Michael Gould-Wartofsky

An educator and researcher of social movements, Michael Gould-Wartofsky is a PhD candidate in sociology at New York University. Michael Gould-Wartofsky is the author of the critically-lauded book The Occupiers, which documents the origins, results, and context of the Occupy movement. As a scholar, he has an interest in the politics of protest movements in general.

The effects and results of protests vary broadly based on how and when they’re executed, but there are a few elements that seem to affect their sustainability across various arenas. One of those elements is the setting of clearly defined short-term and long-term goals. Creating a cohesive vision both for immediate action and future results is crucial in keeping movements animated.

Another crucial step is to look for strategic partnerships early and often in the movement. Finding established organizations with similar goals and creating partnerships is a good way to both keep the goals of the movement clear and recruit wider support in a diverse set of like-minded individuals.

No less important to keeping a movement safe is to create decentralized leadership structures. It should be a priority to make sure as many perspectives are accommodated as is tenable and management responsibilities are spread across a network of individuals.

Award-winning author and lecturer Michael Gould-Wartofsky studies social and political movements as a PhD candidate in sociology at New York University. Michael Gould-Wartofsky has written extensively on contemporary issues including urban social movements, state-society relations, the politics of immigration, and the policing of urban protest. In 2015, he published the book The Occupiers, The Making of the 99 Percent Movement with Oxford University Press. In its pages, Gould-Wartofsky analyzes the forces behind the movement as well as its democratic politics and everyday practices.

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) burst, unannounced and uninvited, onto the stage of history in the fall of 2011, as people of all ages, races, and affinities rallied behind its banner and against the power of the wealthiest “1 Percent.” First by the tens, then by the tens of thousands, they filled the streets and laid claim to the squares of nearly 1,500 towns and cities, until, one by one, the occupations were forcibly evicted. The occupied squares became flashpoints and focal points for an emerging opposition to the politics of austerity and the power of corporate America in the wake of the 2008 economic crash.

In the end, Occupy Wall Street was unable to recover from the combined effects of police raids, political ruptures, and dwindling bases of popular support. Yet the movement it inspired continues to shape our political culture, finding expression in everything from the Sanders campaign to the anti-Trump resistance to the anti-COVID-19 efforts we are now seeing in communities on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Michael Gould-Wartofsky

Nurturing Longevity and Effectiveness of Protest Movements

The Making and Unmaking of the Occupy Movement