CQR 'Occupy' Movement
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Res earc her Published by CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. CQ www.cqresearcher.com ‘Occupy’ Movement Does the protest against inequality have staying power? emonstrators protesting income inequality and corporate greed have taken over parks and other public places across the country in the wake of D the Occupy Wall Street protest launched in Sep - tember near New York City’s Financial District. Police have shut down many camps following mass arrests, occasional violence and heavy-handed police tactics, including in New York and Oakland, Calif. Still, while top Republicans have condemned the protesters as divisive and dangerous, some Democratic politicians have voiced sympathy for their message. The movement’s main claim — Occupy Wall Street activists demonstrate against income inequality and corporate greed on Oct. 11, that the U.S. political and economic system benefits the richest 2011, in the Upper East Side Manhattan neighborhood of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, oil tycoon David Koch and other affluent Americans. 1 percent to the detriment of the other 99 percent — has put the issue of economic fairness front and center in the presidential I race. But the Occupy movement faces a long, cold winter and a N THIS REPORT pair of daunting challenges: defining its long-term goals and form - S THE ISSUES ......................27 ing a leadership structure that can chart a sustainable course for I BACKGROUND ..................33 the protest effort. D CHRONOLOGY ..................34 E CURRENT SITUATION ..........42 CQ Researcher • Jan. 13, 2012 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ..........................43 Volume 22, Number 2 • Pages 25-52 OUTLOOK ........................45 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................49 EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ................50 ‘O CCUPY ’ M OVEMENT CQ Re search er Jan. 13, 2012 THE ISSUES OUTLOOK Volume 22, Number 2 • Can the Occupy move - New Progressive Era? MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Billitteri 27 ment reduce inequality? 45 Scholars disagree on whether [email protected] • Is Occupy good for the Occupy will spark changes. ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch Democratic Party? [email protected] • Is the Occupy move - CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin ment over? SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS [email protected] BACKGROUND Public Backs Occupy’s ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost 28 Concerns, Rejects Tactics STAFF WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel Half of Americans oppose CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sarah Glazer, Rising Militancy protest methods. 33 A depression in the 1890s Alan Greenblatt, Barbara Mantel, Jennifer Weeks sparked activism by farm - Top 1 Percent Has ers, factory workers. 29 Biggest Income Gain DESIGN /P RODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis Rich Americans’ income rose ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa Marching and nearly 300 percent. 36 Occupying FACT CHECKER: Michelle Harris War veterans demanded aid Chronology during the Great Depression. 34 Key events since 1885. Civil Rights and Tracking Occupy’s Evolution 38 Vietnam 35 The movement began in mid- Tumultuous protests September and quickly spread. An Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. marked the 1950s and ’60s. Surprising Alliance: Union VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, 36 HIGHER EDUCATION GROUP: Globalization Activists, Union Members Michele Sordi 39 “We are united in the belief Liberalized trade rules and our country needs a change.” DIRECTOR, ONLINE PUBLISHING: job outsourcing in the Todd Baldwin 1990s spurred backlash. 40 Movement Mixes Anarchy and ‘Pure’ Democracy Copyright © 2012 CQ Press, an Imprint of SAGE Pub - CURRENT SITUATION Everybody gets to talk . lications, Inc. SAGE reserves all copyright and other and talk . and talk. rights herein, unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. ‘Occupy’ Caucuses No part of this publication may be reproduced 42 43 At Issue electronically or otherwise, without prior written Activists are confronting Will the Occupy movement permission. Un au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis - President Obama and continue to affect politics? sion of SAGE copy right ed material is a violation of Republican presidential federal law car ry ing civil fines of up to $100,000. candidates. FOR FURTHER RESEARCH CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional ‘Occupy’ Elections Quarterly Inc. 42 For More Information Activists are backing Eliza - 48 CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- beth Warren’s Massachusetts Organizations to contact. free paper. Pub lished weekly, except: (March wk. 5) Senate campaign. (May wk. 4) (July wk. 1) (Aug. wks. 3, 4) (Nov. wk. Bibliography 4) and (Dec. wks. 3, 4). Published by SAGE Publica - 49 Selected sources used. ‘Occupy’ and tions, Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. 44 Anti-Semitism The Next Step Annual full-service subscriptions start at $803. For pric - Critics say the movement 50 Additional articles . ing, call 1-800-834-9020. To purchase a CQ Researcher has become an outlet for report in print or electronic format (PDF), visit www. haters. Citing CQ Researcher cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single reports start 51 Sample bibliography formats. at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals postage paid at Thousand Oaks, California, and at additional mail - ing offices . POST MAST ER: Send ad dress chang es to CQ Re search er , 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Wash ing - Cover: AFP/Getty Images/Emmanuel Dunand ton, DC 20037. 26 CQ Researcher ‘Occupy’ Movement BY PETER KATEL Obama on down to confront THE ISSUES economic inequality. “For years, people were hen hundreds of saying, ‘When are the pitch - demonstrators sud - forks going to come out? W denly app eared in When are people are going New York’s Financial District to get mad?’ But no one was last September — along with doing anything,” says Ken their tents, sleeping bags and Margolies , director of orga - drums — their “1 percent v. nizing programs at Cornell Uni - 99 percent” buzz-phrase de - versity’s Industrial Labor Rela - crying economic inequality tions School. “The Occupy caught on immediately. movement caught the imag - k c But sympathizers and crit - e ination of the country.” B ics did have some questions: n The occupiers’ message y What did the protesters want b was soon buttressed by stud - o R / to happen? What did they s ies charting substantial income e want government to do? g growth for Americans at the a m Some thought the campers I top, and relatively meager y t 5 would quickly give up and t growth for everyone else. e G disperse. / (See graph, p. 29. ) P The Occupy Wall Street ac - F Weeks after the Occupy A tivists held their ground, how - An Occupy protester in Los Angeles on Nov. 5, 2011, movement took off, the non - ever, and the movement grew urges people to move their money from large banks into partisan Congressional Budget in strength. And its objectives small banks or credit unions. “I believe that I am not Office (CBO) reported that became a little clearer. represented by the big interest groups and the big-money from 1979 to 2007 the highest- corporations, which have increasing control of our “People are coming out money and our politics,” said an activist. income 1 percent of the pop - here to voice, you know, their ulation saw after-tax household disapproval with the system income grow 277 percent. By and to voice themselves in contrast, for the 60 percent of a direct, democratic fashion,” said said at the Occupy Los Angeles site the population in the middle, incomes Patrick Bruner, a 23-year-old from at City Hall Park. Demonstrators want grew less than 40 percent. 6 Brooklyn. “It’s really refreshing for “a more equal economy,” she said. 2 The Organisation for Economic Co- people to think that they can effect Mayors of Los Angeles, New York operation and Development (OECD), change in this system that has essen - and other cities sent police to break a policy think tank for industrialized tially made it so that only 1 percent up encampments. Winter weather or nations, reported that the richest 1 per - of the population are citizens.” 1 declining political momentum did in cent of Americans took in 20 percent The New York encampment in some others, though Occupy Wash - of national income — a bigger share Zuccotti Park was the seed from ington was still going in early 2012. than in any other industrialized coun - which hundreds of Occupy move - And other Occupy groups, including try examined. 7 ments sprouted in cities, towns and the original New York movement, Meanwhile, according to a survey college campuses across the country. were still holding meetings as well, released Jan. 11, 2012, by the Pew Re - From one coast to the other, activists though not in a round-the-clock en - search Center, about two-thirds of Amer - spoke in similar tones, often with drum campment. 3 In addition, the most en - icans see “strong conflicts” between circles pounding in the background. gaged activists are meeting face-to-face rich and poor in the United States, in - “I believe that I am not represented and on the Web, and a major revival dicating the income inequality message by the big interest groups and the big of a street presence in the spring seems from Democrats and the Occupy move - money corporations, which have in - virtually certain. 4 Already, the move - ment is seeping into the national creasing control of our money and ment’s image of a country divided be - consciousness. 8 our politics,” Elise Whitaker, 21, a free - tween the “1 percent” and the “99 per - The Occupy movement signifies re - lance script editor and film director, cent” has forced politicians from President fusal to accept more of the same. www.cqresearcher.com Jan. 13, 2012 27 ‘O CCUPY ’ M OVEMENT Public Backs Occupy’s Concerns, Rejects Tactics Forty-four percent of Americans support the Occupy Wall Street movement while about half agree with the concerns the protests have raised.