Can Frances Fox Piven's Theory of Disruptive Power Create the Next Occupy?

[xchrom]

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/23611-can-frances-fox-pivens-theory-of-disruptive-power-create-the-next-occupy


Occupy Global, October 14, 2011. (Image: Occupy Global / Flickr)

Social movements can be fast, and they can be slow.

Mostly, the work of social change is a slow process. It involves patiently building movement institutions, cultivating leadership, organizing campaigns and leveraging power to secure small gains. If you want to see your efforts produce results, it helps to have a long-term commitment.

And yet, sometimes things move more quickly. Every once in a while we see outbreaks of mass protest, periods of peak activity when the accepted rules of political affairs seem to be suspended. As one sociologist writes, these are extraordinary moments when ordinary people "rise up in anger and hope, defy the rules that ordinarily govern their lives, and, by doing so, disrupt the workings of the institutions in which they are enmeshed." The impact of these uprisings can be profound. "The drama of such events, combined with the disorder that results, propels new issues to the center of political debate" and drives forward reforms as panicked "political leaders try to restore order."

These are the words of Frances Fox Piven, the 81-year-old Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. As co-author, with Richard Cloward, of the classic 1977 treatise, Poor People's Movements, Piven has made landmark contributions to the study of how people who lack both financial resources and influence in conventional politics can nevertheless create momentous revolts. Few scholars have done as much to describe how widespread disruptive action can change history, and few have offered more provocative suggestions about the times when movements — instead of crawling forward with incremental demands — can break into full sprint.

In recent years, Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring have created renewed interest in such moments of unusual activity. These uprisings have spawned discussion about how activists might provoke and guide other periods of intensive unrest, and also how these mobilizations can complement longer-term organizing. Those coming out of traditions of strategic nonviolence and "civil resistance," in particular, can find striking parallels between their methods for sparking insurgency and Piven's theory of disruptive power.

[On the Road]

1. Of All the Possible Inspirations for Successful Social Change --

gay marriage, civil rights, legalized marijuana, and more recenty minimum-wage increases -- why would anyone choose Occupy as something to build on?

[myrna minx]

2. How about the successful efforts to help the 99%

http://occupysandy.net/

Occupy Sandy: A Movement Moves to Relief
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/nyregion/where-fema-fell-short-occupy-sandy-was-there.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt
Rolling Jubilee spent $400,000 to purchase debt cheaply from banks before 'abolishing' it, freeing individuals from their bills
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/12/occupy-wall-street-activists-15m-personal-debt

Occupy Housing
http://www.shelterforce.org/article/3662/occupy_wall_street_a_new_wave_of_fair_housing_activism/