Reminiscent of the marches and causes of the 60s and 70s, the Occupy Wall Street movement – or, alternatively, simply the ‘Occupy’ movement – has captivated the global imagination and given rise to a number of derivative movements and protests. With the original movement now rather close to defunct, Occupy has catapulted the frustration of a generation and the hatred of greed into the worldwide spotlight, and is not likely to be forgotten any time soon.
The Occupy movement was originally conceived by a Canadian organisation known as Adbusters. Repulsed what they saw as the commercialisation of the nation and the greed of what they referred to ‘the 1%’, they called for a full-scale ‘occupation’ of Wall Street - the centre of the stock market for North America – starting September 17th, 2011. This occupation did indeed take place, with droves of protesters of all ages flooding into Zuccotti Park, armed with tents, placard, portable kitchens and generators. The protests quickly gained momentum, and the number of participants increased in a sharp manner.
Though the original protests started off as a thoroughly grass roots movement, it soon caught on with a vengeance. First, the movement spread to other U.S. cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia. They, unfortunately, did not have the success of the New York event, and the Philadelphia chapter came to a head with some rather violent altercations between the police and the protesters. The movement even caught on overseas, cropping up in such diverse cities as Dublin, London and Buenos Aires.
The movement has created a good deal of public interest worldwide, and has been both criticised and complimented. Many activists have spoken out in favour and support of the movement – including, somewhat surprisingly, the Vatican – and the political backlash for this movement is yet to be determined.