St. Louis march against austerity – A joyful and unruly crowd takes a building, a report from one participant
Submitted by arkface on Nov 19 2011 02:05
It should be clear that before the Occupy movement, there has always been a struggle against the rich, against the 1%, against capitalism, against whatever you want to call it. #Occupy does not occupy new terrain when it comes to struggle. It takes much of its steam from the past and we should recognize, but also, critically learn from it. There have always been those who have suffered from the onslaught of a society based on class struggle. And there have always been those who have resisted and they have a story that we can draw from.
November 17th holds as a special day internationally. It’s not just a day against austerity or just a day organized by the new #occupy movement. November 17th is also the date (in 1973) when the dictatorship in Greece was overthrown. And still in Greece, it’s pretty much a holiday.
Italy: Occupy Everywhere, Occupy Everything! November 17
Submitted by Italy Calling on Nov 17 2011 21:01
…And here we go again! Italy’s streets were put under occupation once again today, as part of the “International Student’s Day”, originally created to commemorate the students deported by the Nazi regime after a protest in Prague.
[b]Thousands of college and university students all over Italy took to the streets to protest against the progressive dismantling and privatisation of the education system and the new measures announced by the government. There were in several towns and cities, with often violent clashes with the police.
Generation Occupy
Submitted by The Free Association on Nov 17 2011 19:06
The Free Association on the occupy movement and the background of the global upswing in struggle.
It’s a year or so since we started work on our re:generation article. It took us a while to finish; we didn’t sign off on it until early January. Now the magazine Arranca is translating it into German and as part of the process they’ve asked us to write a post-script.
Comments on the '#OccupyMovement'
Jumbled, inconsistent and contradictory rant on '#Occupy'.
Obviously ‘Occupy’ represents a broad cross-section of views. These few thoughts are not meant to belittle the movement as a whole, just a few elements and trends within it. I have never been to an Occupy protest. All my knowledge of the protests is based on accounts from friends and mainstream media sources.
EDL take on #Occupy, while new light is shed on their supporters
Submitted by Django on Nov 14 2011 18:48
A couple of reports on the English Defence League that have been published by the think-tank Demos recently make for interesting reading.
The first argues that far-right populism is on the rise across Europe, pointing to the new breed of rightwing, anti-Muslim nationalism represented by the EDL, various populist groups and parties, and “lone wolf” terrorists such as mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik (whose connections with the EDL were broken [url=http://l
Italy: From the occupied Faculty of Humanities, Bologna
Submitted by Italy Calling on Nov 14 2011 17:23
Fourth year of the crisis: the Autumn of The Struggles is building up. First the huge international day of struggle on October 15 called by the Spanish indignados; then November 11, promoted by the American Occupy movement: a second, fundamental stage of the mobilisations against the elites of global finance. “Eat the rich”, “We are the 99%”, “Occupy everywhere” are some of the slogans that have echoed throughout the world.
[b]In Italy, 20 years of Berlusconi are finally coming to an end; but we are fully aware that any new government – be it technical, of national unity or the result of new elections – won’t do anything else but imposing new measures, shedding more tears and blood.
Italy: The fall of the empire
Submitted by Italy Calling on Nov 13 2011 20:22
Last night a huge crowd gathered outside the Quirinale where Berlusconi was giving his resignation to President Napolitano. Berlusconi was welcomed by shouts of “buffoon”, “mafioso” and Resistance songs.
Oakland’s Third Attempt at a General Strike
Submitted by Hieronymous on Nov 13 2011 06:13
On November 2, 2011, Occupy Oakland — coming out of the international Occupy Movement — called for a General Strike. It was the third time a General Strike was attempted in Oakland. This first-hand account analyzes the event and situates it within the rich history of class struggle in California's Bay Area.
Oakland’s Third Attempt at a General Strike
Jessica Mitford wrote:
Oakland was still at the frontier, where the issues were sharper,
the corruption cruder, the enemy more easily identifiable…
There was nothing abstract about the class struggle in Oakland.
Occupy philosophy blog
Submitted by Choccy on Nov 8 2011 19:57
Came across an OccupyPhilosophy blog run by a bunch of philosophers.
An unexpected internet detour from a philosophy of biology journal brought me to http://occupyphil.org/
"We are philosophy professors, lecturers, adjuncts, and graduate students, and we are the 99%."
Seems to vary from academic reflection, advocacy, and notices about ongoing events, though not much constructive criticism of the movement's diffuse nature.
Past to present: lessons of the New Zealand labour movement
Video of a workshop given by Jared Davidson at Occupy Christchurch on union struggles in New Zealand, and draws out lessons that could inform our future activity.
Can comment on articles and discussions