Occupy, Resist, and Grow
By Guest Contributor Yvonne Yen Liu, cross-posted from Mobilizing Ideas
Marshall Ganz calls Occupy a moment, but we have a history and a future. My generation, in North America, was birthed over 12 years ago, in the streets of Seattle, when trade unionists joined with anarchists to disrupt the workings of global capital, well, in this case, the meeting of a major player, the World Trade Organization. We refused to accept capitalism as a natural way of ordering our social world; “Another World is Possible” was a popular slogan. We manifested alternatives in organizing our collective refusal. Instead of relying on institutions created under capitalism, we created our own clinics, schools, decision-making bodies, and media outlets. Some of which have formalized into counter-institutions that exist today. The global network of independent media centers and community health centers, like the Common Ground clinic in New Orleans, started after Hurricane Katrina, are our legacy.
The Millennials may find inspiration when their peer, 26-year old Mohamed Bouazizi, educated yet unable to find a good job, self-immolated himself on the steps of the Tunisian governor’s office, sparking the uprisings of the Arab Spring. Or, when 24-year old Bradley Manning, in a fit of frustration with military bureaucracy and the war abroad, uploaded confidential documents onto the Wikileaks website. What is the future of the Occupy movement? Approximately a half-year in and many camps have been violently evicted from the land on which they pitched their tents. Many of us spent this late fall awake in an overnight vigil to defend a camp or recovering from being pepper sprayed by cops when trying to setup a new one. At the time of writing this, only Occupy D.C. remains intact. But, that is not the end of Occupy.
Like seeds released into the wind, we lodged into soil, to hibernate through the winter, and to unfurl new shoots in the spring. For what Occupy has created is an opportunity for us collectively to create new subjectivities and to dream of a new world. Social theorists have long thought about the relationship between the individual and society as a dialectical one, each informing the development of the other. George Mead, for instance, wrote that social reality was an external thing that impressed itself upon and shaped a child during the process of socialization. But, the self that had ideas that challenged social norms could win acceptance by the larger group, therefore changing society.
Under capitalism, Herbert Marcuse thought, the individual lost her capacity to think critically and the desire to yearn for freedom. We lost our sense of self, subjectivity, and became objects in the process of production. All of human life was organized for the instrumental means of achieving profit for the 1%. We became mechanical producers, who worked to make a salary to enable us to passively consume mass culture and media. This one-dimensional thinking dominated culture and ideology, focused only on keeping calm and carrying on.
One outcome of Occupy can be foretold by the example of Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement or Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST). Today, 350,000 families occupy 20 million acres of land, a challenge to global capital, which has setup white picket fences around the world, cordoning off what was once the commons. MST’s flag celebrates the industry of the landless worker, represented by a couple holding aloft a machete, and their willingness to fight for land reform, with blood if necessary. This flag accompanied MST leader Janaina Stronzake, when she visited the Occupy Wall Street encampment, before it was evicted from Zuccotti Park. “Occupation was a time to grow,” she told the assembly, “To grow education, empowerment, and food community.” The crowd echoed after her, amplifying Janaina’s words using the human microphone, “Occupy, Resist, and Grow!”
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