Democracy

On October 13, 2011, I visited the site of Occupy Wall Street on the eve of a possible forced eviction from Liberty Plaza on the orders of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Spurred by the notice, OWS supporters formed cleaning crews and tidied up the plaza. Scott Stringer, the President of Manhattan Borough, urges that talks between the Mayor and OWS commence and he sees no need to rush the planned park clean-up.

by Pauline Moullot and Valentine Pasquesoone

Like many of you, I have been following the Occupy Wall Street movement since its inception, which is now entering its fourth week. My initial reaction on hearing of the occupation was one of caution; I assumed—and I am sure I am not alone—that this was another case of young, white, privileged college students staging a demonstration out of genuine concern, but able to do so because they knew Mom and Dad would keep putting money into their checking accounts.

On October 8, I interviewed Chris, an Occupy Wall Street supporter. In this video, Chris breaks down some of the most serious issues the so-called 99% face in an advanced capitalist economy, and some of the possible (painful) solutions to these problems. The subject matter is big, but the Movement's imagination is bigger.

On October 8, 2011, I visited the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement in Zuccotti Park, New York City. The occupiers have renamed the area in the Financial District, Liberty Plaza. In this video, you can see the wide variety of occupiers - young, old, students, labor, families, and all kinds of persuasions. The occupiers have established a unique, radical protest movement, one that provides food, medical aid, legal assistance, education, entertainment, and much more.

by Harry W.S. Lee. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.

In a prison-issued white sarong, the artist enters, blinded by a black bag over her head, stumbling her way on tiptoes, her legs trembling from hunger and fear. On the floor, she struggles to devour rice and the water through the black bag, venting out heavy gasps, punctuating with groans—a disturbing sight almost too private to be public.

On "Illegal Gatherings” and Organising

The capacity to create real and durable change in efforts at democratisation is often forged through struggle. Even in countries that would call themselves democratic and where freedom of expression and association are guaranteed constitutionally and by international commitments, demonstrations are regularly dispersed by police and security and their participants arrested, tortured, and charged under vague legislation that sometimes makes little distinction between peaceful demonstrations and riots.

BEIJING “你们会说英语吗？“(Can you all speak English?) Kevin S. Osborne, a recent graduate from Seattle University asked before joining his partner in talking about efforts to forge Sino-US partnerships to address climate change (in English). The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) club was holding one of its regular educational meetings for its members on a Friday night in a Beijing University classroom. Kevin and his partner, a Beijing University graduate student, explained to the crowd of maybe twenty people what they have done to try and get American and Chinese youth to work together.

John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Beat since 1999 for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin.