Anti-globalization protests, date unknown (CC Sandpaper, 2007)

The Occupy movements have this sense of déjà vu surrounding them. If you are old enough to remember political events in the nineties, “Occupy” sounds very much like “Say no to WTO”. Naomi Klein, who authored No Logo, an anti-globalization manifesto of the time, certainly thinks so in her piece in the NY Times. With the new wave of naming milestones as “D17” and “N15”, Occupy definitely remembers “N30”, the massive uprising in Seattle on November 30, 1999 that took the country by storm. Both protests saw a coming together of students, NGOs, environmentalists and the radical fringe. Both targeted large multinational companies and their ways of doing business. However today, a good eleven years later, something is different. No violence, for one, at least on the part of the protestors. Occupy is tweet-happy, using social media to keep the crowds connected. And most interestingly, there is no anger towards any one brand. Continue reading →