Preoccupied With Occupation: A Habermasian Attempt to Resolve A Movement’s Concurrent Commitment to Prefigurative Political Ideal and Effective Protest Center

8/2/2019 Preoccupied With Occupation: A Habermasian Attempt to Resolve A Movements Concurrent Commitment to Prefig

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Writte or Itro to Civic Meia, CMS., MI Ceter or Civic MeiaSasha Costaza-Schock,

Proessor.

Te use o meme here is meat to coote images o a social heomeo whose artiacts stories,vieos, auio, hotograhs, slogas, a more are asse arou rom withi the meia as well as

rom iiviual to iiviual.

Note that, ue to the isarate ature o the Occu movemet, there is o ocial maiesto or

habook to reerece. Tus, I use the website o the rst rotest o Wall Street, htt://www.

occuwallstreet.org/ or geeral iormatio about the movemet, combie with rst erso

iterviews a accouts rom meia sources.

Tat the Occu movemet has bee a oular toic amog the meia

a olie social etworks is ueiable. (Holcomb) Sice its rst

orgaize rotest o Setember , i New York Cit, the movemet

to call attetio to ecoomic a social ijustices i the eveloe worl

has trasitioe rom beig ollowe b a iche auiece ue rimaril

to its origis withi the mis o the eitors o the ati-caitalist magazie,Abusters to ull-o meme. Geerall seakig, the Occu movemet

(sometimes calle Occu Wall Street or OWS) reers to a global rotest

agaist the ecoomic a social ijustices cause b what its members believe

to be caitalisms ower over govermet a the iiviual a ower

which the movemet osits has lea to a severel skewe istributio o

wealth throughout the eveloe worl. Te movemets rotests are ru via

horizotal orgaizatio, govere b cosesus rocesses: ecisios are

preoccupiedwithoccupation

A Habermasian Attempt to Resolve A Movements

Concurrent Commitment to Pregurative Political Ideal

and Efective Protest Center

by Gabi Schafzin

December 23, 2011


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Geeral assembl, as ee b Occu Bostos Cosesus Process ocumet, reers to a time a

lace or Occu Bosto aoucemets a roosals. It is oe to aoe a is govere b

cosesus rocess roosals are mae a asse via broa agreemet, ha sigals are use to

iicate various oits o rocess, a a team o at least 11 acilitators esure the rocess is execute

as reviousl agree uo. For more, see: htt://bit.l/tsBIoE (OccuBosto Google Documet)

mae at geeral assembl meetigs via reetermie methos that are

esige to esure broa agreemet across the grou. A while each

geograhic occuatio or social actio shares a geeral theme (reresetig

the % o the oulatio who are aecte b the aoremetioe uair

istributio o wealth), there is o ocial bo which govers each oe as a

collective. (OccuWallSt.org)As it grows, though, it raises several questios: what are the tes o

struggles ealt with b this horizotall govere, cosesus base sstem

o emocrac? A urther, what are the was to resolve these struggles,

all the while takig ito accout the re-gurative ature o the movemet,

the ethos o the grou, the ressures it eels rom local a atioal

govermet a meia, a the imlicatios o the cosesus sstem itsel?

I the ollowig sectios I will ote a umber o struggles, highlightig

oe which I believe to be o rimar risk to the success o the movemet as

a whole. I will the reset a ramework or resolutio o this issue base

o Jrge Habermas theor o the ublic shere as well as o the work otwo o his cotemoraries. Fiall, I will make a argumet or what I

believe to be the best solutio to this issue, takig ito accout the rocesses

suggeste b Habermas, et al. Troughout, I will reiorce m assertio

that the Occu movemets strog ocus o hsical ecammet acts as

a weakeig actor i its eectiveess as both moel societ a olitical

movemet a weakeig that ca a must be resolve b rillig ow

to a share ormative assumtio which iorms the rotests ouatio.


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Tere ha bee geeral assemblies that took lace o the Bosto Commo urig the as leaig u

to Setember 0, but those are geerall cosiere to be re-occuatio laig meetigs.

Isire b the citize urisigs i Egt, uisia, a elsewhere i the

Mile East urig the Arab Srig o , the Occu movemet was

coceive b the eitors oAdbusters, a magazie create b a sel-escribe

etwork o culture jammers a creatives workig to chage the wa

iormatio fows, the wa cororatios wiel ower, a the wa meaigis rouce i our societ. (Abusters) O Jul 3, a email was set to

Adbusterssubscribers with a grahic eaturig a balleria acig o to

o the Chargig Bull sculture o Wall Street, the wors Occu Wall

Street. Brig tet. uer it, with istructios to gather o Setember

at the sculture i lower Mahatta. Tis email ha bee recee b

oe i earl Jue which ote that America ees its ow ahrir, reerrig

to the cetral rotest locatio o the Egtia urisig i earl .

(Schwartz) Hele alog b Iteret-base romotio b the hacktivist

grou, Aomous, several hure rotestors gathere i New York

o Setember a (ater some strategic maeuverig arou the nypd)evetuall set u a ull uctioal cam i Zuccotti Park, a ew blocks

orth o the Chargig Bull. Tis cam eature tets or sleeig, a oo

service tet, a librar sace, a more. (Schwartz) Tis woul act as the

rst rotest oit or the Occu movemet, which, over the ext ew weeks,

srea to hures o cities throughout the worl. (Occuogether.org)

O the eveig o Setember 3, a grou o rotestors orgaize a geeral

assembl i Dewe Square, i Bostos acial istrict, markig the

ocial start o the Occu Bosto movemet. I wet to Dewe Square that

eveig to a ver calm et eager grou o eole workig to orgaize

the begiigs o a rotest cam. Te moo was oe o excitemet a

collaboratio. As Leae, a member o the movemet who ha ot bee

to Occu Wall Street, but who ha ollowe it olie, ut it, Oe o the

thigs that Im so amaze about is how well orgaize it is. A ou thik

Adbusters


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I a horizotall orgaize movemet, resosibilities are take o b smaller grous o iiviualscalle workig grous. Tese are amicall create a maage teams o eole who ca take o

issues such as meia relatios, saet, logistics, or eve social haeigs withi the movemet. For a

ull list o Occu Bostos workig grous, see: htt://wiki.occubosto.org/wiki/Workig_Grous

Te iiviuals iterviewe urig this articular visit o October requeste aomit.

I Community and Organization in the New Let, 12-1: Te Great Reusal, Breies writes o the

ati-orgaizatioal stuet movemets o the 190s, ietiig them as makig u Te New Let.

that cosesus is goig to be reall isjoite a everoe is goig to

be screamig at each other. A it hast bee like that at all, its just

bee iscussio a cosesus a ebate. (Leae)

A week later, uo returig to the cam, I ou Dewe Square covere

i tets, sigs, a eole both rotestors a observers. A kitche,

librar, iormatio esk, a meia tet ha bee erecte (amog mamore) a the excite eerg rom the rst ight seeme multilie,

erhas amlie b the eclare suort rom local labor uios, visits

rom such vaute activists as Corel West, a a strog stuet cotiget.

(Carioli) As the oulatio a ethusiasm i the cam grew, so i cocer

about the cams abilit to ut out agree uo messages that aresse

the movemet as a whole. I seakig with members o the Meia Workig

Grou, I ote their ocus o the wa the cam ha bee comig

together both logisticall a i terms o social make-u a how

this woul aect Occu Bostos message: It takes a secial ki o

erso to come out a cam i a tet a ut their etire lie o holor [this movemet], ote oe member o the grou. Cocer over

the iclusio o those outsie the cam, however, was also ote. We talk

ever ight about what the message shoul be, the same member oite

out. We ee a wa that eole ca get together virtuall a [ecie o

what that is]. (Meia Workig Grou)

A articiator movemet such as Occu is bou to ace cocers

regarig cohesive message a broa reresetatio, thus the meia

workig grou members setimet. Te movemets regurative ature

certail ecourages articiats to shie a light o these cocers. Calle

out as the heart o the ew let b Wii Breies, regurative olitics

create a sustai withi the live ractice o the movemet, relatioshis

a olitical orms that regure a embo the esire societ. (6)

Occu Wall Street orgaizer Davi Graeber uts it a bit more siml

i a iterview with Te Washington Posts Ezra Klei, Youre creatig a

visio o the sort o societ ou wat to have i miiature. (Klei)

o create this miiature societ, however, ou must have aequate

reresetatio o the tes o iiviuals rom the greater societ which

ou are trig to aect. Tis was ot the case i the Occu cams or at

geeral assemblies. Oe moth ater the rotests i New York Cit bega,


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Oe ma questio whether the movemets uocial coectios to labor uios ma violate the

claim that it wishes to avoi coectios to cetralize orgaizatios. As Graeber oits out i hisiterview with Klei, Uios were ver suortive a rovie resources but there ver ieret

orgaizatios. (Klei)

See Occu Bosto GA miutes rom 1 Oct or a examle (htt://occubosto.wikisaces.com/

le/view/GA_Miutes_Oct_1_2011_Eveig.txt) as well as UaSecers DailKos.com ost rom 19

Oct or reactio to this ro-emas setimet (htt://www.ailkos.com/stor/2011/10/19/102790/--

OccuBosto:-articulatig-a-agst)

a olie surve reveale that 6% o the Occu oulatio was mae

u o males (versus % o the geeral America oulatio). Te same

roortio, two thirs, ietie themselves as White. (Corero-Guzma)

Te resultig (a largel accurate) view that the movemet was omiate

b mile-class White me lea to members o the grou eelig alieate

(UaSecer Oct) as well as to rosective rotestors hesitatig toarticiate. Te lack o racial iversit i articular, isire the creatio o

the Peole o Color Workig Grou withi various Occu movemets,

which bega to welcome racial miorities ito the irect emocrac. (Seri)

It also lea to the ormatio o a o-shoot grou o Occu, calle

Occu Te Hoo, to orgaize social actio withi the actual commuities

i which the otherwise-exclue miorities live. (Lee & Ross)

While the critique o Occus lack o iversit iicates the movemets

iabilit to alig with a sigicat characteristic o regurative olitics

(that is, broa iclusio b a grou seekig equall broa social airess),

the criticism rom both exteral a iteral arties that the grou lacksirectio (ue to its resistace to comile a list o emas) actuall seaks

to its aligmet with its regurative ature. As Breies otes, Te term

regurative olitics is use to esigate a essetiall ati-orgaizatioal

olitics characteristic o the movemetriciall a wariess o hierarch

a cetralize orgaizatio. (6) Tis wariess a uwilligess to egage

with govermetal or other cetralize orgaizatios i orer to egotiate

a list o emas was, at rst, broal questioe b the observig meia.

I thik i ou ut ever sigle let-wig cause ito a bleer a hit ower,

this is the sluge ou get otes oe Fox Newscommetator. (Parks a

Demostratio) Tis is, however, b esig. I his iterview with Klei,

Graeber goes o to tie the regurative ature o Occu to the grous lack

o secic emas. Its a wa o juxtaosig oursel agaist these owerul,

uemocratic orces oure rotestig. I ou make emas, oure saig,

i a wa, that oure askig the eole i ower a the existig istitutios

to o somethig ieret. A oe reaso eole have bee hesitat to o

that is the see these istitutios as the roblem. (Klei) A while this

setimet oes ot alwas rig true with ever member o the Occu

movemet, the imortat asect, as Graeber otes, is that it is art o


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6

Durig the rst ew assemblies (those takig lace i the rst week o the occuatio) the ocus was

o etails o a agree uo cosesus rocess to be use goig orwar.

From earl o i the occuatio, oatios were beig collecte via the Iteret a o-site

collectio boxes. For more etails o the acial activities o the grou (as reorte b the Fiacial

Accoutabilit Workig Grou), see: htt://wiki.occubosto.org/wiki/Fiace_Workig_Grou

the movemets iscourse. What we wat is to create saces where

eole ca talk about questios like [what the movemet woul like to

accomlish]. (Klei)

Keeig the attetio both exteral a iteral o Graebers

sace to talk rove rather icult, however, as the movemet grew

beo feglig rotests. Istea, a icreasigl sigular ocuseiscourse eveloe amog the meia regarig the hsical cams

themselves. At Occu Bosto, health isectors rom the cit stoe

b to observe how oo a saitatio issues were hale. (Aear

Oct) Te Bosto Police Deartmet arreste a umber o rotesters as more

tets were itche o eighborig atches o grass. (Aear Oct) Local

ews orgaizatios calle out allegatios o thiever a vagrac. (Wege)

Various meia outlets raise questios o how the rotestors woul make

it through the witer (Aear Dec), how the woul cotiue to ee

occuiers at Dewe Square, (Fox) a what ail lie was like or those

livig i the tets. (Bosto.com)Meawhile, more a more time a attetio was set withi the

grou o the logistical cosieratios associate with a rologe

ecammet. Whereas talk o message a statemets o soliarit with

other movemets arou the worl omiate the earl geeral

assembl meetigs, as iiviuals live i close quarters or extee

erios o time a witer aroache, the ocus o assemblies chage.

Durig the week o October , earl all o the time allotte or each o

the our geeral assemblies was set iscussig issues like witerizatio

o Dewe Square a what to o with members o the cam who abuse

rugs a alcohol. Durig a iscussio o a roosal regarig a

emergec witer u, the toe became cotetious. Te ollowig is

coie irectl rom the Occu Bosto Geeral Assembl Miutes

rom October 5:

Participant 1 (the gentleman with the objection to process):When everything is going well, I dont speak up because everything isgoing well. When things arent going well I get into a ury because Iwant things xed. Ive been in a tent or weeks; I havent showered or


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Here, GA reers to those iiviuals ol visitig cam urig geeral assembl, as well as the

acilitators guiig the meetig alog.

A agree uo miimum umber o geeral articiats require or roosals to be cosiere

a/or asse.

Describe o their website as, a sace or rogressive movemet builig. (e website)

shaved or washed my hair. Tere are people on the ground whoconsider themselves the real occupiers. Tey callga the circle jerk o

pod people and they dont like you. Were laughing about it on theground, but a lot o people are pretty damn unhappy. (ga/Minutes/5)

At this same meetig the atteees agree, via cosesus rocesses (at least

5% o atteees i agreemet), to isese emergec us, but theebate a iscussio about this logistical issue, as well as the ager exresse

towars the ake occuiers b the real oes, took u eough time so

that whe the attetio ture towars other roosals, a quorum was

lost a cosesus coul ot ociall be reache o a urther matters.

Later that week, with weather coitios orcig the assembl i to borrowe

ioor sace, the time allotte towars the geeral assembl was restricte

b the hosts, ecuetro5. Te etire meetig was set iscussig a cam

saet roosal, allowig o urther iscussio o the movemets

message. (GA/Miutes/6)

As iteral eliberatios cotiue to ocus o occuatio logistics,exteral criticism o the cam itsel moute. A reviousl outwarl

suortive ress a local govermet was turig its attetio rom the

movemet to the roblems associate with livig i Dewe Square. Te

strateg o static outoor ecammets is straiig the atiece eve o

smathetic maors, wrote Herick Hertzberg i Te New Yorker a

ublicatio traitioall suortive o Occus movemet i a oiio

iece urgig the Zuccotti rotestors to begi to move o rom occuatio.

(Hertzberg) Locall, Te Boston Globe, who ha reviousl bee highlightig

the movemets ethos (Sre), ra a November eitorial criticizig the

movemet or goig to court to block Bosto Maor Meio rom evictig

them rom Dewe Square ater New York Cit Maor Bloomberg evacuate

Zuccotti Park. I the bigger icture, gettig emeshe i a courtroom battle

over ermittig regulatios woul be a uecessar setback or the

movemetit will imiish them i the rocess b osterig a image that

the rotesters care more about seizig ublic sace a battlig authorities

tha the broaer issues. (Bosto Globe) As or Meio himsel, he bega to

go o the eesive. Maors cat make ecisios o baks regulatios.

Maors cat make ecisios o scholarshis. Maors cat make ecisios

o housig. Its all ow i Washigto. Tere aimig their re at the

wrog lace. (McCoville) A sigicat trasitio was occurrig b those


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observig rom a ocus o the movemets valiit as a rotest to the

roblems associate with its cotiue ecammet.

At the same time this trasitio was occurrig, a iteral struggle

surrouig the movemets regurative ature was eveloig. Durig

a November 8 geeral assembl, acilitator Ua (as recoute o her

DailyKos.com blog ost rom the same ight) took art i a iscussiorelate to the exclusio o a allege agerous iiviual rom the

commuit, oe who ha threatee to hurt other members i the ast.

Te roosal woul have resulte i eig this ma access to Occu

Bosto resources such as oo, tet sace, clothig, etc. Tough it was clear

that ma eole were arai o this ma[a he] mae clear that he

oes ot resect aoe who sees thigs ieretl rom him a oes ot

suort the cosesus rocess% o the eole reset woul ot

suort exellig him [meaig the require 5% cosesus to exel was

ot reache]. (UaSecer Nov) Ua struggle with how her commuit

coul block, via reviousl agree uo cosesus rocess, a eort toicrease the saet o everoe withi it. Whe I iterviewe her irectl

about how the cosesus rocess ha aile her (as she ha bee threatee

b the ma irectl), she calle attetio to the struggle o the rotestors

commitmet to a regurative olitical movemet a their cocurret

eorts to buil a eective rotest. Sice we are a movemet which is

criticizig the status quo or ot atteig to the huma ees o our

citizes, there is also a setimet o ot watig to treat these eole the

same wa societ has bee treatig them. Tis has geerate a serious

tesio betwee a emergig ieal o the cam as exemlar societ a

the cam as rotest ceter. (UaSecer Email) I act, i her blog ost

she calle out a similar setimet: I ca suort the movemet to geerate

ublic ialogue about the ujust a usustaiable sstem o goverace

we have, but I caot suort this articular locatio give how it oerates

right ow. (UaSecer Nov) What Ua emostrates here is the

movemets reoccuatio with the logistical cosieratios o livig i a

ublic, outoor sace, while still makig sure to treat all who occu i

that sace with the airess a equalit sought rom societ as a whole. Tis

reoccuatio comes at the exese o the rive behi the cam itsel: the

abilit to agree uo a commuicate the olitical ethos o the rotests while

still actig as a iclusive commuit. A movemet so ocuse o horizotal

emocrac a cosesus was beig hel back b its iabilit to resolve a

struggle to subsist cocurretl as a regurative olitical utoia a a

broal reachig rotest movemet.


9/23

9

Publishe i Eglish i 199 as Te Structural rasormatio o Te Public Shere.

Tat a struggle such as this must be resolve or the sake o the rotest coul

certail be argue. Beore we are able to eal with how to get to resolutio,

however, we must gai a better uerstaig o how the Occu movemet

is uctioig oliticall. Tis requires the observatio o Occu through

the les o the hilosohies o Jrge Habermas a two o his cotemoraries.Secicall, a ivestigatio o Habermas cocet o the ublic shere,

comlemete b critiques o Habermas b Nac Fraser, a b the

hilosohies o Joh Rawls, which are, at times, cotraictor to

Habermas. Trough this aalsis, a argumet will be mae that the best

wa to heal the struggle betwee Occus rotest roots a its ocus o

ecammet is via a share ormative assumtio a Habermasia

requiremet i cosesus builig.

First ublishe i Germa i 6 as art o his Strukturwandel der

entlichkeit, Jrge Habermas cocet o a ublic shere was the

ceteriece o his 5 issertatio at the Uiversit o Frakurt. Coceiveas a lace where rivate iiviuals come together to iscuss issues o the

state, the ublic shere is mae u o reasoe citizes, cocere with the

ecisios mae b the rulig olit. (Public Shere ) Tere are our

mai assumtios to cosier whe reviewig Habermas ublic shere: a

require bracketig or susee jugemet o iequalities o status;

the existece o a sigle, uie ublic shere; the exclusio o all rivate

iscourse; a a clear istictio betwee civil societ a the state.

Discourse withi this shere oes ot irectl traslate to actios b the state

itsel. Rather, Habermas reaches a reresetative emocrac where civic

societ a the state o ot, i act, overla at all. Highl eeet uo

iorme iiviuals, Habermas ublic shere requires makig state

iormatio available to citizes through the legal guaratees o ree seech,

ree ress, a ree assembl. Evetuall, iscourse articiats use the same

photo by Grit Matthias


10/23

0

guaratees (as well as the arliametar istitutios built ito govermet)

to hol the state accoutable or its romises a actios. (Fraser )

It is the rotestors strict searatio rom state actors that so clearl reveals

shaes o Habermas ublic shere i the Occu movemet. Exercisig

their reeom o assembl a associatio, the Occuiers iscuss matters o

ublic iterest amog rivate iiviuals. For the most art, the excluethe state rom articiatig, though the uersta that it, most likel, will

be the evetual executor o a olicies erive rom the movemet.

Aitioall, Occuiers are ot exlicitl itereste i electoral olitics at

least, ot i the ame o Occu. (Obejas) All the while, the work to

etermie a commo oiio o the ublic via cosesus rocesses. Tese

are all characteristics o the ublic shere as Habermas escribes it. (Public

Shere -5)

Iee, there are acets o the eviromet surrouig Occu which

rereset what Habermas calls out as the trasormatio o this shere.

Secicall, the existece o a highl commercialize ress hurts the ublics(both withi Occu a exteral to it) abilit to be roerl iorme.

Istea o a ieal o a jouralism o covictio, toas ublic shere is

iorme b oe o commerce. (Public Shere 8) Te movemets

themselves make a eort to work agaist this trasormatio b ublishig

their ow, ieeet ews sources or istace, Te Occupy Wall

Street Journali Zuccotti Park a Te Boston Occupieri Dewe Square.

(Bosto Occuier)

Tis trasormatio o the ress over the ast ew ceturies is a mai ocus

or Habermas i reasoig wh his cocet o the historical ublic shere

was ever realize. Nac Fraser argues that it was ot siml urealize,

rather it was a urealistic ieal altogether. I her essa, Rethikig

the Public Shere: A Cotributio to the Critique o Actuall Existig

Democrac, Fraser resets a comrehesive criticism o the iealism o

Habermas origial theor. B challegig his our mai assumtios, she

evetuall oits out the ee or a uate, ost-bourgeois cocetio

o the ublic shere. (6) I cosierig this recotextualize ublic

shere oe that takes margialize iiviuals a realize results urther

ito accout tha Habermas the les through which Occu is

isecte reocuses slightl.

Whe Fraser criticizes Habermas or his mislace aith i the ecac

o bracketig, she oits to a umber o revisioists who brig attetio to

the margializatio o wome a members o the lebeia classes [which]

revet[s] them rom articiatig as eers i his bourgeois shere. Paire

with her assertio that there is more tha just oe uie shere rather,


11/23

It shoul be ote that the margialize i this case woul most likel be isqualie rom iscourse

b Habermas, as their emeaor a reasoig iicates their iabilit to articiate i ratioal

seech acts. Tis is resolve b the act that other iiviuals withi the cam, resumabl ratioal,

have reresete them i cosesus eliberatios.

there are ma cometig ublics Fraser osits that articiator arit is

ossible whe the margialize are cosiere ull. (65) I seakig with

Alex, a member o the Occu Bosto Meia Workig Grou, I leare o

the cocet o Progressive Stack, wherei wome a eole o color

are give riorit over others whe rearig or roosal resetatio at

geeral assembl. At the oit o this iterview (October ), the hatha much oortuit to use it, i ol because those grous, iroicall,

ot reall have roosals [to brig to geeral assembl.] (Alex) Tis

woul, most likel, isaoit Fraser, as it iicates a lack o resece o

margialize iiviuals amog the critical actors i the Occu movemet.

However, the act that the rocess to oster articiatio a work agaist

societal haicas exists woul ecourage her. Te reviousl eviece

attetio give to the margialize urig regurativel ocuse

eliberatios woul also certail aease those seekig to brig articiator

arit to the iscourse.

Frasers cocet o the ublic shere ma be urther recogize whileassessig Occus abilit to aect state legislative olic withi moths o

its icetio. Most recetl, Occu was creite with ifuecig New

York State tax law chages (Kala), as well as Uite States House a

Seate amemets roosig cororatios be strie o their

ersohoo i relatio to camaig oatios a ree seech rotectio.

(Jilai) Habermas is satise with what Fraser calls weak ublics, ublics

whose eliberative ractice cosists exclusivel i oiio-ormatio a oes

ot also ecomass ecisio-makig. Fraser, however, otes, the orce o

ublic oiio is stregthee whe a bo reresetig it is emowere

to traslate such oiio ito authoritative ecisios. Tis is recisel

what is haeig as local, state, a eeral reresetatives take o the

issues ut orth b the Occu movemet. It shoul be ote, however,

that while these issues are beig take u b the state, the are ot beig

ebate withi the govermet b Occuiers themselves. Te movemet

cotiues to rel o the reresetative emocracies i which it exists.

Frasers work is useul as guiace, as it begis to brige gas betwee

Habermas iealize shere a the realit o Occu as a use case. Joh

Rawls, through his hilosohies o ublic airess a the iscourse

through which it is ecie, woul rovie aother viewoit. I Rawls

A Teory o Justice, he outlies two riciles o justice, each beig

iscovere rom the origial ositio: a veil o igorace, behi which


12/23

Marta Sutto Weeks Proessor o Ethics i Societ, Proessor o Political Sciece, Philosoh a Lawat Staor Uiversit; Director, Program o Global Justice, Freema Sogli Istitute; Co-eitor,

Bosto Review

As McCarth otes, Rawls works through his eitio o Public i Political Liberalism, ot

A Teory o Justice.

I McCarths 1994 essa etitle Katia Costructivism a Recostructivism: Rawls a

Habermas i Dialogue.

everoe must iscuss airess a justice. () Te riciles themselves

allow iiviuals the right to equal uametal liberties beore athig,

though social iequalities ma be take ito cosieratio without

violatig those liberties. Te iequalities are resolve b makig sure those

who are most isavatage are rovie the oortuities to o as well

as ossible, give those isavatages. (Cohe & Resler) Tus, as his ormerstuet, Proessor Joshua Cohe, oits out, he woul have areciate the

Occu Wall Street movemet as oig somethigwhich is to ut that

issue o uair, ujust iequalit back ito the olitical iscussio. (Cohe

& Resler) But to uersta Rawls take o Occu as olitical case stu, its

imortat to review oe o the uace elemets o Rawls argumet a

oe which cotrasts starkl with Habermas: his eitio o ublic.

o Rawls, as Tomas McCarth oits out, ublic is istiguishe

rom oublic a rivate i a somewhat uusual wa. (5) Where

Habermas woul iclue eve reer everthig o-rivate, icluig

coee houses, churches, uiversities, a other o-govermet etitiesalogsie the govermetal ublic, Rawls istea elieates betwee the

two. Public, i the Rawlsia sese, reers to ol govermetal a quasi-

govermetal veues, icluig olitical camaigs a the act o votig.

No-govermetal cootes everthig else which is o-rivate. (McCarth

5) As such, Rawls ma have objectios to Occus use o, what he woul

cosier, o-ublic sace to execute eciel ublic iscourse. McCarth

oes oit out that Rawls rovies a excetio to this guielie or

[ersuaig] citizes to view uametal issues i a ieret light, though

this seems to lace uue restrictios o the use o ublic orums to

ress or basic structural chages. (5)

Tus, three hilosohies are resete as leses through which to

ivestigate the Occu movemet. Te rst, rom Habermas, suggests the

movemets searatio rom exlicit state actios leaves it oe to a ure

orm o iscourse withi the ublic shere. Fraser uates this assertio

b callig out the weak ature o this iealize shere istea suggestig

urther itegratio betwee the ublic shere a state. Fiall, Rawls

resets a lie-stralig versio, wherei olitical iscourse ma occur


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3

At least as, he osits, Habermas woul argue.

ol i a oliticall ocuse orum, ol breakig out uer secic

circumstaces.

I cosierig the struggle withi Occu betwee its eectiveess as a

movemet a its resosibilit as moel societ, which hilosoh will

guie us to ossible resolutio? It is imortat to kee i mi that the

above theories ier mail i the questio o where the iscourse toreach this resolutio ca occur. A Rawlsia take ma be too restrictive, as it

requires that the iscourse be raicall trasorme wheever the veue

chage[s] i relevat was, leaig to cocetual, schological, cultural,

a istitutioal roblems, accorig to McCarth. (5) Frasers take

ma be less restrictive, a woul be aroriate i the sese that it ecourages

Occus ifuece over the state. But erhas Fraser resets a ramework

too avace or alicatio to the Occu movemet i its curret state o

relative iac. Ater all, itegratio with the state as a strog ublic caot

occur whe ouatioal cosieratios such as witerizatio are omiatig

the iscourse o a movemet that coul be, i her view, aectig thesovereigt o the state. Further, Graebers isistece that the movemet

ot egage with the eole i ower a the existig istitutios

iicates a hesitatio to move to a strog shere moel. (Klei) As such,

we tur back to Habermas i search o a hilosoh relate to the actual

ractice o iscourse.


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4

Tat is, the agree uo solutio shoul ot be orce b a seech actors withi the iscourse, but

shoul surace as a result o eective commuicative seech acts.

We this hilosoh i Habermas escritio o uiversal ragmatics,

as ote i his 6 essa, etitle Distictios i Uiversal Pragmatics.

Te cocet is exae uo urther i his work, Communication

and the Evolution o Society. Dealig with the two levels o commuicatio,

itersubjectivit a states o aairs, uiversal ragmatics works to gai auerstaig o the relatioshi betwee two or more cometet actors

withi a commuicatio cotext. Te cocet relies o three mai valiit

claims, truth (a valiit built ito all seech), truthuless (that a seech

act coorms to ormative exectatios), a rightess (the veracit o the

seaker) to esure that meaig a reaso exist i this relatioshi.

(Uiversal Pragmatics) Durig a ebate betwee cometet, ratioal

actors, these uametal valiities will evetual boil the coversatio

ow to the oit that the uorce orce o the better argumet will be

accete as truth. (McCarth 5)

Cosier the aoremetioe struggle withi the movemet betwee acommitmet to regurative actios a a itetio to be a eective

rotest:

As Ua oits out, there are those withi the Occu movemet who

wat the cam to be a exemlar societ[. Te] osit that the homeless,

the metall ill, a the aicts have bee give a raw eal b societ a

that the eserve to be treate with more comassio a to be art o the

%. It is, iee air to sa that the are the th ercetile o the %.

(UaSecer Email) I orer to o this, however, rovisios must be mae

regarig, iscussios must be ocuse o, a time a eerg must be set

cosierig what it takes to iclue the margialize withi this moel

societ. Aitioall, hsical occuatio must subsist. Tus, geeral

assemblies are eicate to witerizig the cam, ebatig the ate o those

margialize iiviuals challegig the saet o the cam, a makig


15/23

5

Tat is, the 99%.

the cam sae or all o the %. Further, those who caot atte the

cam (or istace, those who o ot live i commuities ajacet to its

hsical locatio) are easil margialize as members o the movemet. All

the while, the outsie meia ocus o these challeges. Emhasis (both

withi a exteral to the cam), the, is ut o Occu as a moel or

societ as a whole.O the other ha, Ua goes o, those who wat the cam to be

rotest-cetral osit that our work is to aress the sstemic corrutio i

our societ so that we ca all atte to the ijustices oe to all margialize

eoles. Tat we cat se our eergies ocusig o a ew who are suerig

because o that sstem or we will lose the abilit to o the larger bo o

work. (UaSecer Email) Tis sie o the struggle looks beo the cam

itsel a at the basis or the origial occuatio: olitical trasormatio

that will lea to urther social trasormatio a, ossibl, greater iclusio

o isarate commuities withi societ as a whole. With a ocus o the

cam as a meas to garer attetio, the real work is ut ito gurig outthe saliet etails o what Occu seeks to accomlish, be it o a macro or

micro, atiowie or local level Graebers saces where eole ca thik

about questios ca exist, eve i ot i a secic, static locatio. Emhasis

o this sie o the ebate is ut o Occus eectiveess as broa reachig

rotest movemet.


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6

I the sese o iiviual, ot ecessaril art o a cotiuous hsical occuatio.

A commo chat amog Occuiers.

At a basic level, both sies o our ebate seek to brig to light social a

ecoomic ijustices i the eveloe worl i which the live. Te

movemet as a whole was isire b some who believe the best wa to

o this is through social actios iscrete, orgaize rotests which garer

attetio to a message b, or istace, isrutig the social harmo i asecic eighborhoo, commuit, or commercial iterest. Tese rotests

ma also take the orm o bocotts o certai roucts or comaies, or o a

foo o hoe-calls to a oliticias or comas heaquarters.

Nevertheless, the goal o the Occu movemet is to make sure the uairess

o the broal accete social a ecoomic sstems are ket i the ublics

attetio. Some withi this broaer movemet, however, see the cams

themselves as the best oortuit to brig these ijustices to light while

still racticig the tes o chage beig reache b the movemet itsel.

B showig observers that this is what emocrac looks like, the will

oit out the uair ature o caitalist societs sstems via examle: hereis how it shoul be oe eve at the exese o broaer iclusio a

movemet eectiveess. Tese rotesters are willig to sacrice the scalabilit

o a olitical movemet i orer to ocus o builig, as Ua uts it, a

exemlar societ.

What the, is the uiig orm uerlig both o these aroaches?

As I alrea ote, both sies are brigig attetio to what the believe to

be uair ractices throughout societ. Tis societ is oe i which all

Occu rotestors live (at least, rom a geeral eveloe, caitalist worl

staoit) a observe this iequalit. O ote, however, is the act that this

sese o uairess i realit, the sese that humas eserve airess is

ot somethig that has bee reset throughout huma histor. Rather, as

the elightemet ushere i the moer era, the cocet o sel-


17/23

7

Rogelio was a classmate o mie who was reset urig a iterview with members rom the

Occu Bosto Meia Workig Grou. He was art o the 200 Fast For Our Future rotest actio

i Los Ageles.

etermiatio that we, as humas, ca take actios ot rescribe b our

eual state or Go allowe humas to start seekig what is just i the

worl arou them. (Dreus & Hubert -) Drivig this search or justice

a airess is a ormative assumtio that humas wat more o what is

goo, ot what is ba whe cosierig each ecisio the make.

Because the Occu movemet is base o the [o-ormative] agreemetthat social a ecoomic equalit is a goo goal or societ as a whole, the

ocus must be lace o activel reachig this goal. However, as Te New

Yorkers Hertzberg oits out, I the ressures o hothermia, rustratio,

a correcter-tha-thou oe-umashi coverge to ush them towar more

rovocative, less mellow orms o isobeiecethe messegers will mess

u the message. (Hertzberg) Becomig mire i logistics, cam olitics,

a ghtig local govermet or a sustaie ecammet istracts rom

this goal a amages the stregth o the movemet.

Movig beo a ocus o the hsical ecammet woul also aress

the reviousl ote cocers associate with the regurative ature oOccu. I orer to rovie oortuit or eole o color or other

historicall margialize grous to gai a voice i the movemet, Occu

Te Hoo Bosto states that its missio is o brig crows rom Occu

Bosto to the Black/Latio/Cae Verea commuities o Bosto.

(Blackstoia.com) Te grou recogizes that Dewe Squares isolatio

rom those commuities is a limitatio o Occu Bostos iclusiveess.

As such, a breakig o cam woul allow broaer iclusio o these grous

withi the movemet a woul allow or a more strategicall ocuse

iscourse to take the lace o a curretl logisticall omiate oe.

O course, I uersta that there is o Occu movemet without the

cams at Zuccotti, Dewe, or a o the other occuie arks a squares

across the worl. As activist Rogelio Loez otes, Oce the meia

coverage stos, to everoe else, the movemet stoso-violet civil

isobeiece is ke to keeig the ocus (Loez) A, as Ua oits

out o DailyKos.com, I these rotests were oe-a evets, [reorters

such as Matt aibbi rom Rolling Stone] ever woul have see them.

Is it reasoable to thik someoe with a more arochial ature might take

weeks? 5 weeks? We ee to kee Occuig util weve occuie the

mis o everoe log eough or the message to break through the lietimes

o revious coitioig. (UaSecer 6 Oct). Tus we are give a

argumet o wh occuatio shoul cotiue i orer to stregthe the

broaer movemet. But there is a ierece betwee cotiuousl ressig


18/23

8

a movemets message through meia chaels a allowig our rotest to

become the realit-televisio circus that Occu was movig towars. I

the as leaig u to the sixth week o occuatio, the rotestors at Dewe

Square were usig the Bosto Police Deartmets blockig o a saitatio

sik a witerize tet rom the sace as was to attract meia attetio.

(Aear Dec; Aear Dec) Te were certail usig this attetio toillustrate the absurit or hocris o the local govermet, but were ot

guiig the iscussio towars a ocus o the broaer message o ecoomic

justice a equalit.

As I te these wors, however, Occu Bosto is havig its rst geeral

assembl sice beig sstematicall ismatle b the Bosto Police

Deartmet last ight, December . Te rotesters are usig the same tools

the alwas have to commuicate a message horizotal cosesus rive

meetigs that are broacast via the Web o witter or their wiki sace. Te

are takig this oortuit to share stories rom last ights arrest so o

roosals are beig mae. But there is also o talk at all about ot cotiuigthe movemet. Istea there is talk o where to have their uture geeral

assemblies a what social actios to take i the comig as. (@DeweGA)

Tis is remiiscet o Occu Wall Streets ost-evictio course o actio,

which iclue shuttig ow sectios o Wall Street itsel (Newma) a

orgaizig sit-is i oreclose uo homes, guarig them so that homeless

amilies coul move i. (Homa) Oe has to woer what woul have bee

iscusse i toights geeral assembl were takig lace i Dewe Square,

witer aroachig, the same iiviuals causig trouble, a the cit still

imlemetig, what the rotestors woul cosier, arbitrar coitios o

their occuatio.

I her iterview with me, Ua hesitates to choose which irectio to

suort: Occu as exemlar societ or as rotest ceter. She otes, however,

that its ok to let these tesios la out a to see where we go as a

commuit. (UaSecer Email) A regurative movemet that is also

broa reachig is a sigicatl icult realit to achieve. Te case stu

o Occu Bosto is eviece o just this. As such, I o ot attemt to orce

members o the movemet ito oe sie or aother. Rather, I have sought

to highlight how a struggle such as this ma be hale b articiats i a

asciatig movemet, oe that will surel isire urther research a

aalsis.

I a recet role o Jrge Habermas i Der Spiegel, the author oits

out that the are ot so ar aart ater all, the live-stream revolutioaries

rom Occu a the book-writig hilosoher. Its basicall a ivisio o

labor betwee aalog a igital, betwee ebate a actio. (Diez) It


19/23

9

is relativel eas to sit rom aar a observe a critique, eseciall comare

with the task o growig a rotest movemet like Occus. But whe such

a movemet reaches a iversio oe that reverberates through its members,

the meia coverig it, a the govermet whose attetio it wats it is

imortat to have guiace o how to cotiue through this obstacle. Jrge

Habermas ublic shere theor ma be iealize, as Fraser suggests. Or itma require some sulemetal cosieratios rom other hilosohers like

Joh Rawls. Nevertheless, takig a ste back a cosierig the

aalog what ormative assumtios are share amog all ratioal

actors ca rovie just that eee guiace to stregthe a citizer

through its ow iscourse.


20/23

0

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Documents

Preoccupied With Occupation: A Habermasian Attempt to Resolve A Movement’s Concurrent Commitment to Prefigurative Political Ideal and Effective Protest Center