“I have been waiting for this to happen my whole life– for a new social movement that has the power to change everything.” – Judy Rebick
The Occupy movement has become a global phenomenon. The movement calls for a massive overhaul of our current economic system, the redistribution of wealth into the hands of the people, lso known as the 99 per cent. Since the movement began on Sept. 17, 2011 in New York, demonstrations have occurred in over 100 U.S. cities and over 1500 cities globally. The media’s view on the movement has varied. The protesters themselves have been depicted as both heroes and villains, peaceful and violent.
The current economic recession has caused fiscal havoc, and has had a direct effect on the global economy. The popular uprisings that occurred in Tunisia and Egypt are said to have been the inspiration for the Occupy uprising, which according to Occupy Wall Steet aims to “fight back against the richest one per cent of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.”
This past week Dr. Diana Taylor and Judy Rebick visited the University of Guelph in order to share their insights on Occupy. Taylor is a professor of Performance Studies at NYU, and director of the hemispheric institute of performance and politics, a group bringing together academics and activists to talk about the innovative ways that political movements bring social justice to the world’s attention. Rebick is a renowned Canadian journalist, activist, feminist and founder of rabble.ca. These two women are both mass supporters of Occupy.
Taylor visited the University of Guelph Jan. 18, and ran a seminar to share her experiences and opinions on Occupy. She explained that she was part of the movement in its preliminary stages and describes the movement as a symbol of the power of performance. Protesters living in “tent cities, with shared things (food, bathroom etc), enacts a different vision of the world, one that is more democratic”. This lifestyle “becomes a very loud visible claim of a different way of doing things.”
Taylor points to two key aspects of the movement that makes it unique: it is leaderless and without demands. The fact that it is leaderless places the power in every citizen’s hands. The reason that it is considered without demands is because it is “much broader than any demand” and it is hard to make a list of set goals because it is “not going to get to the heart in the vast income disparity gap,” explains Dr. Taylor. Why has occupy garnered such a massive reaction?
“The 99 per cent idea is applicable around the world,” said Taylor. “When you see young white middle class men affected, you are going to have an uprising.”
Rebick, the wildly popular Canadian Journalist and alternative media icon spoke Jan. 19 in War Memorial Hall to a room filled with engrossed students. Rebick is close to publishing a book on Occupy.
“I have been waiting for this to happen my whole life– for a new social movement that has the power to change everything,” said Rebick.
So how does Occupy affect us as students?
“Young people don’t have the same opportunities any more,” said Rebick. “Students have ridiculous debt and there is not the same amount of available jobs.”
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