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Occupy and the Evolution of Anarchist Activism

Mon, August 18, 2:30 to 4:10pm, TBA

Abstract

My paper will be based on the already published paper, “Occupy Oakland: the Question of Violence,” Socialist Register 2013, and on further interviews with young anarchists in the Bay Area and New York City. The leading role of anarchists in Occupy brought media attention to the extensive influence of anarchism among young radical activists in the US. In fact Occupy was the third instance, in recent years, of a movement in which anarchism has been the dominant influence: the first was the anti-nuclear direct action movement of the late seventies/early eighties, the second the so-called anti-globalization movement set in motion by the Seattle protest of 1999. In each of these movements anarchists have conceived of radical politics as revolving around the creation of utopian, egalitarian communities of protest; in each instance anarchist activists have had difficulty formulating strategy for the movement after such communities dissolve or are dismantled by the police. Against the background of these basic points of agreement, my paper will describe the differences among the three generations of anarchist activists, and the different currents within the generations, especially within the current, Occupy, generation. I will focus on the elements of the contemporary anarchist perspective that hold out the prospect of a more strategic approach.

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