Retracing Foucault: Neoliberalism and the Occupy Movement

Portland State University, Portland, Oregon

The Occupy movement presented itself as a reaction to a socio-economic relation; to some it decried the unconstrained expanses and injustices of capitalism, to others it was a resistance to the gross economic disparity perpetuated by a subset of the social strata that lacked governmental accountability. Branded by some as neo-Marxist, by others as merely lazy or lacking any concrete objectives – the Occupy movement met with mixed results. By providing an archaeology of neoliberal governmentality by-way of Michel Foucault; I believe we can not only elucidate the underpinning and political origins of the movement, but also seek to clarify the sessile nature of the socio-economic relation at hand by actors on both sides. Neoliberalism not only provides the applicable medium from which we can grasp the root of the social angst, but also the fragmented nature of the institutional reaction to the angst itself. I contend that only when this is done can we understand the Occupy movement in terms of its goals, idiosyncrasies, failings, and how to best account for this sort of voluminous social reactivity in the future.