Occupy Movement

Formed in opposition to global inequality, the Occupy Movement advanced social and economic justice and propelled new forms of democracy. The movement is leaderless, horizontal, multiple, and vast. With many different local groups, the movement had many goals, but generally focused on large corporations’ corruption which disproportionately benefited the notorious “1%.” The 2011 Occupy Wall Street action was the movement’s first protest to receive widespread attention. Beginning as a protest in New York City in September, it spread to over 950 cities across eighty-two countries by October of that year. The anarchist principles and structures of the Arab Spring, the Iranian Green Movement, and the Spanish Indignados Movement inspired Occupy. In October 2011, Los Angeles City Council became one of the first governmental bodies in the US to adopt a resolution indirectly stating their support of the movement. Occupy commonly uses the slogan “We are the 99%” and #Occupy.