Occupy Wall Street

A protest movement that began in New York City in 2011, opposing economic inequality and the influence of finance in politics. Its encampment at Zuccotti Park helped popularize the slogan “We are the 99%.”

Zuccotti Park: A privately owned public park in Manhattan where Occupy Wall Street established its central encampment in 2011. The encampment made this park the movement’s best-known site and organizing hub.
General assembly: A participatory meeting in which an assembly discusses proposals and reaches decisions collectively. Occupiers used assemblies to debate actions and coordinate without conventional leadership.
Kalle Lasn: An Estonian-Canadian activist and co-founder of Adbusters, known for campaigns against consumer culture. He helped promote the initial Wall Street occupation call through Adbusters.
We are the 99%: A slogan contrasting the majority of the population with the wealthiest one percent. Occupy made the phrase a widely recognized shorthand for economic inequality.
Tea Party movement: A conservative political movement in the United States that emerged in 2009 around limited-government and tax-cutting demands. It mobilized against government power, while Occupy focused on corporate influence and economic inequality.
Adbusters: A Canadian anti-consumerist magazine and activist group that promoted the initial call to occupy Wall Street. Its 2011 campaign helped set the date and location for the first occupation.
Consensus decision-making: A group decision process that seeks proposals members can accept or live with, rather than relying solely on majority votes. Consensus practices shaped how Occupy groups deliberated and exposed the costs of prolonged open meetings.
Micah White: An American activist and writer who co-created Adbusters’ call for the 2011 Wall Street occupation. His organizing and writing connected the magazine’s campaign to the movement’s launch.
Income inequality: The unequal distribution of income among individuals or groups within a population. The movement brought unequal wealth and income distribution into prominent public discussion.
Traditional labor union: An organized association of workers that bargains collectively with employers over wages and working conditions. Unions rely on durable membership and bargaining structures that Occupy’s decentralized model largely lacked.

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