Berkeley Journal of Sociology: Understanding Occupy

This forum is designed to bring together  essays, critical commentary, and eventually research of social scientists on the Occupy Movement. As analyses and “spin” of Occupations grow, we confront the sort of public issue to which a social science response is urgently needed. Accordingly, the BJS has organized this forum addressing the underlying social, political, and economic issues surrounding Occupy and its broader implications.

Essays and Analysis

Jason Adams, Williams College, Political Science: “Occupy Time”

Emily Brissette, University of California Berkeley, Sociology: “For the Fracture of Good Order: On “Violence” at Occupy Oakland”

Craig Calhoun, New York University, Sociology: “Evicting the Public: Why has occupying public space led to such heavy-handed repression”

Mike Davis, University of California Riverside, Creative Writing: “No More Bubble Gum”

Gaston Gordillo, University of British Columbia, Anthropology: “The Human Chain as a Non-Violent Weapon”

David Graeber, Goldsmiths University of London, Anthropology: “Occupy Wall Streets Anarchist Roots”

Claude Fischer, University of California Berkeley, Sociology: “Occupy! Now What?”

Michael Hardt (Duke University, Literature) and Antonio Negri (European Graduate School): “The Fight for ‘Real Democracy’ at the Heart of Occupy Wall Street”

David Harvey, The City University of New York, Anthropology: “The Party of Wall Street Meets its Nemesis”

Chris Herring (University of California Berkeley, Sociology) and Zoltan Gluck (City University of New York, Anthropology): “The Homeless Question of Occupy”

Mike King, University of California, Santa Cruz: The Vacancies of Capitalism: Occupations and the Fulfillment of Human Needs

Kristin Lawler, College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York City, Sociology: “Fear of a Slacker Revolution: Occupy Wall Street and the cultural politics of class struggle”

George Lakoff, University of California Berkeley, Linguistics: “How Occupy Wall Street’s Moral Vision Can Beat the Disastrous Conservative Worldview”

Peter Marcuse, Columbia University, Urban Planning: “Occupy and the Provision of Public Space: The City’s Responsibilities”

Nicholas Mirzoeff, New York University, Media, Culture and Communication: “Occupy Theory”

Adrian Pabst, University of Kent, Politics: “The Resurgence of the Civic”

Francesca Polletta, University of California Irvine, Sociology: “Maybe your better off not holding hands and singing We Shall Overcome”

Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, Sociology: “The Global Street Comes to Wall Street”

Jen Schradie, University of California Berkeley, Sociology: “Why Tents Still Matter”

Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University, Government: “Why Occupy Wall Street is not the Tea Party of the Left”

Alex Vitale, Brooklyn College CUNY, Sociology: “NYPD and OWS: A Clash of Styles”

Society and Space forum on The Occupy Movement.: Short opinion essays by the journal’s editorial board.

OWS Series and Journal Issues

Theory & Event: Occupy Wall Street Supplement

Occupy the Future: Short opinion essays by Stanford faculty.

Possible Futures: A Project of the Social Science Research Council

Lectures & Speeches: Scholars @ Occupy!

Michael Burawoy & Claude Fischer on Occupy: Professors of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley.

Robert Reich @ Occupy Cal: Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley.

David Harvey @ Occupy London: Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, The City University of New York.

Manuel Castells @ Occupy London: Professor of Sociology, Open University of Catalonia & Professor of Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California.

Angela Davis @ Occupy Oakland: Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Cornel West @ Occupy Wall Street: Professor of the University in the Center for African American Studies, Princeton University.

Slavoj Zizek @ Occupy Wall Street: Global Distinguished Professor of German, New York University.

Judith Butler @ Occupy Wall Street: Professor of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley.

Helena Sheehan @ Occupy Dublin: Professor Emerita, Dublin City University.

Dispatches from Scholars in the Struggle

Zoltan Gluck, City University of New York: Dear New York, Welcome to the Student Movement

Max Frasure, Yale University: Why I got Arrested at Occupy Wall Street

Abigail Andrews, University of California Berkeley: Occupy Oakland: Continue the Discussion