Sarah Mills
Occupy Wall Street, a protest movement against corporate greed and social and economic inequality which began in September 2011, continues to grow and inspire occupations across the world. The original occupation in New York describes itself as a “leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%”. The claiming of space, whether St Paul’s Cathedral in London or in Madrid Square, has been central to the identity and nature of the demonstrations. Furthermore, the role of social media and digital communications remains vital in organising and documenting the protests. The complex geographies and demographics of the occupy movement are still unravelling and emerging, with mainstream media only recently focusing on events.
In their commentary in The Geographical Journal published online last week, Peter Hopkins, Liz Todd and Newcastle Occupation document the occupation at Newcastle University, UK that took place during November-December 2010 in response to government spending cuts and increased tuition fees. Here, the authors discuss characteristics of the Newcastle Occupation (the claiming of space, alternative governance structure, cyberspace and social media) that are currently being played out in different contexts through this month’s global occupations. This article gives an important insight into one example of occupation and the actions of students involved in the process and politics of protest.
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Read the latest news on the global Occupy movement via The Guardian website
Follow the latest on Occupy Wall Street / Occupy London / We are the 99% campaign
Geography Directions 