The Week: Most Recent political-movements

The ho-hum May Day protests: Is the Occupy movement dead?

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:37:00 -0400

On Tuesday, Occupy Wall Street observed May Day, otherwise known as International Workers Day, with protests against income inequality and corporate greed in cities across America. Thousands of 99 percenters took to the streets, in what amounted to the group's greatest public showing since last fall, when police cleared the encampment at New York City's Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of the clamorous anti-bank movement. However, the May Day protests failed to attract the interest and media frenzy that accompanied Occupy's original demonstrations, leading some to conclude that the movement has fizzled...

Occupy Wall Street's dwindling funds: By the numbers

The Week — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:56:00 -0400

Occupy Wall Street burst onto the scene six months ago with boundless energy, railing against corporate greed and unbridled capitalism in New York City's Zuccotti Park. But it appears the group is running up against the cold hard reality of economics: With donations ebbing, the group reports that it's in dire financial straits. Here, a guide to Occupy Wall Street's shaky finances:

$737,000
Total amount Occupy Wall Street has raised since its inception six months ago

$44,828
Amount it currently has in its general fund

3
Weeks before Occupy Wall Street goes broke, according to its leaders

$20...

What happened to Occupy Wall Street? 4 talking points

The Week — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:15:00 -0500

After police in cities across the country cracked down on Occupy encampments, the movement lost the "target-rich visual environment" that attracted media organizations, says David Carr in The New York Times. But don't count the movement out yet: Occupy groups of all stripes are taking on a host of issues, from income inequality to banking regulations. Here, four ways Occupy Wall Street is trying to change the world:

1. Partying like it's 1776
An Occupy-inspired organization — the 99 Percent Declaration Working Group — plans to elect 876 "delegates" for a national assembly in Philadelphia...

Indiana's 'right to work' bill: A serious blow to Big Labor?

The Week — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:14:00 -0500

On Wednesday, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed the first "right-to-work" law in the traditionally union-heavy Rust Belt. A blow to organized labor, the law weakens unions by giving employees at unionized workplaces the option to skip out on paying dues. Unions turned out pretty heavily to oppose the bill, but a series of Republican victories in the state since 2006, and a change of heart by Daniels, paved the way to its passage. What are these laws, and what do they mean for organized labor? Here, a brief guide:

What is a "right-to-work" law?
Right-to-work laws, many of which were enacted...

'We are the 99 percent': The quote of the year?

The Week — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:37:00 -0500

The Occupy movement's rallying cry, "We are the 99 percent," has been selected by Yale University as 2011's best quote, beating out memorable phrases from the likes of Herman Cain and Steve Jobs. A deserving nod? Or an easy headline grabber? Here, a brief guide to the process:

How does Yale select the best quote?
The quotes don't have to be "the most eloquent or admirable," says John Christofferson at the Associated Press. University librarian Fred Shapiro — who has been assembling the annual "Yale Book of Quotations" since 2006 — specifies that the phrases should be "famous" and "revealing...

NYU's Occupy Wall Street class: The wisecracks

The Week — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:10:00 -0500

Occupy the classroom? Starting next fall, New York University will offer two courses centered around the Occupy Wall Street movement. One, offered through the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, will focus on the history and politics of the movement, while another will be a graduate-level seminar. The downtown Manhattan college, just a few subway stops from Zuccotti Park, will also reportedly host guest speakers who are actually occupying Wall Street. But many bloggers are snarkily doubtful that NYU's students, who shell out more than $56,000 a year to attend the college, really need a...

7 Occupy Wall Street anthems

The Week — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:11:00 -0500

Protest movements have long been accompanied by song — take the gospel music of the Civil Rights uprisings or the folk ballads of the Vietnam era. As Occupy Wall Street heads into winter, critics have begun to wonder: Where's the Occupy anthem? Here, a look at the contemporary musicians and the legendary folk stars who are stepping up to the plate with original songs inspired by the movement's message.

'Operation Robin Hood': The hacker scheme to fund Occupy

The Week — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:53:00 -0500

Two well-known hacking groups, Anonymous and Team Poison, are looking to spread some holiday cheer with a scheme called "Operation Robin Hood." The plan involves racking up fraudulent credit card charges to donate money and goods to charities and Occupy protests nationwide. Here's what you should know:

Who are these hackers?
The shadowy Anonymous hacking collective has gained notoriety for targeting everything from the Westboro Baptist Church to the Tea Party to underground child pornography rings. Team Poison — a group that has teamed with Anonymous before — recently hacked the United...

Why is Occupy Wall Street 'overwhelmingly white'?

The Week — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:47:00 -0500

Occupy Wall Street seems "like a movement that would resonate with black Americans," says Stacey Patton at The Washington Post. The unemployment rate for blacks is nearly twice that of white Americans — 15 percent versus 8 — "and blacks have a rich history of protesting injustice in the United States." And yet a recent survey suggests that African Americans, who make up 12.6 percent of the nation's population, represent just 1.6 percent of Occupy Wall Streeters. Why aren't blacks joining the anti-bank movement?

Black leaders deserve some blame: Black churches, which helped "end...

The 9 biggest Occupy controversies: A slideshow

The Week — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 09:30:00 -0500

Since its launch just over two months ago, the Occupy movement has made countless national headlines. Of course, not all of the news has been about the protesters' anti-bank message. Often, Occupy has captured our attention thanks to seedy, scandalous, or otherwise outrageous incidents. Here, nine of the movement's biggest controversies.

Did the UC Davis protesters agree to be pepper sprayed?

The Week — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:49:00 -0500

The video: The outrage kicked in immediately last week when disturbing footage surfaced of a police officer casually pepper-spraying seemingly passive and peaceful student Occupiers at the University of California, Davis. The hotly debated incident triggered an investigation and became a rallying cry for the Occupy movement. But now, a new video showing four different angles of the spraying calls into question whether the campus police's actions were as egregious as believed. (Watch it below.) In the video, an officer tells an apparent leader of the students that the protesters will be pepper-sprayed...

The 'Pepper Spray Cop' meme: Silly, offensive, or important?

The Week — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:05:00 -0500

Internet memes are typically the province of kittens and sad Keanus, but the latest isn't quite so lighthearted. Last week, Lt. John Pike was photographed blithely pepper-spraying passive protesters at the University of California, Davis, an incident that sparked outrage across the country. Now, the "Pepper Spray Cop," as he's been deemed, has been cut out of that notorious photo and is being photoshopped into everything from Edward Hopper paintings to Pink Floyd album covers to Star Wars stills, all collected on a Tumblr blog, of course. (See examples at right and below.) What can we learn from...

Police vs. Occupiers: How dangerous is pepper spray?

The Week — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:52:00 -0500

After police at UC Davis caused a national uproar by using pepper spray on peaceful student protesters, Fox News host Megyn Kelly dismissed the crowd-control weapon as "a food product, essentially." That's not quite right. How dangerous is pepper spray? Here's what you should know:

What's in pepper spray?
Pepper spray relies on varying concentrations of a compound called capsaicin — the same substance that naturally gives peppers their notorious heat, and makes "habaneros so much more formidable than the comparatively wimpy bells," says Deborah Blum at ...

Occupy Wall Street: A protest timeline

The Week — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:37:00 -0500

This article — originally published on Oct. 7 — was last updated on Nov. 21. Scroll down for the latest updates.

The Occupy Wall Street protest began in September as a small encampment of mostly young activists with mostly inscrutable objectives that were mostly ignored by the media. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the protests quickly became a subject of ridicule. But then something funny happened: Occupy Wall Street exploded into a nationwide series of demonstrations drawing support from unions and mainstream liberal groups, and earning comparisons to the powerhouse Tea Party movement...

The 'shocking' UC Davis pepper-spray outrage

The Week — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:59:00 -0500

The University of California, Davis, placed two campus police officers on leave Sunday, after they pepper sprayed protesters who were peacefully blocking a walkway in a show of support for the Occupy movement. (See the video below). The president of the University of California system said he was "appalled" by videos of the Friday incident, which went viral online. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi ordered an investigation and took "full responsibility," but resisted calls for her resignation. Was there any justification for treating the demonstrators this way?

No. This is just plain wrong...

Police vs. Occupiers: The controversial 'sound cannon' weapon

The Week — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:00:00 -0500

Riot police have begun deploying a non-lethal weapon called a long range acoustic device — LRAD, for short — against Occupy Movement protesters across the country. A controversial military device, which blasts targets with powerful sound waves capable of causing "extreme pain," the LRAD can sometimes even lead to permanent hearing loss. A tamer version of the device has been spotted during the recent evictions at New York's Zuccotti Park and Occupy Oakland's encampment. Here's what you should know:

How does it work?
LRAD systems are used by airports "to sonically deter birds...