Author Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07 discussed on Tuesday evening the Occupy movements of 2011, and its influence on social movements.
Speaking at the Kennedy School to an audience of students, staff, and local residents, Gould-Wartofsky reflected on his own experience participating in and writing about the movement, saying he believes the “moment” changed the way Americans perceive issues of class, race, and inequality.
“Occupy was not a social movement, but rather a point of unity between multiple social movements with distinct issues and interests,” Gould-Wartofsky said.
Gould-Wartofsky gave an overview of Occupy’s history and significance, applying lessons of its influence to more recent social movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Fight for $15, a campaign for a higher minimum wage. According to Gould-Wartofsky, the recent revival of income inequality in public and political discourse can be attributed to the legacy of Occupy.
“The ‘one percent’ was a language that could bring class politics back into mainstream discourse without alienating American publics in the process,” Gould-Wartofsky said, referencing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign as an example.
Gould-Wartofsky argued that the influence of Occupy translated far beyond electoral politics.
“This is going to be more than one election cycle, and this is going to have more than a diffuse impact on the individual preferences expressed on secret ballots in periodic elections,” Gould-Wartofsky said.
He also drew upon his own experience with activism as an undergraduate at Harvard.
“Before 2011, we very much saw ourselves as a militant minority, who were fighting the good fight with some of our allies, employees and workers on this campus, very much in minority spheres, and almost accepting and embracing that role,” he said.
Kennedy School lecturer Timothy P. McCarthy ’93, who moderated the discussion, emphasized the role that campus activism, at Harvard and elsewhere, can play in changing views on inequality.
Referring to Harvard closure of the gates of Harvard Yard during the Occupy Harvard movement, McCarthy said he has never seen the University react in the way it did then.
“There was something about Occupy Harvard, a little piece of this Occupy moment, that was so threatening to the institution, that it literally excluded its members,” he said.
Edward B. Childs, a chef in Adams House, attended the discussion because of his interest in Occupy’s significance. Childs is also a chief steward of the Harvard dining hall workers in the Local 26 union of hospitality workers.
“I thought it was such an important movement. It was helping develop the coalition that’s needed in this country of workers, students, and everybody that has issues going on, which is the Black community, the Latinx community, the Asian community, and it was a place where they started talking about the issues,” Childs said.Read more in News
Spring Break in Cuba Pushes for Cultural AwarenessRecommended Articles
-
Professor Meyer Arrives TodayProfessor Eduard Meyer, the German exchange professor from the University of Berlin to Harvard for the present year will arrive
-
No Headline"Nadjy" will occupy the stage at the Hollis Street until the middle of the week, when a grand final revival
-
Losing LibertyThe protestors have a right to be frustrated with the current system, but their demands reveal a profound disrespect for freedom and ignorance of the real culprits in America’s “rigged” system.
-
Out of the YardIn a bitterly ironic twist on the protesters' slogan of “taking back Harvard for the 99 percent,” their actions have truly closed off Harvard’s campus to all but a select few.
-
Students Celebrate Occupy ArtMore fifty college and community members delved into the open bar and Thai food at the “Unstable Art” discussion as they were greeted by the event’s facilitators—a various collection of Graduate School of Design students and artists.
