occupy anthropology; a sideways look at the occupy movement
TRANSCRIPT
BA
CK
GR
OU
ND
Arab Spring Spanish Indignados Occupy Wall Street Occupy the London
Stock Exchange 1000 + occupations Different, but similar Assemblies, meetings,
direct action, occupation
of public space
Nom
ad t
hought
15 October Reimagining of public
space Shifting the climate of
debate Mimetic realization of
an ‘alternative system’
Entanglement with law
Benja
min
’s in
sight ’Every dialectically
presented historical circumstance polarizes itself and becomes a force field in which the confrontation between its fore-history and after-history is played out.’
(Arcades Project)
Benja
min
’s in
sight
St Paul’s as tent-maker What would Jesus do?
Exposing the corrupt
City of London Symbolic miniature for
the ‘bigger fight’ against global financial systems and
neoliberal capitalism
Eth
nogra
phic
co
nse
quence
Remained for 4 months
Extended existence in
people’s social imagination A ‘demonstration’ of an
alternative Public assemblies Free education
(Tent City University) Open, free kitchen Making a community
Problems; drugs, alcohol
Deco
nst
ruct
ing
capit
alis
m?
Putting “the current system” in quotation marks
(cf. Butler 1992) Rewriting history, exposing
the roots of global inequality (e.g. Graeber) Mimetically becoming an
‘other’ (Benjamin, Taussig)
Minority discourse to
subvert (cf. Deleuze & Guatarri)
Sideways move (Strathern)
Fem
inis
t in
terv
enti
on
No shared identity, but
alliances by shared interest Assemblage and
autonomy Compassion, inclusivity,
contra-neoliberal capitalism Empowerment, active
subjects Facilitation, not indoctrination
Benjaminian futures
‘History, to be written by a world stupefied at our era’s inaction on climate change, poverty and global inequality, will record that Occupy the London Stock Exchange saw the coming storm an helped sound the warning bell. History will also note that the established men and women of our age responded with dismissive scorn and references to their deluded idea of "common sense".’
(Occupied Times editorial, 1 March 2012)