Occupy Wall Street

This article is about the protests in New York City. For the wider movement, see Occupy movement.

Occupy Wall Street
Part of the Occupy movement
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello with Occupy Wall Street protesters outside of the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York on October 14, 2011
DateSeptember 17 (17-09) – November 15, 2011 (2011-11-15)
Location
New York City

40°42′33″N 74°0′40″W / 40.70917°N 74.01111°W / 40.70917; -74.01111
Caused byWealth inequality, political corruption,[1] corporate influence of government
Methods
Parties
Occupy movement protesters
Number

Zuccotti Park

Other activity in NYC:

  • 700+ marchers arrested
    (crossing Brooklyn Bridge, October 1, 2011)[2]
  • 2,000+ marchers
    (march on police headquarters, October 2, 2011)[3]
  • 15,000+ marchers
    (Lower Manhattan solidarity march, October 5, 2011)[4]
  • 6,000+ marchers
    (Times Square recruitment center march, October 15, 2011)[5]
  • 50,000–100,000 marchers
    (2012 May Day march on Wall St.)[6]
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Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, and lasted for fifty-nine days—from September 17 to November 15, 2011.[7]

The motivations for Occupy Wall Street largely resulted from public distrust in the private sector during the aftermath of the Great Recession in the United States. There were many particular points of interest leading up to the Occupy movement that angered populist and left-wing groups. For instance, the 2008 bank bailouts under the George W. Bush administration utilized congressionally appropriated taxpayer funds to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which purchased toxic assets from failing banks and financial institutions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC in January 2010 allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts on independent political expenditures without government regulation. This angered many populist and left-wing groups that viewed the ruling as a way for moneyed interests to corrupt public institutions and legislative bodies, such as the United States Congress.

The protests gave rise to the wider Occupy movement in the United States and other Western countries. The Canadian anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters initiated the call for a protest.[8] The main issues raised by Occupy Wall Street were social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. The OWS slogan, "We are the 99%", refers to income and wealth inequality in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To achieve their goals, protesters acted on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasized redress through direct action over the petitioning to authorities.[9][nb 1]

The protesters were forced out of Zuccotti Park on November 15, 2011. Protesters then turned their focus to occupying banks, corporate headquarters, board meetings, foreclosed homes, college and university campuses and social media.

  1. ^ Engler, Mark (November 1, 2011). "Let's end corruption – starting with Wall Street". New Internationalist Magazine. No. 447. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference 700arrest was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arrests-BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Occupy Wall Street: protests and reaction Thursday October 6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Auto1Y-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Occupy's liberation from liberalism: the real meaning of May Day was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "OccupyWallStreet – About". The Occupy Solidarity Network, Inc. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  8. ^ Kaste, Martin. "Exploring Occupy Wall Street's 'Adbuster' Origins". NPR.org. National Public Radio. National Public Radio. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Auto1Y-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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