Who's Leading the Movement?

NO ONE! The Occupy Movement is referred to as a people's assembly. It is where people peacefully assembly and allow anyone who feels that they are attempting to contribute to the welfare of the situation may voice their opinion. Or, more simply, it is a participatory decision-making body which works towards a consensus. Within the movement there are hundreds and hundreds of assemblies that go on daily. People will post on their Twitter accounts or on Blogs or wherever else to meet up at a certain location at a certain time to vote on whatever comes to mind. These people's assemblies are what allow for Occupy Wall St. to remain a leaderless movement. 

     So how does it work? The assembly looks for the best arguments to take a decision that reflects every opinion. This is similar to a vote except for the fact that they do not consider positions at odds with each other. It is a peaceful process, respecting all opinions, however, in order for it to function correctly all prejudices and ideologies must be set aside. Rather than focusing on an ideological discussion the assembly harps on practical questions: What do we need? How Can we get it? One caveat  to the assembly is that if you are not in agreement with the decisions that have been made, you are not obligated to carry them out. The assembly attempts to create collective intelligence, shared lines of thought and action.

     This is not the first time we have seen people's assemblies in the United States. The Woman's rights/ suffrage movement instituted this style of decision making. Before women had the right to vote it was impossible for a female's voice to be heard in the public domain. However, with enough protest and noise they were able to secure legislation in their favor. Another example of this is the LBGQT movement. The open forum style of assembly/protest allowed for many of those who felt insecure about their sexuality or uncomfortable in coming out the opportunity to speak freely and express themselves fully. Even today, LBGQT rights continue to be more and more accepted, hugely in part by their ability to assemble. These two overwhelmingly successful movements set precedents in the U.S. for this style of protesting.