<nettime> Peter Marcuse on Occupy Wall Street

["Patrice Riemens" <patrice@xs4all.nl>]

bwo INURA list/ PM

Friends,

I've written a piece on the Occupy Wall Street movement which may be of
interest.:

"Occupy Wall Street: For What, For Whom, Where, Why?"

It makes 4 points:

1.Occupy Wall Street doesn't make specific demands. Understandably.
There is a difference between immediate demands and claims of rights,
and the Occupy movement is about targeting claims of rights.

2.This is not only for strategic reasons -- it's not their role -- but
also on principle; its supporters don't want to get into the game, they
want to change its unfair rules.

3.They do not seek consensus but understand the inevitably of conflict.
They wish to stand with the 99% and recognize that this means losses for
the 1%,but not losses that would seriously impinge on their needs.

4.The space they have chosen to organize their protest is not classic
public space, but space in the heart of the territory in which the
activities and forces they target operate. It is both a physically and a
symbolically well-chosen space for their purpose.

I've added

5.A short reflection on what I saw and felt at the march to Zuccotti
Park on March 5, and

6.A somewhat flip comparison between the Occupy Wall Street movement and
several others, from the tea party to the reform Democrats to the fringe
cultural conservatives, hinting that they are all reacting to much the
same basic insecurity/discontent.

The whole text is four pages, and I've put it on my blog (although
unsure, given the rapid advance of communications technology, whether
that's the best way to do it?) . In any event, it's at

http://pmarcuse.wordpress.com.

Peter Marcuse

-- 
Peter Marcuse
Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning
School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Columbia University
New York, N.Y. 10027



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