Generation Occupy

May 31, 2021
Journalist and novelist Levitin (Disposable Man) examines in this abundant yet inconclusive study the influence of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests on subsequent social uprisings and progressive causes. A cofounding editor of the Occupied Wall Street Journal, Levitin contends that the movement galvanized a generation of activists and upended top-down models of civil disobedience. He situates the occupation of Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park within the context of the contemporaneous Arab Spring uprisings, documents Occupiers’ harnessing of social media to spread their message through “meme-ready slogans and sound bites,” and talks with participants about their reasons for joining the protests. Some of the activists and journalists Levitin interviews suggest that Occupy’s “polarizing tone” and leaderless structure contributed to its collapse, while others see the movement as a successful precursor to Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and the rise of Bernie Sanders. Levitin includes colorful vignettes of his time at the protests, and offers fresh insights on union workers’ participation and the Rolling Jubilee campaign to abolish student debt. But many of Occupy’s biggest contradictions, including the question of whether its lack of organization was an essential ingredient or a handicap, are left unresolved. Still, this is a noteworthy contribution to the discussion over why Occupy Wall Street happened, and what it meant.