NEGOTIATING THE RESISTANCE: CATCH 22S, BROKERING AND CONTENTION WITHIN OCCUPY SAFER SPACES POLICY

In the post 2008 financial crisis climate we have seen a plethora of protest movements emerge
globally with one of the most recognisable, particularly in the western context, being that of
the Occupy movement, which sought to contest the global accumulation of wealth by the few,
at the expense of the many. Such protest movements have paved the way for old and new, often
contentious, dialogues pertinent for a variety of disciplines and subject matters. Drawing upon
both emerging narratives from the movement within the published literature and the authors
own empirical interview data with participants at a variety of Occupy sites, this article discusses
to what extent the Occupy movement negotiates its existence with the hegemonic state-corporate
nexus through its Safer Spaces Policy. The paper concludes that the counter-hegemonic
endeavours of resistance movements can be compromised, through the coercion and consent
strategies of the powerful working in tandem, resulting in a movement that both opposes and
emulates what it seeks to contest. Such discussion can ultimately contribute to the longevous
discourses pertaining to how hegemonic power operates not just on but through people.