Anna Szolucha's
book on Occupy in Ireland and Oakland has just come out with Routledge as
Real Democracy in the Occupy Movement: No Stable Ground. It's still at academic hardback prices but can be ordered for libraries (and hopefully they will do a paperback in due course).
Here's the blurb:
The
liberal representative model of democracy is in a crisis. In protest
camps, neighbourhood assemblies and through other non-hierarchical
initiatives, the Occupy movement as well as other recent anti-austerity
movements are redefining democracy as a positive way to engage with this
crisis. The more direct democratic models of organisation that they are
employing are not aimed at making the politicians regain their lost
public legitimacy. Instead, direct democracy is perceived by these
movements as a radical alternative to the established forms of
representation. Can direct democracy become an actual alternative to
representative democracy?
This book takes an engaged and in-depth look at the Occupy movement
in Ireland and the San Francisco Bay Area in the US in order to present
the most up-to-date evidence of the changing nature of popular
democratic demands. It takes an insider’s perspective to analyse the
internal processes and iterations of the movement. Establishing links
between social movements and transformations of democracy, as well as
underscoring the significance of the recent movements for the future of
democracy, this book is essential reading for students, scholars and
activists interested in direct democracy, social movements, and radical
politics more generally.
Looking forward to hearing a talk about the book in Ireland!
