Abstract Powell, Rachel Elaine
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ABSTRACT POWELL, RACHEL ELAINE. “You Just Won’t Get Anything Done That Way”: Inequality and Informal Elites in a Leaderless Occupy Movement. (Under the direction of Dr. Sinikka Elliott). The Occupy Wall Street movement that spread through the U.S. in the fall of 2011 extolled consensus-based decision-making processes as fair and just. While Occupiers touted their “leaderless” organizational model, informal elites arose in many of these Occupations, including Occupy the City, the organization under study in this dissertation, located in a major city in the southeastern U.S. Based on 600 hours of participant observation and 20 in- depth interviews with movement participants, I examine how participants with greater resources garnered power in the group and deflected criticism by reminding members of the importance of their contributions to the movement and by relying on narratives that mobilized movement principles such as “autonomy” and “inclusivity.” Findings reveal that members created internal inequality in ways that mirrored the reproduction of inequality in mainstream society. The group crafted rules that punished marginalized Occupiers while informal elites were able to evade punishment by controlling resources, closing ranks, and co-opting venues for grievances. I show how the elites’ actions occurred in the context of a capitalist economy and under the watchful eye of a conservative government. I argue that constraints on resources encourage practices that may lead to oligarchy, self-selection, and homogeneity, undermining a social movement organization’s goal to grow a democratic movement. © Copyright 2016 Rachel Elaine Powell All Rights Reserved “You Just Won’t Get Anything Done That Way”: Inequality and Informal Elites in a Leaderless Occupy Movement by Rachel Elaine Powell A dissertation or submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology Raleigh, North Carolina 2016 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Sinikka Elliott Michael Schwalbe Chair of Advisory Committee _______________________________ _______________________________ Brett Clark Karey Harwood DEDICATION To my partner, Derek Cronmiller, who might as well be listed as co-author for all the times he helped me think of a word that was on the tip of my tongue but inaccessible. Derek, your mastery of language is attractive. And also to my parents, Jay and Jody Powell, who—bless their hearts—supported my 25- year educational career. Mom and Dad, I do solemnly swear to remove your Discover card from my wallet. ii BIOGRAPHY Rachel Powell (or, post-Ph.D. graduation, Rachel Cronmiller) was born in Eunice, Louisiana in 1986 to lucky parents Jay and Jody (Lamonte) Powell. She, alongside younger brother Andre, enjoyed Cajun food until she moved to Shreveport, Louisiana to attend Centenary College of Louisiana and became a vegetarian. Graduating with a Bachelor’s in sociology in 2008, she scored an awesome liberal arts education under the guidance of Michelle Wolkomir, who, alongside her partner-in-crime Michael Futreal, convinced Rachel to go to graduate school at their alma mater, North Carolina State University. Many Global Village lattes later, Rachel received her Master’s degree in 2010. Before she was ready, she fell into the Occupy Wall Street movement, finding both a fascinating dissertation project and the one with whom she fits. Rachel and her partner, Derek, live in Raleigh, North Carolina with too many fur babies (Nora the border collie, and kitties Amos, Lucy, Tuggy, and Izzy) who consistently delayed her graduation but who are the joys of her life. She really does enjoy walks on the beach and piña coladas, especially the occasions when both can be combined with Hanson concerts. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It wasn’t that long ago (who am I kidding—it totally was) that I wrote some acknowledgments in my Master’s thesis. Thinking now about what to say to those who have been my rocks in the rapids (the kind you can hold onto so you don’t drown, not the kind that get your raft stuck), I realize that it’s probably been too long since I expressed my gratitude. Here’s my attempt to say all the things I should have been saying all along: To Mom and Dad: when I really think about all you have done for me, I am overwhelmed by your generosity, your sacrifices, and your selflessness. As parents go, you’ve set the bar high. Thank you for supporting me at all costs and no matter what and not making me feel too bad about any dumb decisions I may have made. It was probably foolish of you to do it, but you’re good people. To Andre: I hope, by this point, you no longer feel the need to go to graduate school just because I did. You are the true wise one. Congratulations on your life—I wish we lived closer to one another so I could at least bask in your glory! To Nana, Papa, Grandma, PaPa, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins: I hope that very soon I am not broke as a joke and can visit with all of you more often. Thank you for all the laughs over the years and for your blind support. To Michelle and Michael: this—all of this!—is your doing. I’m inclined to be angry with you, but I love you too much. Thanks for telling me you feel proud of me—I couldn’t hear that enough when things got dark. To Dana: when are you moving to Raleigh? You should move to Raleigh. I am so glad our family “adopted” you. You make everything better. Now go write that book. iv To Blair: for your sake, I’m excited to be done with grad school and to be moving on to a “real” job that should make it much easier for you to understand what I do. Sorry I’ve had to explain what I’ve been doing here a thousand times, but thanks for sticking with me through it. To my Raleigh family—Shara, Mark, and Pat: Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and for taking such an active interest in my journey. It’s awesome that y’all could believe in me when I hardly believed in myself. My mother would also thank you for taking care of me since she’s so far away. To Sinikka: I really could not have asked for a better advisor (or, apparently, a better editor—I am forever ashamed that you’ve seen my typos and forever grateful that, because of you, no one else has to). Whatever I end up making of myself, I am grateful that you looked out for my interests in the best ways you knew how. Thanks for not letting me fall through the cracks. Would that I could be you! To my committee—Michael Schwalbe, Brett Clark, and Karey Harwood: You hear a lot about awful committees who can’t work together—THANKS for not being one of them! You made the process as smooth as it could be and it was always reinvigorating to talk with folks who were excited about my project. To Maxine Atkinson: It is possible that no one I wasn’t related to has spoken as well of me as you have. (Jokes… I hope.) I may have been too embarrassed to respond to your flattery in a way that showed my gratitude, so let me thank you now for recognizing my skills as a teacher and for developing those skills in me in the first place. The department and undergraduates are lucky to have you. v To Marcie Mock and Carletta Smith: Relationships with you have definitely been some of the most pleasurable things along this path. Sociology is so depressing; smiling faces in the office really meant a lot to me! Carletta, I promise to stop by occasionally to drop off my People magazines. To Jenny Rasch: Thank you for sharing the YNAB gospel. Life. Changing. To fellow warriors Laura Fitzwater Gonzales, Lilly MacNell, Emily Estrada, and Josephine McKelvy (and Mark, too): Whew… I cannot imagine making it to this place without the various coffees, cookies, meals, glasses of wine, and (much needed after all that) gym classes we shared! Thanks to each and every one of you for being a safe place to say all the stuff that was really on my mind—and for your bravery in admitting you felt it, too! You da real MVPs. I leave you with only one piece of advice: listen to Katy Tiz’s “Whistle (While You Work It)” when grad school gets you down. #ItHelps To members of Occupy the City: Thanks for talking to me. I hope what I’ve written here helps us all to do better the next time… because there will be a next time. To Gwen and Antonio, Josh and Caren, and Charles: I’m inclined to bust out an “I’ve… had… the time of my liiiife… and I owe it all to you!” for y’all. Y’all are hands- down some of the best people on this planet and I am so thankful that crazy thing happened that brought us together. A million billion thank-you’s for emotional support, game nights, glasses of wine, hugs, and great big laughs. To Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson: Thanks for offering a tour when I’m reeeaaally trying to finish this diss and graduate <sarcasm>. I write these acknowledgments from a dirty, hard street in New Orleans, where I’ve been sitting for hours on end today to secure a vi spot close to the stage. Life’s hard on a Hanson fan, but without trips and concerts like these to give me something to look forward to every few months, well, life would be a lot darker.