Occupy failed because it lacked a coherent counter-repertoire to embedded neoliberalism
Evidence
Indeed, I would suggest that the palpable failure of the Occupy movement demonstrates the relevance of the thesis of chapter 3: the neoliberal worldview has become embedded in contemporary culture to such an extent that when well-meaning activists sought to call attention to the slow-motion trainwreck of the world economic system, they came to their encampments with no solid conception of what they might need to know to make their indictments stick; nor did they have any clear perspective on what their opponents knew or believed about markets and politics, not to mention what the markets themselves knew about their attempts at resistance. With the generous assistance of economists, libertarians, and a raft of pundits, all their incipient neoliberal tendencies were amplified and encouraged, while their nascent attempts at political organization that might effectively challenge the NTC were quashed. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 906
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the book’s earlier chapter 8 on Fannie/Freddie narratives and chapter 3’s thesis on embedded neoliberal worldviews; also parallels Gramsci’s hegemony concept. — connects to: Occupy collapsed because it rejected theory and organization while ignoring its own neoliberal backers — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 904; Occupy’s slogans and reforms recycled 1980s-era proposals rather than novel ideas — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 905; Occupy’s horizontalist, demandless prefiguration rejected institutions themselves as the problem. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 190 (+1 more)
- SEED: Angle: why protest movements fail not from repression but from ideological capture — Occupy vs Tea Party as twin case studies.
Broader Connections
- Occupy’s horizontalist, demandless prefiguration rejected institutions themselves as the problem.
#qualifies(0.85) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 190