Occupy: A populist space of requirement
Occupy: A populist space of requirement
In October of 2011, Lowndes and Warren, speaking from the front line and in the moment, proffered that if Occupy [Wall Street] could “overcome the inevitable challenges facing those who confront extreme concentrations of economic and political power” “its model of open-source populism [had] the potential to be as transformative as prior populist movements on the left—or even more so.” Had I still defined myself as American; had I still resided there and been as caught up in the utopian energy of the moment, I might have agreed. In hindsight, from a distance and having acculturated to a more cynical British view, I do not. More than this, after consideration of the Event (and I use this term in both the Badiouian sense and the performative one) and identity of Occupy, it is my thought that far from offering a transcendental reformation of the Populist Party, Occupy exists as a psychosocial communal platform of engagement. Occupy, I argue, offers a porous public place and space for the citizenless to: gather, mourn, share anger, love, dream, be nostalgic and otherwise mend their communal psyche – and thus may enact the essential first step in reconstituting a Populist discourse, but it certainly is far from being, in and of itself, a populist discourse.
American Populism, Grassroots Opinion, Public Display, Social Activism, Political discourse
Millette, Holly-Gale
909906ff-426b-47ab-a71a-5788ea36c213
Millette, Holly-Gale
909906ff-426b-47ab-a71a-5788ea36c213
Millette, Holly-Gale
(2013)
Occupy: A populist space of requirement.
New Perspectives on American Populism Seminar Series, Institute of North American Studies, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom.
04 Oct 2013.
(Submitted)
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
In October of 2011, Lowndes and Warren, speaking from the front line and in the moment, proffered that if Occupy [Wall Street] could “overcome the inevitable challenges facing those who confront extreme concentrations of economic and political power” “its model of open-source populism [had] the potential to be as transformative as prior populist movements on the left—or even more so.” Had I still defined myself as American; had I still resided there and been as caught up in the utopian energy of the moment, I might have agreed. In hindsight, from a distance and having acculturated to a more cynical British view, I do not. More than this, after consideration of the Event (and I use this term in both the Badiouian sense and the performative one) and identity of Occupy, it is my thought that far from offering a transcendental reformation of the Populist Party, Occupy exists as a psychosocial communal platform of engagement. Occupy, I argue, offers a porous public place and space for the citizenless to: gather, mourn, share anger, love, dream, be nostalgic and otherwise mend their communal psyche – and thus may enact the essential first step in reconstituting a Populist discourse, but it certainly is far from being, in and of itself, a populist discourse.
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Submitted date: 4 October 2013
Venue - Dates:
New Perspectives on American Populism Seminar Series, Institute of North American Studies, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom, 2013-10-04 - 2013-10-04
Keywords:
American Populism, Grassroots Opinion, Public Display, Social Activism, Political discourse
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Local EPrints ID: 468004
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/468004
PURE UUID: 1d25d255-c19c-4323-b468-8c2b4c7a500a
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Date deposited: 27 Jul 2022 17:04
Last modified: 28 Jul 2022 01:46
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