They don't represent us? Synecdochal representation and the politics of occupy movements

Abstract

In 2011 and the ensuing years, the world witnessed a global wave of various “occupy movements,” from the Spanish 15-M and the Greek anti-austerity protests of 2011 to Occupy Wall Street (OWS), and from the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul to Nuit Debout in Paris. Inspired by the Arab Spring earlier that year—and by the iconic image of an occupied Tahrir Square in particular—protesters in different parts of the world took possession of public spaces in order to oppose the austerity measures of their governments, to challenge the power of financial industries and economic elites, and to voice their widely shared experience of a democratic deficit. I emphasize from the outset that there are many, and often very substantial, demographic, cultural, economic, and political differences among these various occupy movements and among the contexts in which they intervened. There is thus no particular reason to assume, as some enthusiastic commentators suggested at the time, that they were all exponents of a single global movement (Hardt & Negri, 2012; Mason, 2011). But it is also clear, on the other hand, that they often expressed a strong sense of solidarity with each other, and referred to each another as important sources of inspiration (Graeber, 2013, p. 237). Notwithstanding the many differences between these movements, they did share at least a number of important points in common. What, then, did these movements have in common—next to the obvious but important fact that they all involved the occupation of public space (Harvey, 2012, pp. 161–162)? First, in most cases conventional political organizations or institutions played a minor role, if any, in these mass mobilizations. None was spearheaded by established political parties or politicians (Tormey, 2015, p. 8) and they often had a strikingly diverse composition (Juris, 2012, p. 265). Most categorically refused to negotiate or even engage with any representative institutions or public bodies (Klein, 2011). One possible explanation for this, second, is that many of these movements had strong horizontalist aspirations (Sitrin, 2012) and advocated direct or participatory forms of politics, organization and decision-making. Finally, not only did they propose an alternative view of democracy, but they also put it in practice: a significant aspect of their shared repertoire was that these movements sought to prefigure a radical form of democracy (Bray, 2013, p. 190; Douzinas, 2013, pp. 158–160; Hardt & Negri, 2017, pp. 274–275; Maeckelbergh, 2016; Pickerill & Krinsky, 2012; Smucker, 2014; Van de Sande, 2013; Yates, 2015). By organizing in general assemblies and spokes-councils, for example, they tried to realize, in the here and now, the kind of radical social change that they aspired to bring about on the long term (Graeber, 2013). These movements’ refusal to engage with existing parties and institutions, their horizontalist or direct democratic aspirations, and their attempt to prefigure these ideals in their general assemblies and consensual decision-making procedures, have all contributed to the widespread idea that they were opposed to any form of political representation. Indeed, many prominent political philosophers and social movement theorists have promoted this view of recent occupy movements. My claim, however, is that this reading is too quick. Not only is it far from certain that all these movements dismissed political representation tout court, but upon closer inspection it becomes clear that both in their rhetoric and practical organization they employed various forms of representation and of making representative claims. In fact, these movements also played a significant representative on their own part, which remains undertheorized in the current debate. What concepts of representation are implied here? And what lessons for democracy, strategy, and social movement politics may we derive from them? To answer these questions and to shift the academic debate on these occupy movements, I reconstruct two concepts of representation that can be encountered in the practices and rhetoric of occupy movements such as OWS and the 15-M movement. I focus on one concept of representation in particular that I think is the key to an adequate understanding of contemporary social movements, but that is not sufficiently theorized in the existing literature on these movements: namely, the idea of synecdochal representation, where one of the constituent parts stands for a larger whole. To address these questions I make the following argumentative steps. In Section 2, I briefly review the contemporary academic debate on occupy movements and their relation to political representation. Should the statements and practices of movements such as OWS indeed be regarded as a rejection of representation, as both their critics and advocates claim, or is their repertoire with at least some forms of In Section I to the academic literature on political representation and it is far from obvious what representation from on representation, I two different of representation, which are both representation as on the one hand, and representation as or larger on the In Section I these to the politics of recent occupy movements, and both are as as in their practices and In Section I the concept of representation as on a particular form of representation that I think is the key to understanding of recent occupy movements and their representative role, but that remains undertheorized in the current namely, synecdochal representation. I to the of employed this concept at various in but a of concept of synecdochal representation and political I it in the of recent occupy movements in Section the of the occupy movements in 2011 and the following years, their and the among and is to these movements or their and or to their of representative democracy in current My is if we are to and this and political we to a and of representation and the political that it may the of movements as Occupy Wall Street is an in we can no make as we for change in the power and we can no to their we are a of what democracy this to one another to is a to and the that direct we the power p. many of the statements and by these occupy movements, is to various to many political philosophers and social movement it that OWS representative to the image of democracy a direct or participatory form of democracy, which is with representative democracy in current One may to this that the for a radical or participatory form of democracy was expressed even in their to prefigure such in 2013, p. p. with consensual decision-making and forms of public (Bray, 2013; 2012; and alternative also to their own to in the occupy with of 2015, p. and pp. & 2013). In these movements tried to their of a democratic in the here and de Sande, 2013, p. is what democracy another prominent by these occupy movements, thus can be referred to the forms and practices that these movements the as OWS it in their their occupied as a in all the it in the and even are not as of political but as of a general rejection of the of representation. & p. here is that representative democracy is an categorically the from in the political (Hardt & Negri, pp. p. democracy, on the other hand, a horizontalist of organization and a rejection of democracy and the of that such of (Sitrin, 2012, p. also Mason, p. horizontalist or that the occupy movements expressed in both their practices and rhetoric is thus not in with political the two are this is shared by some of these movements’ most prominent for example, that their to engage with any representative institutions or a of the as a of a of and by pp. a their horizontalist aspirations a understanding of in general p. also pp. that a democracy political are the of and representative p. What these movements to is the fact that are no to the representative institutions and I with these critics that it is and to democratic on a rejection of all representative p. I not think that recent occupy movements such as OWS and the categorically any form of political I that their political repertoire was of making all forms of representative claims. are we to make sense of these movements’ practices and such as are the is what democracy or even at least some concept of political representation 2015, p. In the of this I a concepts of representation that I think are to these movements. But briefly on the various and of What is we at the term is employed both in academic and political it may that it and in of these various of the term representation are but their and are very p. these various two different that can be as a to that in other p. 2013, pp. pp. In and for example, representation may be as or What is in this is the particular relation in which a particular representative it a a or a or even in to this form of representation as idea of or the idea of of or in the and the idea of as a on in with the of p. representation as for an this is not the in any a certain of is to as the of political representation on the of a representative and to the or of a particular or that both and at a certain from the In the of representative as a representative be to one the other p. concept of representation is for in understanding of representative all the also have a term as or is in the in for a or or a of can be to other or larger to such forms of representation as not a or a it to what a representative an understanding of what a representative it a an or a it be to p. Spanish or were the in many recent occupy to this representation, and to both concepts of both as for and in the academic debate on political representation the two to be both at a and a practical there are important to a between these forms of representation. the most significant between representation as for and representation as for is that the often an and a certain of between the representative and the In the of the thus be the is to the as in the on the other hand, a often to to make it by their it is not in p. is a is to not to an that be or bring that did not as to is not a of to or to what it stands and what to a be as to as p. of in other is a that also the of certain or that which is in a relation of representation not this relation as There is no or the particular or that representation as for that there is an and can be in a or representation as a for that the not it is the of a representative or relation pp. the political of representation as for is that representation as for is of no political theorists of political representation, such as and have that representation as for an important in the of political and p. that making of or of what is to be is a aspect of political By a particular image of or what they to this or not that this no is a But the political in the of making of p. representation as for is an pp. p. any representative is of own in that it be in a particular in it and the other the of and from such of as for thus can be as a of & p. is a political one may there is a between various possible To one or be at the of to put it in and any representation to is to the of to the of to a & p. then, did the practices of recent occupy movements such as the and OWS indeed of any form of political many of their advocates and critics And if can these various forms of political representation as for and for be in their rhetoric and we have the of recent occupy movements is often as of a of political representation tout & p. Hardt & Negri, 2012, pp. 2013, pp. 2015, p. is clear that these movements were of representative democracy in current But that we have between different forms of political representation, we may their politics indeed a rejection of all forms of One important of the politics of these occupy movements, to is that both in their rhetoric and practices they sought to representative democracy with a direct or of general forms of and horizontalist decision-making are to a of what democracy be (Graeber, 2013, p. may that these movements were at least very of representation as idea that some may be to and in But if we at both their rhetoric and their these movements to have a understanding of representation as for example, the OWS at the of Section this a between democracy and representative democracy as we it it also for their to the p. the that there are to for or on of the in a or sufficiently democratic OWS a for in this in of the OWS p. that both political parties in the the we the are of the it that these occupy movements often employed various forms of political representation in example, a the occupation of general was as the most important of decision-making by a (Bray, 2013). be by from each was among the of each and each had a to voice only the (Graeber, 2013, p. to these were not in the sense they the of the (Bray, 2013, p. But it be to that or an is a form of representation as for that an and a very of forms of representation are by no with organization or even decision-making. and radical democratic theorists have that radical democracy various forms of or 2015, p. pp. p. pp. the of forms of very to the of and 2012, p. 2014; Smucker, 2017, pp. is not such can be to an but they can be and These movements’ with and participatory forms of organization may have to a different idea of democracy, but this a of representation as What is many of these movements’ have to engage with conventional forms of politics their had to an One obvious is the Spanish which in the of the 15-M movement and had at both the and the & pp. and this to an was no a 2015, pp. is that even some involved with the 15-M movement have to an particular at the In the Spanish for example, took in the of a public which in the of & as as (Graeber, also pp. are representative in the is to of political to of and thus a direct 2017, p. widespread that the politics of these movements the very of representation thus to be & p. closer inspection it that many forms of representation as for were employed by these movements. that their radical democratic practices and be as a for and direct and participatory representation to the current of the 2017, p. there is also a to be not only did these movements’ and organization certain forms of representation as but in some they also an important representative in their own such as OWS and the did not or to any or to or make on of a larger of But they did as political in at least some To this, however, we to to the second, concept of representation that I namely, representation as or politics of a social movement any form of representation is and an important not only a or to the but also derive a sense of and from the most may any form of representation, not that their own or their stands for recent occupy movements were no to to the OWS the is of representative democracy in current But the also that the p. And this the in political least that the this stands for a and not in the of in Park 2015, p. can be of other prominent movement such as are the and a strong representative that to a larger of and not to are at the of 2015, p. practices of these occupy movements implied a representative the general alternative decision-making and all for My claim, is that the particular form of political representation, is in the and rhetoric of these occupy movements. representation as this form of representation is not with their radical democratic aspirations or as many social movement theorists and political philosophers In fact, I that it is it is implied in their direct democratic In the of this I to a particular concept of representation as for that is at namely, a synecdochal concept of representation. I this particular form of representation is key to an understanding of the recent occupy movements. as for a representation as of or of all other or larger as this form of representation also a political is of in the of representation as for is a where a representative to or and on of the representation as for is a a movement from to and a one from representative to p. also p. is also a political in order to any and thus at the of & pp. of political representation, often to this concept of representation as a for 2013, p. In of political representation, on the image of the a form of that other such as and the differences between and to are established & p. this of an in of representation p. a of the to this are this concept can be to the representative and practices of recent occupy movements, we thus to reconstruct the often of the in of representation. But what the it is from other of such as the and the and it is in a of political representation. may be regarded as a of 2015, p. we by between and the is on or the of a example, in radical it is to to as is a the in not to relation between and is on or of their of this is or is is that are In on the other hand, the relation between the and the be by a particular are Wall Street or the as to the financial or to a particular of the In both cases there is a direct and relation between is as the of financial the in the but the term as a not this a relation in that it is on a But there is one in a synecdochal relation the is a of the larger that it a such as have to or the of as a to are of a and are a of their an to the between and p. are on But this also that representation can be established only as a or relation p. it is on many different can be to a single To to the many not from the may be to the of There is no particular reason the between the and to such an established in and have the But the fact is in order to as a had to these other possible and thus had to as the only or most for the to be it is one among many is very different for the as we have is on a that as a in a relation is to the that it and the relation between thus for with a of politics what the or can be in to the the of a not on to other possible it remains a far as is however, this also that the only a for and In a of a particular representation of upon the of as a representation of as a whole. own and an p. and of a social that remains an pp. with however, is that they are on one of many possible and that the of one relation not at the of we was the with thus the that is to a political representation pp. To a to some of p. p. is where the of the becomes a particular to this de the as of the that an between and p. p. from this the is not a of the it a between these other in that it a relation between and that is particular that upon the p. to or for a larger is the only that this p. & p. to as a synecdochal on to be as the only at the most obvious and representation. synecdochal representation the of a pp. an image of the for by a concept of the that be or even possible p. but that as the of this and thus to it as far as is this is the of the forms the for understanding of political it one representative or relation can a larger at the time, it p. 2015, pp. these and not as are as two different of this in a have a particular shared or can be and in own they a their p. their is by the long as this remains an it not to a But that this is only one among many different claims. that of other or have also this may to the of a social their shared experience of or their with the in and a sense of which is by a shared understanding or of the which as p. of a social not only these but to a different of their to the of a larger of in which all the in of their to what we an p. Notwithstanding the differences between these and their particular or their shared experience of and their the of a social to a or between these various and of however, to in a particular a of these various not be representation of an only possible if a particular own also as a the as a p. also pp. By of public or for example, one particular to the thus for a of or First, the of the two of and a certain between is the of the in this they to be the of at a and a of in the of a the term becomes the of a it no the of an be in all and becomes the of a social only is the of that in a pp. What we is a particular or to for a at the in to What this however, is that the of a also the of or claims. here not only the or of an but a a particular of or other and and a view of these be In it to for a political then, can concept of synecdochal representation to the politics of recent occupation is far from obvious to in this both p. and have these movements for their refusal to engage with representative My claim, however, is that their be employed in an of these very movements and their practices & p. In the I a of these movements established such synecdochal both and have of occupy movements such as OWS and the Spanish 15-M I that their can be employed to a understanding of these movements and their political repertoire p. concept of the in can to the forms of political representation that were implied in these movements’ practices and a on example, of is that of are the was by in in which that only of a of the and that it of the on contributed to the of the idea that be between a and a (Graeber, 2013, p. this of from the of by a that their of or and were all by the the these were all of many different and the suggested that all these had important in common. in a single or all the all the this idea of the that they a the I in the also suggested a representative is representative for what we all are of the obvious differences between In this the and the idea of a what and an between various and on the of a and experience that they all to have in common. shared which be in of or to a of and thus to a p. is the of occupation in these movements’ One shared by many of these movements is that the public in the sense of a and in the sense of a public In all parts of the world public spaces and are and this in many to the of an and concept of occupation of public space was not a but in one or the other, the occupied space was also often at 2015, p. it is no that the occupation of space played such an important for various movements the which all space as public occupied what is and the of to and as a 2015, p. Gezi Park was occupied in of the to to the of and of to another example, is not only only a from Wall but it is also a public space that the of this is a widespread and the occupation of a single very to the the of public But it a of the of public space in of in and to a for as a in for a whole. In this the that stands for is a on the one hand, on the other, a with the 2012, p. a that direct democratic decision-making and horizontalist were to a or at the very least a of and what a be (Graeber, 2013, p. also p. pp. not that these movements or to direct democratic decision-making we have their repertoire often various forms of representation as But the is by with alternative forms of organization and these movements did to their for a participatory and form of democracy we have in general and other by these movements, a larger of and is not that the synecdochal form of representation as an for these practices larger p. of their of representative democracy in current the practices of movements are In other the in which their practices and for a social or or occupation of public the of decision-making and the of a synecdochal they were representative and such as is what democracy are the or these with a particular synecdochal and is the of these statements that these to for larger a particular concept of democracy, a of the or the What is the and of political representation in the repertoire of occupy movements, such as OWS and the 15-M the of these movements in 2011 this a of debate among political theorists and social movement advocates and critics of these movements have that their horizontalist aspirations, their radical democratic rhetoric and their all a rejection of political representation I if we to these movements’ of political representation we be to various and representation as for on the one hand, and representation as for on the often an and some of between the representative and the as on the other hand, is a form of representation in which the a particular the of representation. I that both forms of representation were in fact employed by these occupy movements: representation as for can be encountered in their of and as on the other hand, can be in the these movements a idea of they for and what they aspired to in the of such synecdochal can be in their practices on the one occupation of public the general in their rhetoric and is what democracy are the the to these movements’ and practices as of political representation is the these to that representation as for not any the of representative be and And a synecdochal form of representation, in which a to for a larger sufficiently to and may it or even forms of Finally, if the politics of recent occupy movements indeed of many forms of political representation, their of representative democracy in current be To if not a direct or participatory form of democracy, did these movements their and practices indeed as a for and direct and participatory 2017, p. what this alternative view of democracy in the of these movements, many of these questions to be One a of these however, is that we the that various forms of representation played in these movements’ politics and we be to lessons from their on the of democracy and social movement de is in at are radical democratic political representation, and contemporary movements.