Occupy Pittsburgh and the Challenges of Participatory Democracy

Abstract

Local manifestations of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) have emerged around the world with enthusiasm for the participatory style used in Zuccotti Park (New York). However, less attention has been paid to earlier lessons about the limits of these techniques for building diverse and sustainable movements. Much of the discussion in the USA ignores how OWS is connected to the long-term and global struggle against corporate-led globalization. Also, models of consensus practiced in many OWS sites have become reified to the verge of fetishization. Activists in the USA have yet to effectively incorporate many lessons from global justice activism including the need for a global analysis and strategy as well as greater sensitivity to how consensus practices can exclude people most harmed by the structures the movement opposes. This study draws from our involvement in Occupy Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) and in the US Social Forum and World Social Forum (WSF) to compare the participatory democratic practices in each setting and identify lessons about organizing broad coalitions against capitalist globalization.

Keywords:

• Occupy Wall Street
• participatory democracy
• World Social Forum
• US Social Forum
• coalitions