Generation Occupy: Reawakening American Democracy

"On the 10-year anniversary of the Occupy movement, Generation Occupy tells the story of how Occupy Wall Street reshaped American culture, redefining economic rights, progressive politics, and activism for a generation. The book sets the historical record straight about the movement's lasting legacy and impacts by showing how Occupy, far from a passing phenomenon, marked the start of an era of social and political transformation that reignited the labor movement, remade the Democratic Party, and birthed a new culture of protest that has put the fight for social, economic, environmental, and racial justice at the forefront. Thanks to Occupy, which created the language of the 99 versus the 1 percent, economic inequality and the corporate corruption of Washington have become widely understood, changing the way Americans see themselves and their role in the economy. Progressive priorities like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, debt-free college, higher taxes on the wealthy and a $15 minimum wage all owe early credit to the Occupy movement, which shifted the political conversation to address society's most urgent needs. Occupy Wall Street also reinvented grassroots activism, inaugurating a decade of youth-led resistance movements that have altered the social fabric, from Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock to March for Our Lives, the Global Climate Strikes and #MeToo. Generation Occupy attempts to help us understand how we got to where we are today, and to draw on lessons from Occupy in the future"--
The fight for a $15 minimum wage. Nationwide teacher strikes. Bernie Sanders’s political revolution and the rise of AOC. Black Lives Matter. #MeToo. Read how the Occupy movement helped reshape American politics, culture and the groundbreaking movements to follow. On the ten-year anniversary of the Occupy movement, Generation Occupy sets the historical record straight about the movement’s lasting impacts. Far from a passing phenomenon, Occupy Wall Street marked a new era of social and political transformation, reigniting the labor movement, remaking the Democratic Party and reviving a culture of protest that has put the fight for social, economic, environmental and racial justice at the forefront of a generation. The movement changed the way Americans see themselves and their role in the economy through the language of the 99 versus the 1 percent. But beyond that, in its demands for fairness and equality, Occupy reinvigorated grassroots activism, inaugurating a decade of youth-led resistance movements that have altered the social fabric, from Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock to March for Our Lives, the Global Climate Strikes and #MeToo. Bookended by the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, Generation Occupy attempts to help us understand how we got to where we are today and how to draw on lessons from Occupy in the future.