GS302: Theories of Cultural Studies (Spring 2012)

I chose my cultural text Occupy Wall Street because it was a recent example of protesters in the national media dealing with class structure. It received coverage nationally and campus with its coined phrase of “We are the 99 percent.” The movement addresses a myriad of social constructs that we discussed in class. The one that is most easily identifiable is the issue of class structure in the United States from the movement’s concept of the 99 percent against the top 1 percent.

I also chose this topic because it was a topic that I felt that I should know more about. I did not really follow the movement when it took off in September, and it is something that I wish I had followed more. The only thing that I knew about the topic was the little that I had heard in passing conversations or in a brief media interaction on the news or in the paper. When the movement was receiving media coverage in the fall, I also heard many students on campus making negative comments about the goal of the movement. Many students in their comments strove to distance themselves from the problems of the 99 percent that Occupy Wall Street brought up, even though under the concept of the movement they fell under the 99 percent. I always felt that this was a very interesting reaction to the movement because every student regardless if they are the 99 percent or the 1 percent is affected by the topics that Occupy Wall Street is bringing up. I was very bothered by this fact, and I felt that many people were either misinformed or did not fully understand the movement. I wanted to use this paper as an opportunity to become more familiar with the factual details of the movement and analyze the cultural influence of the movement.