UK Occupy Everywhere Newswire Archive
St. Andrews in Tent City Occupation
11-10-2011 06:04
St. Andrews students are in occupation against the recent fee increase for Rest Of UK students. The cost of a degree at St. Andrews now stands at £36,000 which makes our University the most exspensive in the UK. Anti cuts activists and autonomous supporters have started a tent-city occupation to demonstrate against this University's policy.OCCUPY Protesters Unfocused? My Ass!
10-10-2011 15:19
Pics: Block the Bill + Occupy London Assembly
09-10-2011 14:55
During the Block the Bridge, Block the Bill NHS action an assembly with hundreds of people participating was held to discuss the wave of occupations that have been occuring worldwide, and to talk about plans to occupy the london stock exchange on Oct 15th. Many people were also talking about the student protests planned for 9th November and the strikes on 30th November.
See http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/block-the-bridge-block-the-bill
Anarchist reportback and critique from Occupy Portland
09-10-2011 10:43
We attended the opening march for Occupy Portland because we are some angry-ass proles who really hate capitalism. Although Occupy Wall Street (and the various off-shoot occupations) have few official defined goals or positions, there is a general opposition to "corporate greed" and "corrupt politics". As anarchists, we seek to expose and destroy the roots of these problems - as long as capitalism and the state exist, there will be greedy corporations and corrupt politicians. Capitalism and the state cannot be reformed into something kinder, gentler, or more humane, it is exploitative by nature. We wished to push the discourse at Occupy Portland in a more radical, explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-state direction. So we attended the Occupy Portland opening march in full team colors with a big banner that read "NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP (A) NEVER GONNA LET YOU DOWN." Hey, we do have a sense of humor.
Beyond ninety-nine-percentism: Not being frightened of ‘revolution’
09-10-2011 08:18
One notable feature of Occupy Wall Street is its participants’ lack of hesitation in using the term ‘revolution’. Here comes the revolution! This is the first step of the revolution! Get up, get down, the revolution is in this town! You won’t stop our revolution! etcetera, etcetera. Distinguishing from these assertions of a revolution that has arrived, what does it really mean to envisage a revolution? And why should revolutionaries fear to act as well as talk, camp, and march?
Dear Occupiers: A Letter from Anarchists
09-10-2011 07:58
Starting with the occupation of a park next to Wall Street on September 17, a new movement is spreading across the country in which people gather in public spaces in protest against social inequalities. We’ll present a full analysis of this phenomenon here shortly; in the meantime, here’s an open letter to the occupation movement, engaging with some of the issues that have arisen thus far. Please forward this widely and print out versions to distribute at the “Occupy” events!
Dear Occupiers [online viewing version]
Dear Occupiers [print version]: A two-sided flier intended to be folded down the middle, longways.
Occupy LA: One Week Old and Going Strong
08-10-2011 16:55
#occupyLSX assembly at Block The Bridge
08-10-2011 14:54
Voices from #OccupyWallStreet
07-10-2011 07:54
While the slant of corporate media coverage of the Wall Street Occupation has focused on the general motivations behind the movement, often missed are the variety of personal perspectives, backgrounds and desires that brought this protest-city together. Here are some of the many voices that have combined their efforts to bring New York City the Wall Street live-in protest.
Occupy Britain - Join the 99% for positive change
06-10-2011 18:33
Here are a number of reasons why one might feel compelled to get involved in the Occupy Britain movement.
In 2008 the global recession was felt worldwide, and although the media reported ‘recovery’ there has not actually been one, in fact, what has held off the, what appears to be an inevitable global financial collapse thus far, is a process called ‘quantitive easing’ and the selling off of national institutions, such as the NHS, with job losses, redundancies, cuts to vital services, school closures, unreasonable welfare reforms, increase in the cost of living, banking institutions requiring bail outs, and the tax payer footing the bill and paying for the mistakes of others.
People are now recognising that there is a split in fairness and equality, we see bankers bonuses increasing, media tycoons controlling and withholding information that they should be reporting, in the public interest, systemic corruption of our police force, politicians and quite possibly our prime ministers, the introduction of, an ever increasing amount of legislation and statutes to further restrict our ability to speak out against them.
Occupy the London Stock Exchange
06-10-2011 12:41
Occupy the London Stock Exchange - World Revolution Day 15th OctoberThe 99 Percent Occupy Wall Street
06-10-2011 08:01
The entrapment and arrest of 700 peaceful Occupy Wall Street (OWS) activists on the Brooklyn Bridge has created a huge wave of support for their movement. The number of daytime occupants in Liberty Plaza doubled or tripled from 100 the week prior to 200-300 this past Monday and Tuesday. These people are the core who maintain the occupation of the plaza, making it possible for several hundreds and sometimes thousands to hold rallies in the late afternoon and participate in the open mic speakouts and General Assembly meetings in the evening.
Occupy Wall Street: A Reply to Skeptics
05-10-2011 16:12
On September 27th Lauren Ellis published an essay in Mother Jones Magazine entitled “Is #OccupyWallStreet Working?”
The essay argues that Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is not working because the movement has no clear message and is not demographically representative of those who are affected most by the current economic problems. While Ellis does raise important points about movement-messaging and political representation, she in no way tries to understand the internal logic and outward expression of OWS.
Ellis’ conclusions center around four main points: that OWS’s “kitchen sink approach” is a form of ineffective messaging; that the media’s focus on the police brutality distracts from OWS’s main message (or lack thereof); that the hacktavist collective Anonymous inhibits the OWS movement; and that the OWS participants are the “usual suspects” of “dreamers.” In what follows, I provide counter-arguments to each of Ellis’ points as an attempt to flesh-out some of the philosophies, practices, and communicative strategies of Occupy Wall Street. I want to note that I am not seeking to attack Lauren Ellis in any way. Instead, I am trying to demonstrate why her arguments—representative of many like-minded skeptics—are insufficiently substantiated.
'Occupy' Movement Scares US Ruling Class
05-10-2011 15:02
Occupy Manchester continues into day 4
05-10-2011 08:52
Activists have been occupying Manchester for five nights now as part of the global movement of the 99%.Occupy Chicago Efforts Mark One Week, Join 130+ Other U.S. Cities
05-10-2011 07:34
It began as a call in July 2011 by the magazine Adbusters to hold powerful business interests on Wall Street to account, and drawing on inspiration from the famed 2011 grassroots protests across the Middle East. But the mantle has been taken up by grassroots activists in New York City to forge an ongoing occupation outside of Wall Street and throughout New York City. The effort in its first two weeks has spurred a national movement with sibling efforts in at least 130 other cities, including Chicago.
Occupy Chicago, merely a week old, has already drawn hundreds of grassroots protesters, who "march…each day…After an hour long general assembly meeting, demonstrators headed through the financial district, Millennium Park, the Magnificent Mile and back to base camp to once more spread messages of solidarity, positivity and persistence in the face of a political system that’s left 99% of Americans without a real voice in governance…While it may be young and still trying to get organized, the movement to Occupy America is growing and cohering. And though many went home after Saturday’s march, more than a hundred stayed to continue organizing and evangelizing, with no plans to leave until they feel their job is done."
UPDATE: Occupy Chicago threatened by Chicago police to stop.
Additional Coverage: Lessons Learned from Occupy Wall Street | Five Things that Occupy Wall Street Did Right | Occupy Chicago Entering Day 6 | Protestors Occupy Chicago in Solidarity with Occupy Wall St NY | An American Spring is Possible | Open Letter to Occupy Chicago.
Outside Resources: Think Progress; NY Times' Andrew Ross Sorking Sneers at Occupy Wall Street | Protests Work Better with Specific Demands | Occupy Wall Street Makes Its Own Media.
Social Media Resources: Tumblr | Twitter | Live Video Stream
700 Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge as Occupy Wall Street Enters Third Week
04-10-2011 08:16
Enfield votes to occupy hospital!
03-10-2011 10:55
Over 100 people met at the North East London Council of Action Conference on Saturday 1st October 2011 and voted unanimously to occupy Chase Farm Hospital if planned closure goes ahead. Will TSG vans be commandered and turned into something useful, like ambulances??
The government plans to close many District General Hospitals around London, especially to scrap their A&E, Maternity and Paediatric units.
The meeting hall was near to Chase Farm hospital and speakers were frequently drowned out by the noise of blue-light ambulances taking patients to A&E.
I hadn't been involved in the Chase Farm campaign before and was really impressed by the group gathered there, young and old and and very friendly to newcomers. It was inspiring to see an elderly lady take the microphone and declare passionately how she was prepared to occupy the hospital, and how it belonged to them as residents of Enfield.
Visteon workers were also present to lend advice about occupations.
It was also striking to feel a real sense of community built around the presence of a local hospital, something that is often hard to find in England.
The group has been campaigning for the last 4 years against their hospital being closed. David Cameron and a local Tory MP had even made a shameless election pledge to reverse Labour's plan for closing Chase Farm. People at the meeting expressed a real sense of betrayal and dissolutionment with Parliamentary democracy. The meeting had an authoritarian socialist leaning, and there was no doubt that the State would support the Health Service if enough pressure was applied. One pensioner talked angrily about how all the political parties couln't be trusted. Then she asked what the alternative was - a few people muttered about a worker's government, but they didn't sound very convinced themselves. Still, people were certain that you had to have a government of sorts.
I want to know more about anarchist style alternatives to health care. If there is no National Health Service, supported by the Welfare State, how would an Autonomous Health Service work instead? If Enfield residents do occupy their hospital, it could be an interesting time to discuss anachist ideas about health care, in a situation where the local community have taken over a state-run hospital and are confronting the State. What will occupiers do if the State refuses to continue funding Chase Farm Hospital? How do you organise Social Welfare without the Welfare State?
The Council of Action are planning a large demonstration for December 10th. They reckon the government could try to close Chase Farm in January. They have been holding monthly pickets already and want a big picket on October 18th and another sometime in November. After the march in December they plan daily picketts to draw more attention and prepare for occupation.
Full article | 2 additions | 4 comments
Manchester Occupied
02-10-2011 23:28
