Observing Okkupai: Practice, Participation, Politics in Moscow’s Movable Protest Camp

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Anna Grigoryeva

Abstract

These are a few raw reflections on Moscow’s OkkupaiAbai protest as a direct democracy experiment, in relation to organisational process (practice) and to the Occupy movement. Although the specifics of the political visions of the two movements are rather different, they share a basic inclusivity ("if you feel powerless, join us") and a focus on self-organisation. In this context, I evaluate the translation of Occupy's organising tools (primarily the assemblies) into Okkupai and the dynamics of fragmentation and inclusion/exclusion that they contribute to. Finally, I reflect on my own position as a partial participant observer with an activist history. In English.

Keywords

Russia, Occupy, Social Movements, Activism, Consensus


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Sep 2, 2012

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How to Cite
Grigoryeva, A. (2012). Observing Okkupai: Practice, Participation, Politics in Moscow’s Movable Protest Camp. Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research, 4(2), 183–188. Retrieved from https://soclabo.org/index.php/laboratorium/article/view/40
Issue
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2012)
Section
Field Notes
Author Biography

Anna Grigoryeva

Anna Grigoryeva is a PhD candidate in the Division of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge, where she also received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She currently translates for the Russian-language journal Sociology of Power. In 2009–2010 she was a cofounding editor of the international student  journal Imponderabilia (http://imponderabilia.socanth.cam.ac.uk).

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