Introduction
Societies undergo transformation in order to adjust to prevailing circumstances. Throughout the history of humankind, social movements have emerged to advance the cause of social justice, good governance, and improvement of the human race. Dating back to the era of slavery, social movements have proactively engaged in protests to end human suffering and plight. Some of these movements have been successful while others have failed dead on their track. The most recent social movement in the United States is the Occupy Wall Street. This paper will extrapolate on the origin and objectives of the movement. It will also review other social movements by delving into what other scholars have established.
Research Question and Thesis
America is replete with social movements that failed. Proponents of such movements have employed extremist stance and methods to advance their cause. A good example is the anti-abortion movement. The social movement seeks to bar abortion irrespective of the circumstances surrounding it. Their primary ideology is religious fundamentalism and they have thus failed to capture the imagination of religion moderates and non-believers. The mass movement employs peaceful means such as sermons and picketing. It also deploys violent and disruptive tactics like attacking doctors suspected to carry out abortion and torching down their premises. The movement has failed to concretize its ideals to a political party in order to codify it as a national movement.
Occupy Wall Street began in 2011 as a protest against the government’s financial policy and the apparent greed of financial institutions. Kalle and Micah, among the pioneer founders, felt that the government was playing into the hands of corporations to come up with policies that benefitted only a small percent of U.S population (Gessen 54). While the rich swim in opulence, the majority poor live on the fringes with little participation in the social and economic life. Greedy and corrupt corporations pressure the government to enact laws that shield a rich minority and jeopardize lives of the majority. The protestors thus engaged in direct actions to force the government to be responsive to the needs of the majority. Through the slogan “We are the 99%” (Van 43), the group literally occupied Wall Street demanding that the government address the social inequalities, reform financial institutions, and enact laws to cushion the most vulnerable.
OWS premises on the disconnect that exists between the minority rich and the majority that are trying to make it in life. Capitalism, as a political economy, has failed to drive majority to the American dream. Its dysfunctional nature has led to a situation in which more resources are controlled by a few. This has led to exasperation, especially with the arrogance of the rich view. Schechter asserts that this ignorance is manifest in attitude and pronouncements that deride the youth as ignorant and incapable of making it in life. The rich view Occupy Wall Street as unenforceable, just as the majorities who are not wealthy view capitalism as irredeemably dehumanizing and hence impossible.
The current world order is dysfunctional to the extent that it deprives the majority to ‘spoil’ a minority. The increasing disenchantment towards capitalism is a product of world order that has lost “self-confidence, automatic legitimacy, and now the field is open” (Welty 54). This explains why OWS is receiving more funding from the middle class, most of who would ordinarily be working harder to join the few in the higher echelons. The group has been able to organize itself in a manner that encourages participation of all in the assembly. The government, in spite of categorizing OWS as peaceful movement, still spies on its activities. This is testament to the fact that even the government has conceded that the current political economy is a recipe for social unrest (McMillan 43).
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is similar to many other social movements that have existed in America. The social movements emanate from a marginalized, disenfranchised, and disgruntled section of the population. This paper will elucidate other social movements that have existed in America. It will evaluate whether the movements achieved their objectives and account for it. The paper will demonstrate that just like previous social movements, Occupy Wall Street is replete with structural and ideological incoherence that risks jeopardizing the achievement of its objectives. It will seek to answer why some movements fail and others succeed. This is a pilot study and it will seek to envision the next phase that will be more detailed and empirical.
What prospect and promises does OWS portend to social and economic stability of America? Will it fizzle out or will it live up to its ideals? Will America replace capitalism with a more equitable political economy? These are the research questions that this paper will attempt to respond. Pundits have argued that capitalism is no longer sustainable as the political economy of the world. This paper will demonstrate that social unrest like the Occupy Wall Street are the harbinger to the crumbling of capitalism. In its place, a system in which all people will have a say in the affairs of governance, not just through election, will prevail. Such a future however will require well coordinated social response that what OWS movement is offering. To do so, the paper will review two books and one article. This will help to show the reasons for success of social movements in America. The paper will compare and contrast how previous movements lobbied for change. It will show what OWS can learn from the success and failures of past movements.
Every time the youths have clamored for more opportunities, the response from capital owners is that the youths are lazy and want every thing on a silver platter. There lacks structured mechanisms to engage the government meaningful on how cooperation can make youths feel valued. The youths have thus resorted to protests and demonstrations, most of which degenerate into violence. This is because most governments react by unleashing police forces to disperse demonstrators. This paper argues that a dissatisfied and marginalized youth is a recipe for more social unrest. The government, rather than defend the rich, should come down and engage the youths on how to move forward together.
Annotated Bibliography
Van, Gelder S. This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2011. Print.
The book captures the various social movements that have transpired in America. It delves into the American Social Movement culminated in the abolition of slave trade. In the period leading to abolition, America was torn in the middle with the northern industrialized states leading abolitionists’ activities. The Southern states were recalcitrant because slaves were a source of labor for their large farms. The Northern states used various strategies to make their activities successful. Some of their methods were peaceful while others were violent. They would organize peaceful marches and give powerful speeches on the need to treat all humans as equal. In other instances, they would violently free slaves and sometimes attack slave owners. They also lobbied the government to enact and enforce anti-slavery legislations.
The movement suffered setback when congress embraced aloofness and left the matter to state governments to deliberate and decide. This was tantamount to setting the Northern states on a warpath with their Southern counterparts. The war eventually happened with the intended consequences. The war ushered a period of proper democracy where people espoused and embraced democracy. Equality, a major tenet of democracy, emerged as the preferred ideology. The federal government outlawed slavery and abolitionist got their way. The success of the movement is a pointer that with coherent ideology, persistent protest, and firm convictions accompanied by action, will eventually triumph. America seized the moment to concretizes democratic ideals and codify the fundamentals of equality in political parties.
Welty, Emily. Occupying Political Science: The Occupy Wall Street Movement from New York to the World. , 2013. Print.
The book goes back to the 1930s when there were concerns that the government had neglected the elderly members of the society. This age group was becoming increasingly vulnerable especially with the aftermath of the Great Depression. The increasing number of retirees with no medical cover meant that many people were not only uninsured but also food insecure. The aged found voice in their numbers and got the backing of a political party. This movement won sympathy of a majority of Americans and became one of the biggest forces to reckon with.
The success of AARP is a consequence of their tactics and persistence. The old retirees recognized the strength in their numbers and the benefits of lobbying the political class. Any candidate who aspired for political position made the agenda of AARP his own. In effect, the movement circumvented existing legislations and became an instrument to articulate issue of the elderly. AARP has evolved to a strong association with an ever-increasing membership. This makes it easier for it to negotiate with government and lobby legislators. The book also investigates the marginalization of women and political disfranchisement. History is replete with courageous women who have fought tirelessly to enjoy equal rights and determine their destiny through the ballot. The increase in the number of educated women and improved participation elsewhere in the world emboldened women in America to demand for universal suffrage. Their activities were through educating fellow women, protest marches, and active lobbying of legislators and civil societies. Their first victory was the enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment. They would later engage in hunger strikes to mobilize the nation around their ideas.
Elizabeth Cobbett and Randall Germain ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and IPE:
Insights and Implications1, Journal of Critical Globalization Studies, Issue 5, 2012. Print.
In this article, Elizabeth and Randall argue that Occupy Wall Street is not just an American phenomenon. The movement dates back to riots over food in parts of Africa and Asia. In parts of Europe, Greece has been unstable just like continental Spain where unemployment is on the rise. However, OWS is not a spontaneous reaction to a capricious action by the United States federal government. Capitalism, the economic model America has adopted, is riddled with systematic and inherent social and economic inequality. As early as the 1980s, citizens were expressing exasperation with capitalism in England and United States. ‘Stop the City’ protests were aimed at attacking an intransigent minority that controlled all means of production. The bottom line is a majority of citizens distrust the government’s willingness to take measures that ensure that the poor feel heard and valued.
The article attributes the emergence of OWS to “declining legitimacy of the institutions most clearly linked to the current organization of world order” (4). The irony of OWS emergence in the world’s financial power is not lost on him. One would expect that the sophisticated financial machinery in the United States would translate to a fluid blend between theory and practice. While those in the upper echelons are making more, those in the lower economic citadels are grappling with necessities. To exacerbate the situation, financial corporations have held the government hostage and arm-twisted it to enact and pass favorable policies. The apparent disconnect with the middle and lower class has elicited mistrust. The government’s commitment to serve all equally has repeatedly come under sharp scrutiny. The simmering revolt by the underclass, as the article by Elizabeth and Randall point out, is a “condition of development and is open to new conceptions or interpretations of existing circumstances” (54).
Phase 2 of Research
Jackson admits that Occupy Wall Street has not received desired academic attention (76). There is therefore little empirical and qualitative based research to ascertain whether the movement stands a chance of achieving its objectives. Rather than dismiss the action of the protestors, I would use the resources and time to delve into evidence based research. This is informed by several reasons. The most recent is the Tahrir square protests in Egypt that have sent two regimes out of power. The Arab Spring revolution is a protest by the underclass against political economies that keep a majority on the periphery. The other reason is the manner in which the Arab Spring happened in Tunisia. An exasperated and jobless university graduate set himself ablaze, triggering a revolution that swept the regime out of power. With the rising joblessness in United States, it is foolhardy to wait for such an occurrence while History offers the lessons.
The first empirical data would be to establish the demographic of the protestors who take part in OWS activities. The hypothesis is that minority groups occupy the periphery of America’s political economy. Populations such as blacks and other minorities are thus more likely to be attracted to the social movement. The second hypothesis is that a majority of the demonstrators are young people. Other minorities such as Muslims would join the protest to express their general disaffection with America’s foreign policy especially racial profiling. I would also seek to establish OWS financial capabilities and political affiliations.
To get objective data, I will use questionnaire and interviews. I will also rely on data from the US General Social Services to get the relationship between income levels and happiness. The hypothesis is that unhappy people are easily persuaded to join causes that lead to social unrest. From the interviews and questionnaire, I will seek to establish respondents’ views on the current political economy. I will pursue the same train of thought and ask for possible solutions. I will ask respondents to state whether they are living the American dream and if no, why. I will correlate this data with information available from the General Social Survey and establish the connection between race, age, and contentment (or discontent) with the current political economy. With the modest budget, I will cover as many states as the money will allow. This will give a better perspective of the general feelings on political economy in United States.
Conclusion
The future of OWS lies in its ability to mobilize people, lobby legislators, and increase membership in order to get a political voice. The high unemployment and despondency especially among the young people provides the right base to consolidate a social movement. OCS can learn from the predecessor of its kind that lack of strategy and tactics will only lead to failure. They should also shun radicalization in order to appeal to the conservatives and wealthy people. Rather than appear as they are precipitating a class conflict, OCS can win the moral argument by lobbying from the wealthy. This way, they will build consensus around an ideology rather than fundamentalism.
In spite of being a social movement against the government, OWS has won sympathy from US president, Barrack Obama. This is testimony that its ideals are appealing. It however needs to develop more coherence in ideology and reach out to those who matters most. OWS can concretize its ideologies into a political party and hence get a better platform to articulate their grievances and achieve change.
Works Cited
Elizabeth Cobbett and Randall Germain ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and IPE:
Insights and Implications1, Journal of Critical Globalization Studies, Issue 5, 2012. Print.
Gessen, Keith. Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America. London: Verso, 2012. Print.
Gitlin, Todd. Occupy Nation: The Roots, the Spirit, and the Promise of Occupy Wall Street. New York: itbooks, 2012. Internet resource.
Jackson, J T. R. Occupy World Street: A Global Roadmap for Radical Economic and Political Reform. White River Junction, Vt: Chelsea Green Pub, 2012. Print.
McMillan, Stephanie. The Beginning of the American Fall: A Comics Journalist Inside the Occupy Wall Street Movement. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2012. Internet resource.
Van, Gelder S. This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2011. Print.
Welty, Emily. Occupying Political Science: The Occupy Wall Street Movement from New York to the World. , 2013. Print.
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