusters" coined the name "Occupy Wall Street"; an anarchist activist named David Graeber created the "We Are the 99%" slogan, and formed a less wordy and formal group as an offshoot of an August 2011 protest (Pg. 35).

They note that violence broke out between police and protesters in Oakland, resulting in more than 100 people being arrested and dozens of businesses being damaged. One of the protesters blamed anarchists for the violence, saying, "They're taking advantage of our numbers and leeching off our movement. These people have no values." (Pg. 22-23)

Naomi Klein is quoted as saying, "I'm delighted that Occupy Wall Street hasn't given in to the hectoring for a list of 'demands.' This is a young movement still in the process of determining just how powerful it is..." (Pg. 53) But another essayist summarizes the grievances: "Millions of us can't find jobs, and millions more are taking any low-wage, part-time, no-benefits job we can get just to make ends meet. All this was caused by a financial crisis that originated right here on Wall Street through the slimy machinations of you financiers, you who make more money than 99% of all Americans. When your incompetently built financial system blew up, you got bailed out while we got fired and foreclosed on..." (Pg. 64-65)

This brief book---along with others such as 'This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement,' 'Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America,' and 'Voices From the 99 Percent: An Oral History of the Occupy Wall Street Movement'---is an excellent one for anyone interested in learning more about the OWS movement.

[Connor S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly explains the internal conflicts within the movement but doesn't give much as to motivations. Possibly that's more telling of the movement than the book but it felt sufficiently detailed

[Randy Cauthen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Symptomatic.
Both Joe Klein's ferishization of civility (surprise) and Joel Stein's unctuous attempt at humor "Who Speaks for the 1%" make great rhetorical analysis assignments.