Stories to imagine an alternative; the movement of Occupy Wall Street

Abstract

This thesis is a collection of stories, seeking to describe aspects of what the social movement Occupy Wall Street was like during three months of fieldwork in New York City. The stories illustrate how OWS is a space for alternative imagination and possibilities. They will demonstrate how the movement depends on imaginative power and that they use that power to create new possibilities. At the same time they will show struggle. Occupiers struggle with the boundaries of their own imagination in various ways. The thesis illustrates reflections on the 'demands' discussion, police violence, the importance of imagination and on horizontalism and process. It concludes with an account for the approach to the field and the specific methods used, linking with anarchist anthropology and militant ethnography.