Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street

341 Pages·2013·3.02 MB·English

by  Mark Bray

First published by Zero Books, 2013
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Text copyright: Mark Bray 2013
ISBN: 978 1 78279 126 3
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CONTENTS
Introduction: “Conquerors on Horseback are not Many-Legged Gods”
1. Insight From Confusion: The Media and Occupy
Journalism: The Narrative Form of Capitalism
Mimicry of the Elite
Communication with the Elite
Movement as Protest, Protest as Election
2. “The Bane of Occupy Wall Street”: Anarchism and the Anarchistic
Anarchism: A (Trans)Historical Phenomenon
Capitalism
Anarchist Alternatives to Capitalism
Democracy
Liberal Libertarianism
The Racial Dynamics of Inclusion and Exclusion
The Limits of Consensus
“We don’t have demands; we are the demand”
Hidden in Plain Sight: Occupy, Anarchism, and the Media
3. Translating Anarchy
Zombies and “Anonymous Fan-Boys”
The A-Word
Rage, Zapatistas, and Anarcho-Punks with Ham Sandwiches
Layers of Occupy Media
Are We the 99%?
“You Attract More Flies with Honey”: Picking Up the Red and Black Flag
4. Why We Need a Revolution or: Beyond “Socialism in One Park”
The Electoral Question
Why Your (Non)Vote Doesn’t Matter
Direct Action
The Affinity Group
Defining Violence
Diversity of Tactics
Reflections on the Black Bloc
No Evolution without Revolution
Conclusion: “Like Ectoplasm Through a Mist”
Notes
List of OWS Organizers Interviewed
Bibliography
Dedicated to the memory of Ida Braiman
Thank-You’s
I would like to thank all of the Occupy organizers that were kind enough
to grant me their time for an interview. Without you all, this project
would have been impossible. I want to specifically send my appreciation
to Marisa Holmes, Priscilla Grim, and Sofía Gallisa for introducing me to
more fantastic people to interview. Thanks to Bill Scott for prompting
me to write about the media and Occupy. Your invitation to discuss
media issues was highly influential for the first chapter of this book.
Thank you to Zero Books for giving me the opportunity to publish my
work. And thanks to Eric R. McGregor and Jessica Lehrman for
providing many of the photos in this book.
Thank you to all of the Rutgers faculty and students who supported
OWS and my participation in the movement. Special thanks to my
advisor, Temma Kaplan, for all of her guidance and support these past
years. I also want to tip my cap to Matt Friedman for organizing OWS
informational events on campus. Big shout-outs to my friends and
comrades around the world who have been so warm and hospitable over
the past years and taught me so much about their struggles: Sofia,
Eliana, Tzissous, Vangelis, Malamas and everyone else with Alpha
Kappa, Ellison, Mario and the Madrid CNT, Keisuke Narita and the
Irregular Rhythm Asylum, Takesi and the Freeters’ Union, and Fabien
Delmotte. Special thanks to my brother Alfonso Pérez of the CIPO-RFM
in Oaxaca for teaching me so much about the indigenous struggle and
being such a great friend and comrade over the years. Special thanks to
my sister Rudy Amanda Hurtado Garcés for being such a courageous
freedom fighter. Su apasionada búsqueda de la autodeterminación y
autogestión de los pueblos ha sido una inspiración enorme.
I am deeply indebted to my dear friends and comrades Abbey
Volcano, Chris Spannos, and Harpreet K. Paul for taking the time to give
me invaluable support and feedback throughout the writing of this book.
Especially big hugs for Deric Shannon who really helped me navigate the
uncertainties of the publishing process and gave me essential moral
support.
I want to thank my wonderful Auntie Sue and Uncle Neil for their
support of Occupy Wall Street. Neil, I really appreciated the time you
took to discuss political strategy with me; it helped me reflect on some
vitally important issues. Also thanks to Joyce and Bob Herman for
visiting Liberty Square and taking the fight to the banks up in Rochester.
Big hugs for Vanessa, Gigi, and Karina for their support. Karina, I’ve
always appreciated your righteous indignation at injustice and your
comradeship at all of the demonstrations over the years.
Finally, I’ll conclude by thanking my incredible family. Mom, thank
you so much for the pride you take in everything I do. Wearing your
99% pin and standing up for us in the newspaper really meant a lot to
me. Emily, thank you for supporting my organizing and for being such a
great friend over the years. You have helped me to become a more
caring and compassionate person. Dad, thank you for always pushing me
to be an independent thinker, inculcating me with a love of reading and
writing, and making me comfortable with being the black sheep once in
a while. And to Senia, the love of my life, without you this book, and
everything else, would be unimaginable. (“It was a moment like this, do
you remember?”)
“It is often said that anarchists live in a world of dreams to come, and do not see the things
which happen today. We see them only too well, and in their true colors, and that is what makes
us carry the hatchet into the forest of prejudices that besets us.”
Pyotr Kropotkin, 1896
Introduction