The Occupy Wall Street Movement

Great Essays
Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson’s collaboration, The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism, and Todd Gitlin’s book, Occupy Nation, examine the formation and workings of two politically dichotomous social movements, the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy Wall Street Movement respectively. Both books profile each social movement profoundly and conduct rigorous research before making their respective conclusions about the causes and effects of each social movement. I found both books to be exquisitely-written and very insightful into the two movements. What made Skopcol and Williamson’s book so interesting was their field research and characterization of the Tea Party leadership. I much enjoyed their conversations at different …show more content…
His book examines the frustrations of the ninety-nine percent and their bonding together against the one percent social elites. It continues by assessing the structure (or lack thereof) of the Occupy Movement. Finally, the book explicates the consequences of the Occupy Movement and whether it can be successful in reducing the social class divide or by inspiring new social movements. Holistically speaking, this organization worked well for each book, because it allowed the reader to follow the narrative of each social movement in a somewhat linear fashion by chronologically explaining each social movements’ development. Additionally, the books each followed a cause and effect model which allowed the reader to draw strong conclusions about each movements’ frustrations and consequent actions. Gitlin’s book was also interesting because it provided first-person accounts and historical reference. For example, comparing Occupy’s non-violent ideals with Gandhi provided perspective and merit to the Occupy movement. Additionally, his interactions with occupiers was fascinating, as was his photo essay at the book’s …show more content…
Many experts, including Skocpol, Williamson, Joshua Green of The Atlantic, and Fox News’ Juan Williams cite Ron Paul as the Tea Party’s inspiration. According to Skocpol and Williamson, the Tea Party rose from humble beginnings, starting with local meetings after Obama was elected into the presidency. Success from such grassroots organizing led to national grassroots campaigns that garnered significant media and citizen attention. As explicated in The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism, Fox News began to actively promote Tea Party literature, candidates, and platforms. Fox News, then under the arm of Rupert Murdoch, cast many Tea Party voices including Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity to effectively communicate the rhetoric and message. Importantly, Fox News attracts substantial ratings, more than doubling any other cable news network. Evidently, elder Tea Party supporters find Fox News attractive and stock full of accurate and objective

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