What are Occupiers really fighting for. Editor’s Note: Dr. Maha Hosain Aziz is a Professor of Politics (adjunct) in the Master’s Program at New York University, a Senior Analyst at geopolitical consultancy Wikistrat and an Asia Insight Columnist for Bloomberg Businessweek. By Maha Hosain Aziz – Special to CNN Occupy Wall Street has been about more than just corporate greed and income inequality. Occupy protesters around the globe may not realize it but, at various points in the past six months, many have been fighting for the same cause as the peasant communities of rural Vietnam during the 1930s - the moral economy. Theorists have typically used moral economy rhetoric to explain rural movements where protesters felt their basic right to subsistence was being threatened. In the case of Vietnam, the onset of colonial capitalism in the Great Depression contributed to a food crisis for peasant farmers, prompting significant protests.
Today, a similar “contract” has been broken between governing powers and the governed. Occupy movement plans a comeback. The attempt to re-occupy Zuccotti Park and subsequent arrests of dozens of protesters in New York over the weekend was the start of what Occupy organizers said will be a comeback for the movement this spring and summer. But some city and state governments, armed with new ordinances specifically aimed at the Occupy movement, are ready to prevent demonstrators from re-establishing encampments.
Police in New York put 74 people in handcuffs Saturday night as protesters tried to establish a foothold in the birthplace of Occupy Wall Street, a public plaza in the heart of the financial district. The move followed a week during which protesters tried to occupy several Bank of America branches in New York and more than 100 people demonstrated outside a Mitt Romney fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Cities around the country are making it more difficult for Occupy demonstrators to set up shop on public land. Tampa officials will take a similar approach around the Republican convention. Occupy Wall Street returns with 'sleepful protest' Occupy Wall Street supporters have moved their protests to sidewalks.
The Occupy Wall Street movement is ramping up its activitiesIn New York, protesters have moved to a sidewalk near the Stock ExchangeProtesters plan for May 1 to be their first large-scale demonstration of the year New York (CNN) -- In the spirit of spring rebirth, the Occupy movement is ramping up activities as warm weather blankets the country. But while the season is typified by a reawakening of life outdoors, demonstrators are using sleep to get their points across. They call it "sleepful protest. " The sleeping bags started appearing on the corner of Wall and Broad streets across from the New York Stock Exchange on April 9. Occupy organizers declared a month ago that the movement would be planning a comeback in the spring and summer. Every morning, they talk about income inequality and the role of big money in politics as commuters pass by on their way to jobs in the Financial District. "We're not afraid anymore. Cities struggle to deal with occupy movement.
NEW: "We acted proactively," the mayor of Portland, Oregon, saysPolice arrest 32 as they clear downtown Occupy Oakland campThe city will allow demonstrations at the plaza, but no more camping, officials sayCity officials across the country are raising concerns about public health and safety San Francisco (CNN) -- Police in riot gear moved into the Occupy Oakland encampment Monday, tearing down tents and arresting some protesters, the latest effort by city officials across the country to gain control over a movement that some leaders say has become a public safety and health threat.
Oakland, California, police, aided by dozens of officers from nearby jurisdictions, arrested 32 people in the effort to clear Frank Ogawa Plaza near City Hall before dawn, Interim Chief Howard Jordan said. There were no reports of injuries or complaints of abuse, he said. "The encampment became a place where we had repeated violence and this week a murder.
Occupy Wall Street protesters evicted Riot police vs. Occupy Wall Street is going nowhere without leadership. To address noise complaints, Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York have agreed to limit drumming to four hours a day. Marty Linsky says it's impressive that Occupy Wall Street has so many supportersBut he says it isn't likely to have a big impact unless it develops leadershipGoverning by consensus means agreement on watered-down, vague goals, he saysLinsky: Great movements of 1960s were narrowly focused, well organized and strategic Editor's note: Marty Linsky is co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates and has taught at Harvard's Kennedy School for over 25 years. He served as chief secretary and counselor to Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and has authored or co-authored 10 books, including "The Practice of Adaptive Leadership.
" (Harvard Business Press 2009). (CNN) -- I would not take anything away from the success of Occupy Wall Street in bringing so many people together in Lower Manhattan and elsewhere. Marty Linsky Wall Street CEO takes on 'Occupiers' Where does that leave OWS? Legal action coming to remove Occupy protest at London cathedral. NEW: "We are very disappointed," a protester outside St. Paul's says NEW: The cathedral reopens after a week-long closure with a special service City of London authorities agree on legal action to remove tent city The Occupy London activists say they intend to remain camped outside London (CNN) -- Authorities in London agreed to take court action Friday to remove anti-capitalist protesters who have spent two weeks camped outside St.
Paul's Cathedral. The City of London Corporation, which runs the capital's financial district, said it had legal grounds for action because the 200 or more tents were impacting roads in the area. Stuart Fraser, the City of London Corporation's chairman of Policy and Resources, said: "We have no problem with a peaceable 24-hour protest by people without tents -- provided the highway is fully usable -- but campsites and important highways don't mix. " He told CNN it could take three to four months for the legal process to unfold. A statement from St. Tear gas used on Occupy protesters in Oakland. One protester, a war vet, has his skull fractured by a police projectile, group saysIn Oakland, police say they fired tear gas after a crowd hit them with paint In Atlanta, demonstrators are arrested at Woodruff Park "It hurts to see America do this to people who want change," an Atlanta man says Are you there?
Share your photos and videos. (CNN) -- Authorities made a series of arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests in California and Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday, with clashes in one city that involved tear gas being used on demonstrators. Police said they fired the tear gas on protesters in Oakland, California, after the crowd threw paint and other objects at officers. Among the injured in the clash was a two-time Iraq war veteran, Scott Olsen, who sustained a skull fracture after allegedly being shot in the head with a police projectile, according to Iraq Veterans Against the War.
"I think at first it was a pretty inspiring sight," he said of the protesters. Occupy London protest grows. Why 'occupy'? It's personal. Protesters late last month, in the early days of Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, rally in downtown Manhattan Maria Cardona says Occupy Wall Street is not political or economic; it's personalShe says protesters railing against corporate greed, status quo of unfair taxationShe says GOP supports system, thwarts Obama's attempts at protection for middle classCardona: Class warfare?
Yes, and the wealthy class won. It's time to stand up for fairness Editor's note: Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist, a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton, and former communications director for the Democratic National Committee. (CNN) -- I appeared on a couple of segments on CNN this week where the topic was the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. A question raised was whether this was political. The Republican/tea party spokesperson said yes, arguing that labor unions were behind it (in fact the labor unions did not join until this week). Maria Cardona Rev. Channel protest anger into progress. Protesters have been camping out at New York's Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan for more than two weeks. Brian Flynn: Anger at economic and political failures is understandableHe says properly channeled, anger can be a force for positive changeWall Street protesters have valid complaints about the system, he saysFlynn: Americans should take responsibility and focus demands for change on D.C.
Editor's note: Brian Flynn, who blogs at www.Angry-Irish.com, is vice president of The Victims of Pan Am 103 Inc. and founder of Schlossberg:Flynn, a financial advisory firm in New York. New York (CNN) -- Remember how delusional we all were back in the '90s, when all we could talk about was the end of history and how all the world's problems seemed to be solved? The Cold War was over. The U.S. government operated with a surplus. Europe was becoming one happy union. Unemployment was low. Fast forward 10 years. Anti-war demonstrators join Wall Street protests Brian Flynn Occupy vs. the tea party?
How technology is reorganizing political protest movements. Police attempt to disperse a crowd at Occupy Portland on Sunday. Author: Protests are modeling themselves after networked, personal technologyThese movements have lots of leaders instead of one or two, Micah Sifry saysNew leadership mode is a strength and not a weakness, author argues Editor's note: Micah Sifry is co-founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, a website that examines how technology is changing politics, and the author of "WikiLeaks and the Age of Transparency. " This commentary is part of a series of "Campaign Tech" articles that will run through 2012 and explore technology's role in the presidential election. (CNN) -- A column by New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane on Sunday raised a plaintive question: "Who is Occupy Wall Street?
" In the piece, he searches desperately for the leaders behind what is today's hottest political phenomenon. A sampling of leading journalism educators that Brisbane polled, many of them former top newspaper editors, agreed.