[This presentation proposal was rejected by the administration of Union Institute and University, during the fall of 2011].
The rhetoric of those who have participated in the Occupy Movement—across forums of both physical and virtual protest—as well as the media coverage that has sought to document these individuals’ statements, invoke and describe a specific, 21st century notion of “suffering,” one built of economic, physical, emotional, psychological, and financial distress. This Movement, through its ongoing rigorous analysis and protest of the distribution of wealth in our capitalist economy, has prompted the discussion of our core human experience, and has raised questions about the very foundation of our human condition; in the words of Kleinman and Kleinman (1996), the concept of “suffering” as described by the rhetoric of the Occupy Movement may be a “master subject of our mediatized times” (p. 1). As such, the “suffering” expressed by the Occupy Movement has been at times trivialized by a media culture that, through technology, marginalizes individuals’ collective struggles.
This presentation will identify and discuss some rhetoric of “suffering” as expressed by the Occupy Movement, including specific examination of physical, virtual, and economic actions of protests and social change undertaken by the movement’s supporters: the physical encampments taking place in major US cities, the website “We Are The 99 Percent” (http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/), and initiatives that promote responsible consumerism regarding financial institutions. How have these actions sought to revise our human condition; to what extent does the Occupy Movement seek to change what we consider to be “suffering” itself?
The rhetoric of those who have participated in the Occupy Movement—across forums of both physical and virtual protest—as well as the media coverage that has sought to document these individuals’ statements, invoke and describe a specific, 21st century notion of “suffering,” one built of economic, physical, emotional, psychological, and financial distress. This Movement, through its ongoing rigorous analysis and protest of the distribution of wealth in our capitalist economy, has prompted the discussion of our core human experience, and has raised questions about the very foundation of our human condition; in the words of Kleinman and Kleinman (1996), the concept of “suffering” as described by the rhetoric of the Occupy Movement may be a “master subject of our mediatized times” (p. 1). As such, the “suffering” expressed by the Occupy Movement has been at times trivialized by a media culture that, through technology, marginalizes individuals’ collective struggles.
This presentation will identify and discuss some rhetoric of “suffering” as expressed by the Occupy Movement, including specific examination of physical, virtual, and economic actions of protests and social change undertaken by the movement’s supporters: the physical encampments taking place in major US cities, the website “We Are The 99 Percent” (http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/), and initiatives that promote responsible consumerism regarding financial institutions. How have these actions sought to revise our human condition; to what extent does the Occupy Movement seek to change what we consider to be “suffering” itself?
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