Global movements in the capitalist world system: occupy Wall Street and the World Social Forum

Author

Loren M. Collins, Humboldt State UniversityFollow

Graduation Date

Spring 2017

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Program

Master of Arts degree with a major in Sociology

Committee Chair Name

Dr. Sing Chew

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Second Committee Member Name

Dr. Anthony Silvaggio

Second Committee Member Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Third Committee Member Name

Dr. Alison Holmes

Third Committee Member Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Occupy Wall Street, World Social Forum, Capitalism, World systems, Social movements

Abstract

Over the past forty years, the information revolution, a neoliberal agenda and globalizing financial markets have led to a quantitative increase in accumulation, widening inequalities throughout the globe. This widening inequality has cast doubt on the legitimacy of a world system governed primarily by the invisible hand of the free market. Economic power has taken priority over political power in determining the nature of social relations and our institutions. This imbalance has opened the door for resistance movements to challenge a system that fails to represent the interests of the vast majority of the world’s population while it benefits a smaller and smaller subset. While capitalism has undergone shifts on a global scale, social movements and resistance to capital have undergone a shift of their own. Movements have begun to come together to confront global capitalism, identifying this contest as the central conflict of our age. These global movements are reclaiming the public sphere and places held in “common,” raising a clear ideological challenge to the neoliberalism, uniting across varied agendas, and networking at the local, national and international levels. “The Occupy Wall Street” Movement and the “World Social Forum” provide pertinent case studies in the potential these global movements have to challenge the powers that be and to articulate an alternative vision for globalization.

Citation Style

ASA

Recommended Citation

Collins, Loren M., "Global movements in the capitalist world system: occupy Wall Street and the World Social Forum" (2017). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 50.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/50