Anna
How would you define Occupy ?
A protest movement against the excesses of capitalism. Raising awareness about the injustices carried out against the 99%.
What were you doing before Occupy ?
Working in the NHS as a Mental health professional
Why did you participate in Occupy?
It was a grass roots movement which called people’s attention to what wasn’t working and tried to raise awareness about the possibilities of creating alternatives through working groups.
What impact did Occupy have on your personal life?
I helped to organise some events to raise hope about another and more democratic and collaborative way of living and working together.
Did Occupy change the ways you think, feel and interact with the world? If yes, how so? What do you feel that you learned (or unlearned) that was unique to Occupy?
I have learnt that many activists are not ready to create and live by new norms. In my experience it was mainly about protest and not so much about creating something really new and different.
There is a lot of unlearning still to do and learning new ways of operating takes time, maturity and patience.
What impact do you think Occupy has had on the economic and political situation?
It helped to raise and highlight important issues of injustice and excesses. It helped to raise hope that another world is possible and showed me that to create it we need to learn and mature by moving from protest to creating what we need.
The kind of awareness and consciousness needed for a better world needs a broader worldview than black and white, one that can be spacious enough to contain opposing points of view.
Given the current political and economic situation, what is your view on what people can do to bring long lasting systemic change?
I think the different activities, groups, projects and organisations need to start learning more intentionally about each other and be open to each other perspectives. This will help everyone to mature and see themselves in the light of another and thus make what they do more relevant.
Before Occupy, were you involved in activities related to the reasons why you participated in Occupy? (Activist groups, campaign groups, media platforms, volunteering, research, etc)
Yes
Which ones?
Commons Movement
Are you still involved in activities related to the reasons why you participated in Occupy? (Activist groups, campaign groups, media platforms, volunteering, research, etc)
Yes
Which ones?
School of Commoning
Are you still actively working or engaged with people that you met through Occupy?
Yes
What kind of activities are you doing together?
Re-inventing organisations work