Seven functions of the movement from Peter Marcuse
A confrontation function, “taking the struggle to the enemy’s territory, confronting, potentially disrupting, the operations at the center of the problem.”
A symbolic function which registers a collective and “deeply felt unhappiness about things as they are and the direction in which they are going.”
An educational function, “provoking questioning, exploration, juxtaposition of differing viewpoints and issues, seeking clarification and sources of commonality within difference.”
A glue function, “creating a community of trust and commitment to the pursuit of common goals; [providing] a way of coming together in a community for those who are deeply affected and concerned.”
An umbrella function, “creating a space … in which quite disparate groups can work together in pursuit of ultimately consistent and mutually reinforcing goals … a political umbrella, an organizing base for an ongoing alliance, not just a temporary coalition, of the deprived and discontented.”
An activation function, “inspiring others to greater militancy and sharper focus on common goals and specific demands … providing space for … cross discussions among supporting groups and interests, organizing … events in support of … reforms that [suggests] Occupy’s own ultimate goals of change.”
A model function, “showing, by its internal organization and methods of proceeding, that an alternative form of democracy is possible.”
Via – Peter Marcuse @ THE PURPOSE OF THE OCCUPATION MOVEMENT AND THE DANGER OF FETISHIZING SPACE through Occupy Colleges Now: Students as the New Public Intellectuals
