The epicenter of the fight against inequality
In 2011, Zuccotti Park in New York became an emblematic square. The Occupy Wall Street movement emerged with a clear slogan: “We are the 99%”, denouncing the 1% control over the economy, politics, and life. Beyond the encampments, it built a model of resistance that continues to inspire anti-capitalist collectives such as ECOAR))).
Roots of horizontal rebellion
Occupy’s strength lay in its assembly-based structure. Without leaders or hierarchies, participants organized in working groups (health, legal action, communications), demonstrating that another way of decision-making is possible. Techniques like the human microphone —rows repeating speeches to avoid sound equipment criminalization— or consensus through hand signals reflected a commitment to direct democracy.
Innovations that challenge capital
For 75 days, the occupation turned public space into a laboratory of anti-systemic practices: popular libraries, self-managed community kitchens, and assemblies to debate alternatives to neoliberalism. Actions like the “Millionaires’ March” exposed the obscenity of wealth accumulation. Occupy built mutual support networks that prefigured a world without exploitation.
The legacy that is not evicted
Although the police dismantled the encampments in November 2011, the movement left an indelible legacy: it revealed how financial capital corrupts democracies and inspired global anti-austerity movements. In collectives such as ECOAR))), its essence survives through creative direct action, building local alternatives, and systematic denunciation of state-corporate alliances.
Change emerges from below
Occupy’s story reminds us that when diverse people join forces, they make the invisible visible and plant seeds of rebellion that grow beyond repression.