How Local Networks Shape a Global Movement: Comparing Occupy in Amsterdam and Los Angeles

Uitermark, Justus; Nicholls, Walter J.

doi:10.1080/14742837.2012.704181

Cited by 42 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Mobilizations that blur the boundaries between front and back regions (e.g. Occupy Wall Street) can reveal messy internal discord, which results in negative representations of themselves and their cause (Juris 2012;Uitermark and Nicholls 2012).…”

Section: The Dramaturgical Perspective: Frontstage/backstage Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silencing to Give Voice: Backstage Preparations in the Undocumented Youth Movement in Los Angeles

Fiorito

Nicholls

2016

Qual Sociol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Building upon intensive ethnographic research on the undocumented youth movement in Los Angeles, this paper investigates the backstage work done by the leaders and activists within a movement to create cohesive and disciplined frontstage performances. These backstage techniques and strategies are important to examine because frontstage unity is not natural or automatic. As most campaigns are made up of heterogeneous individuals, organizations and groups, frontstage coherence is something that needs to be worked upon. We show that this essential backstage work consists of 1) training activists to become disciplined frontstage performers; 2) converging the feelings of activists through emotionally intensive disciplinary techniques; and 3) managing differences and conflicts in the free spaces of the movement. This paper thus aims to encourage scholars to look under the hood of public protests and give greater weight to studying the backstage work needed to produce strong and powerful voices.Keywords Ethnography . Social movements . Emotions . Free spaces . Undocumented immigrants . Los Angeles I walk over to the South Steps of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles. There are about 25 undocumented students standing on the steps in front of City Hall. They are dressed in different bright colored caps and gowns and they are holding signs stating BWe are not criminals, we are DREAMers,^BUndocumented and Unafraid,^BEducation, not deportation,^and BWe are the future of America.^There are 10 people standing in front of the steps looking at the DREAMers performing the mock graduation ceremony.

show abstract

Section: The Dramaturgical Perspective: Frontstage/backstage Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silencing to Give Voice: Backstage Preparations in the Undocumented Youth Movement in Los Angeles

Fiorito

Nicholls

2016

Qual Sociol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By contrast, only a limited number of comparative studies on Occupy have been carried out (Ancelovici 2012;Razsa and Kurnik 2012;Tejerina and Perugorría 2012;Uitermark and Nicholls 2012). These studies highlighted, among other things, the movements' capacity to build strong links with existing local activist networks in the countries under investigation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

The 2011Indignés/Occupy Movements in France and Ireland: An Analysis of the Causes of Weak Mobilisations

Chabanet¹,

Royall²

2014

Modern & Contemporary France

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In 2011 Occupy movements were set up in France and in Ireland but aside from some initial displays of mobilisation, the movements enjoyed very limited success. Some commentators wondered why there was such a difference between the level of protest in these countries compared to what was taking place in others such as Greece and Spain. The authors argue that the reasons for the weak level of mobilisation in France and in Ireland are related to the cumulative effects of external and internal factors. In terms of external factors, the movements received very weak political support in both countries. In addition, the contrasting effect of the economic crisis and especially the fact that a significant proportion of the better-educated French youth were less unemployed or socially excluded than in most other European countries-notably Ireland-help to account for the movement's weakness, in France at least. Internal factors also played a key role. In France as in Ireland, the movements were profoundly varied and sociologically divided. Activists were unable to agree on clear and unambiguous policies and guidelines and they defended with vigour autonomous modes of action that quickly isolated them. In the end, the accumulation of these handicaps did not allow the mobilisations to develop.Si certaines mobilisations d'Indignés ou d'Occupy ont émergé en France et Irlande en 2011, elles n'ont rassemblé qu'un nombre limité de personnes, ce qui contraste avec le succès que le mouvement a pu connaître au même moment dans d'autres pays, notamment en Grèce ou en Espagne. Cette faiblesse relative s'explique par une pluralité de facteurs endogènes et exogènes à la protestation. Sur un plan externe, dans les deux pays, les appuis politiques ont manqué à ceux qui ont tenté d'organiser et de développer la mobilisation. Par ailleurs, en France, le système de protection sociale a considérablement amorti les effets de la crise économique, atténuant du coup les motifs de mécontentement,

show abstract

“…In many respects we can apply a Foucauldian lens to these pluralities, and through the use of a Foucauldian interpretation of the relationship between power and resistance we can argue that 'for Foucault resistance occurs everywhere a power relation exists' (Worth, 2013: 39). If we understand the dispersal patterns of power to be complex -that is, that oppressive uses of power are not one-dimensional but acted out in multifarious forms -then we should understand that rather than a united singular homogenous resistance we are faced with 'a plurality of resistances, each of them a special case' (Foucault, 1998(Foucault, [1979:96 cited in Worth, 2013: 96) that is shaped by both global and local contexts (Uitermark and Nicholls, 2012).…”

Section: Recognition Privilege Diversity and Finding Commonalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Harms and Crimes

Sollund¹

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How Local Networks Shape a Global Movement: Comparing Occupy in Amsterdam and Los Angeles

Cited by 42 publications

References 7 publications

Silencing to Give Voice: Backstage Preparations in the Undocumented Youth Movement in Los Angeles

Silencing to Give Voice: Backstage Preparations in the Undocumented Youth Movement in Los Angeles

The 2011Indignés/Occupy Movements in France and Ireland: An Analysis of the Causes of Weak Mobilisations

Green Harms and Crimes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About