This week, coinciding with the two-month anniversary of the emergence of Occupy London, calls have been made for a national day of creative, non-violent action to highlight economic and social injustice. Occupy Everywhere (December 15th) is an invitation for concerned citizens and communities across the UK to engage with the global dialogue on the changes and re-imaginings our society desperately requires.
The invitation comes on the heels of concerns of further instability in the markets and the continuing drive by the government to proceed with extensive cuts to public services, the perpetuation of neoliberal economic policies and corporate rule, and a blind eye-turned attitude towards the ecological devastation entailed by this agenda. In short: the same formula to have run amok in the build-up and consequent come-down of the recent global financial crisis is being re-bottled, re-branded – and sold at a higher price [rolling out at coffee shops this festive season: the Neoliberalatte!]. Occupy Everywhere may represent the latest batch of antidote attempting to remedy this poison, but this action – together with the wider initiative of the Occupy movement – is also representative of an historic and intertwined domino chain of social reform.
In the seventeenth century, it took a dissolved parliament more than a decade to reform and stand up to the tyrannical reign of King Charles I – and longer still for the ensuing civil war to see the autocratic rule of monarchs ousted from the British Isles altogether. This period of turmoil gave rise to the actions of dissenting groups, including the Levellers and the Diggers, who occupied themselves with efforts towards economic equality.
A century later, against the backdrop of the industrial revolution that would propel our society into the late modern age, the trade union movement saw those outside of the aristocracy take social reform into their own hands. Workers formed unions to stand in solidarity against injustices and exploitation. It was from this front that ‘occupy’ as terminology can find its origin – with workers’ industrial action having included moves to occupy factories to prevent lock-outs by their employers.
With the kindling of reform set down for future generations, the 20th century saw the fire of change stoked like never before: with direct action from feminists leading to the civil right to vote, the post-world war years giving rise to the welfare state and a national health service and the 1960s playing host to a plethora of social reforms, civil rights movements and revolutionary general strikes across the globe. More recently, culture jammers and activists involved in projects such as Reclaim The Streets have engaged in direct action to challenge the injustices of spectacular media and the continuing eradication of public, non-commercial space in our society.
Today, at Occupy London, less than two months since its emergence as part of the global occupy movement, participants have formed dozens of working groups, with successful results to date including direct action and union outreach; established a diverse media presence in print, broadcast and online; formed connections with other UK and global occupations; given rise to a free public civic center founded on reclaimed corporate space; played host to talks and events from a diverse range of speakers; made moves towards environmental sustainability on-site with eco-friendly power upgrades; and served a rebuttal to many critics by reaching consensus on a statement with demands for feasible moves towards economic and social reform.
Occupy Everywhere is the most recent initiative to emerge from the ever-increasing domino cascade of this movement, and from its wider historic roots, with a view to engage the so-called ‘99%’ of wider society in the dialogue of change – in the workplace, at universities and in everyday life. Occupy London invites potential participants to think creatively about the action and dialogue they could hope to engage through channels such as social media, local public spaces, schools or universities. Participants are invited to “Do something bold and make a statement, work through existing channels if you like – it’s the fact of doing something that’s important”. The initiative is a chance for all of us to engage in an historic dialogue of social and economic reform, beyond the confines of commercial, professional and spectacular space, and within the scope of an everywhere we may yet hope to occupy completely.