Smith, Jackie
(2012)
Connecting social movements and political moments: bringing movement building tools from global justice to Occupy Wall Street activism.
Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements, 4 (2).
369 - 382.
ISSN 2009-2431
Abstract
The current political moment has given birth to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and other forms of resistance around the world. How might this moment of upsurge in global protest be sustained and expanded? This paper considers how earlier movements can contribute to today’s struggles. Many contemporary activists conceptualize their struggle in local or national rather than global terms, and most have yet to fully explore the lessons and resources of earlier movements. Yet, the global justice movement and World Social Forums offer important strategic lessons and models to inform an emancipatory project that addresses the concerns of contemporary activists. Global justice movements have expressed a three-part strategy of resisting and rolling back neoliberal globalization, articulating alternatives to globalized capitalism, and working to build collective power. While OWS has helped spark new activism around the work of resisting economic globalization and (in a more limited way) articulating alternatives to capitalism, in many places it has been less attentive to the long-range work of movement-building. Efforts by OWS activists to connect with and build upon these earlier streams of organizing work can strengthen momentum for global social change.
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