The Arab Spring, And Neoliberal Deregulation Essay

Larry Diamond's presentation explores the question of why there are no Arab democracies in the Middle East and North Africa. He shows us the relatively stagnant levels of democratic freedoms that have been the norm in the region for the past several decades. Diamond gives us a multitude of potential explanations for the absence of a sustainable democracy.

Occupy Wall Street has been called many things including: unfocused, ungrounded, and silly. Others coin it as “America’s first internet-era movement” (Rushkoff). In quintessence, Occupy Wall Street is a series of protests and demonstrations that oppose the influence that corporate greed has on American Democracy. The protestors manipulate marches and nonviolent demonstrations to express their dissatisfaction with the state of American Politics and economy. This relates to the political science concepts of power, performance democracy, and protective democracy.

Protests are a way that many citizens have historically exercised their right to freedom of speech and as to voice their opinions on current matters in the U.S. as well as other nations. Protests help the uninformed get informed on specific issues, and try to persuade fellow citizens. What were some of the effective aspects of the protests that were portrayed in “The Matrix”, “Battle in Seattle” as well as those in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”? What were the downfalls? An effective protest is one where an advocated idea gets across to the intended audience. Peaceful protests tend to have a better outcome than those that lead to violence.

On September 17, 2011 hundreds of people began to gather in Zuccotti Park, New York which is Wall Street’s financial district under the banner “Occupy Wall Street”: these three simple words are causing an uproar in America (Engler). Additionally, these three words happen to be protesting the current status of America’s financial condition. With the economy in America being as terrible as it is, and the unemployment rate skyrocketing, it is absolutely necessary for some sort of change to occur. The Occupy Wall Street protesting is most positively a progressive step for the economic state in America and it is a step in the right direction.

What we learn from this excerpt about the protestors is that they were everyday blue collar workers that were provoked by the occupation of the British army in their colony and the crippling tax policies imposed on them. Most protestors were hardworking young men who demonstrated their aggression because of the crushing pressure of the British presence at the shipyard and ports. Another thing we learn is that the colonist on the following Friday before March 5 took their anger out and started a confrontation with British soldiers. The main reason for protest was the Stamp Act, which was a tax imposed on all paper documents and the Townshend Act, which imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. The protestors just wanted their

With Occupy Wall Street gaining headway and the country seeing greater inequality than ever, anarchists and socialists protested in the streets of Lower Manhattan’s “Corner” in a rage at the banking systems. Before the turn of the century, the feelings projected toward the financial barons of New York were all but tranquil. Because the majority of the wealth among a few happened at the expense of laborers and echoed with Americans, its result lead to terrorism (King 2011).

The Occupy New Hampshire movement stemmed from Occupy Wall Street, which began in September 2011. Tr.:16. The occupy movement generally consisted of staying in one place until the grievances of the participants are addressed. Tr.:33. Occupy Wall Street sought to address problems such as economic disparity, the growing gap between the classes, and the influence of money on politics. Tr.:13. Every Occupy movement focused on different issues and grievances, usually determined at the first general assembly. Tr.:111.

The concerns of the majority Americans have no immediate solution as the answer lies in the separated divisions in government. Political stances of Democrat, Republican and Liberal views about Occupy Wall Street have separate and distinct ideals. But, one unified front from all three is that the movement has gotten out-of-hand; caught between the freedom of speech act, and the health and safety of the public from themselves. Michael Kirby Smith, of The New York Times, commented in an article that because of the anti-Semitism displays during Occupy Wall Street, President Barak Obama and House Representative Nancy Pelosi recanted their support for the Wall Street protests. Yet, recently in an article by Mark Whittington of Yahoo News, writes that even though President Obama

“As they fathom injustice, organize to protest, craft a tactics, and engage in action, these bodies read what is happening and articulate their imaginative rebuttal. In so doing they demonstrate to themselves and all those watching that something can be done. Could this be why they are called political ‘movements’?”

The first paper I have chosen to review is called Reflections on Occupy #Everywhere: Social Media, public space and emerging logics of aggregation. The author argues that social media has changed the way protest movements such as Occupy organize and communicate with their members, allowing the movement to reach a larger audience than would otherwise be possible (Juris, 2012, para. 1). The author’s evidence is valid, and comes from qualitative observation of the growth of the Occupy movement in general, and Occupy Boston in particular. The author’s evidence is relevant to his argument, as it supports the role that social media played in the formative phases of the Occupy movement.

Discuss the structural factors which contributed to the onset of the Arab Spring in 2011. Based on what you learned about the origins of revolutions in this class, was this wave of contention inevitable?

Buechler, Steven M.. Social movements in advanced capitalism: the political economy and cultural construction of social activism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.

On a brisk September day in 2011, in the commercial district of Manhattan Island, a minute protest in Liberty Square commenced against the fiscal atrocities committed by economic establishments leading to the financial crisis and subsequent economic recession in 2007 and 2008. Over the course of the month, the movement protesting the miscarriage of justice and democracy following the economic catastrophe and the overall inequitable and unfair wealth distribution diffused to over 100 American cities as well as 1,500 cities worldwide. The revolutionary movement was named Occupy Wall Street and through occupying and protesting the symbolic location of the financial elite, Wall Street, the crusade aimed to “[revolt] against the corrosive power

In late 2010, a Tunisian named Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest against the poor economic situation in which he was living (CNN, 2011). Other Tunisians soon took the opportunity to resist their government and possible overthrow the leadership of Ben Ali. They took it as their responsibility to fight for the common good. Simple demonstration against the Tunisian government soon went ahead to an extent that Ben Ali had to leave the country. The events that followed the departures of the Tunisian president were the least expected. The revolts in Tunisia spurred citizens of other Arab nations to revolt against their governments. By the end of the years 2011, the Arab spring had claimed the presidency of three long serving presidents and

“When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right” is a quote from Victor Hugo that symbolizes the new age of human rights. Over the years, countries around the world have witnessed terrifying yet life-changing revolutions, but no one in history had expected for such a quick and sudden revolution to begin like the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring has allowed people, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, to speak out for what they believe in today. Many laws have been overturned due to the amount of pressure the people are putting on their government. One revolution started it all, and ever since then, we have realized many of the biggest protests in history, the rise and downfalls of the economy, a different side to the