The "outraged," Anatomy of an unstructured movement
On May 15 the "outraged" Spaniards camped in the square of Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Borrowing their name to the pamphlet by Stephen Hessel, they said they were inspired by the Arab Spring to shout their rebellion against the explosion of unemployment and austerity policies implemented by the government … Since then, the challenge has been extended in the rest of Europe but also overseas. Five months after the birth of the movement in Spain, in 82 countries is that these "outraged" will show this Saturday, October 15. Zurich to New York, to Rome, Tijuana, Hong Kong and Johannesburg, calls have been launched in 951 cities worldwide.
Their message to politicians and financial elites, as can be read on the site 15october, is: "The powers that be working for the benefit of some ignoring both the will of the majority that the price human and environmental we pay. This intolerable situation has to stop. "On the site of the movement Occupy Wall Street, the tone is the same:" The thing we all have in common is that we are the 99% who will not tolerate any longer the greed and the corruption of the remaining 1%. "In Italy, the program is summarized as follows: "Occupation of public places by millions of people who do not want to pay the enormous economic and social crisis in the place of those who have caused: political power industrial, economic and financial" .
No central authority
This day of action is to cross an important milestone in the movement, which now acquires an international dimension. "It was needed to make weight against the power of financial markets that operate on a global scale," says Sophie Banasiak, "indignant" Paris.
However, there is no central body to coordinate the different actions. "If the collective Democracia Real Ya played a leading role in the initial mobilization in Spain, he does not prevail, either in the capital of the country or world, Heloise said Nez, a sociologist at the University Paris 13.Many groups are working together, but none have hegemony over the movement horizontal and egalitarian aims. There is no visible head and outraged caregivers to regularly change the voice online pay day loans. "
"If someone asks you 'who is behind it', they reply: 'I'" retorted on those who seek the organizers. The spread of a city or country to another must be spontaneous, for emulation. A process greatly facilitated by social networks, where multiple keywords are emerging, such as "yeswecamp", "# yosoy15O", "# event15oct" or "# Globalrevolution" … "I do not even know exactly who launched the idea of the October 15, recognizes Spyros, OccupyLSX supporter of the movement in London.We have seen that call for Saturday and it was inspired by the movement Occupy wall street to do the same thing here. "
Specific demands of each country
If dissatisfied with the world found common denominators, claims and complaints are divided again according to national issues. In Spain, Real Democracia Ya accent has been on the reform of the electoral law to end the two-party system as well as stopping the evictions of indebted owners. In Anglo-Saxon countries, it is mainly finance, pointed as responsible for the crisis, which is targeted. Witness the names of the movements that develop, "Occupy Wall Street" and "Occupy London Stock Exchange (OccupyLSX)." In Israel, the mobilization is the expensive housing while in Italy, the outraged refuse to pay "a debt they have incurred."But all these central issues do not prevent each protester to express other concerns. In Spain some point impunity surrounding crimes of Francoism and the United States is denounced police brutality or the death penalty …
Above all, each city retains its autonomy: information flows globally, but "decisions, they, are taken at meetings in every city, Banasiak said Sophie. Each city chooses its own way of decision. In Paris and Madrid for example, is the consensus. The international dimension does not change the fact that the essence of the movement is local: it is in the physical encounter and dialogue in the streets. "
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