Panel: Occupy Wall Street—The Next Human Rights Movement?

by Andrea Canepa

Audience members / Courtesy of Andrea Canepa

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, State of the Union Address of 1944

Is Occupy Wall Street purely about the state of the economy? Is it based on human rights? Is it a movement with a purpose? If so, can such a purpose be achieved? Out of these questions, one of this year’s most anticipated panel discussions at Columbia University was born: “Occupy Wall Street: The Next Human Rights Movement?” Masters students in Human Rights, Rose Hackman and Leila Lohman, mobilized strong interest among faculty and students by organizing this panel discussion on December 1st, 2011 at the Italian Academy. The panel was composed of distinguished members of the Columbia Community: Anya Schiffrin (Director of SIPA’s International Media, Advocacy and Communications Specialization) as Moderator, Elazar Barkan (Professor of International and Public Affairs, Director of SIPA’s Human Rights Concentration and Director of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights), Bruce Kogut (Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Professor of Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School), Peter Rosenblum (Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, Clinical Professor of Human Rights Law, Columbia Law School), Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Earth Institute of Columbia University and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon) and Suresh Naidu (Assistant Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs, SIPA) and Columbia students Alicia White (MA in Human Rights candidate and OWS Protester), Yesenia Barragan (PhD Candidate and OWS organizer). The comprehensive panel discussion illuminated that Occupy Wall Street (OWS) has served to start conversations, inform and motivate, raise awareness and address burning issues, and bring together Americans from diverging fields by challenging the status quo.

Corruption and Lack of Accountability

Professor Jeffrey Sachs opened the debate by presenting four elements currently eroding the socio-economic fabric and stability of America, which he believes are being adequately exposed by the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement: inequality and inequity, impunity, political corruption and the decline of government’s public expenditure. He stated that these concerns need to be addressed in order to rescue our economy. Sachs highlighted how uncontrolled market forces and public policies catering to the interests of the wealthy have amplified grotesque levels of inequality in present day America, leading to the greatest gap between the rich and the poor in the country since 1929. OWS protester Yesenia Barragan expressed her dismay at the conditions of those at the bottom as progressively deteriorating. Accepting an inherent level of inequality in a free market economy does not intrinsically mean that our system should fail to safeguard the interests of the poor and middle classes, she argued, or those most adversely affected by the greed and power of a select few. “The middle class keeps slipping down, and the system no longer provides securities for those caught at the bottom,” said Yesenia, who joined OWS, inspired by the struggles of her own working class Latino family. She, like many Americans, seeks answers to our society’s crushing realities, “Why is one out of every five children in this country living in poverty? How can we, as a society, accept that? Why are health and education not respected as the rights they are?” OWS is raising awareness of these alarming facts, and by doing so, it may just turn into the movement that changes them.

Alicia White, a fellow OWS protester, expressed disillusionment at the erosion of American democracy. She voiced her concern with “our economy and our government no longer serving those who participate in it.” American politicians have stopped responding to those who elect them to office and business interests act without a care for those who generate their wealth, she stated. Alicia highlighted the importance of personal narratives in the movement: “I originally connected with the OWS through the use of the Internet and Facebook. Once I got down there, it became entirely about personal encounters and stories… it became about the people.” Alicia spent her days at the Park listening to and learning from first-hand stories of families and individuals who had lost all they owned. Through them, the financial and economic crisis stopped being about abstract concepts and finally became about the struggling families behind the statistics.

Professor Bruce Kogut also expressed concern with the present and growing levels of inequality in the corporate sector. He called attention to the fact that there are a mere 3% of female CEOs in public corporations. Gender inequality, discrimination and wage disparity remain crucial factors that have led to the widening of the socio-economic gap. Professor Kogut praised and shared OWS’s call for the return of ethics and greater focus on equality in the business world. He expressed his concern with the current reckless behavior of business leaders tarnishing the field as a whole. His business students have expressed their dedication to becoming the responsible business leaders of tomorrow, whether it is for profit or non-profit organizations. Business with ethics, he suggested, serves as a model for success and does not abuse its stakeholders.

Next, the conversation turned to OWS’ call to end the sense of impunity on Wall Street by asking tough questions: Where are our taxes going? Do we not have a say? Do we not deserve the right to ask that they benefit us, the majority of taxpayers? People are not asking for handouts, they have begun to ask for what is theirs. Professor Sachs stressed that, “Wall Street behaved recklessly, broke the rules, social norms and the law; and walked out with uncontrolled and inexcusable bailouts to continue such reckless behavior.” “We have seen those responsible for packaging toxic assets commit massive federal fraud, walk away from any responsibility and still be honored guests at the White House.” Occupy Wall Street is asking for accountability for the handouts that the average American gave the banks—on the bailouts for which Americans paid. Moreover, the movement is putting pressure on banking giants to halt what they deem as skewed and illegal business practices once and for all.

Corruption in the American political system was mentioned as Sachs’ third element of a broken economy, and shedding light on it has become a vital part of the OWS movement. Kogut added a historical perspective on how the wealthy came to dominate American politics, mentioning that the middle class used to lack funds, but was well organized. Meanwhile, “the wealthy elite had the money, but lacked the organization to effectively mobilize an overwhelming amount of influence over politics.” At some point, the wealthy learned how to organize and mobilize, while the labor movement lost their organization and tactics. Kogut urged everyone to change this state of affairs. He stated that “OWS did not reach out to the left, they reached across the country. They speak about American issues affecting us all.” This movement may well be the beginning of the shift to empower the poor and middle classes to reclaim their influence over government. “We can start, for example, by enhancing transparency in campaign funding. Would it not be helpful to know where the money is coming from?” he concluded. Lastly, Professor Sachs spoke about the alarming decay of government investment in public goods and services. “We now see government most visibly manifested as the military, social security and Medicaid, but what has become of our broken education laws and the utter disregard for technical education programs, grants, the environment, among other critically important fields receiving less than 2% of the Federal Budget?” asked Sachs.

Freedoms and Rights

Professor Elazar Barkan spoke about attempts by government authorities to suppress the freedoms that are held so crucial to the American experience. In regards to freedom of assembly and speech, Barkan said that the authorities have taken up bureaucratic maneuvers to curtail the exercise of such rights. He argued that the current atmosphere seems to dictate, “We will let you speak and assemble… as long as the ‘when’ is never and the ‘place’ is nowhere.” Barkan also challenged America’s double narrative in domestic and foreign policy, drawing attention to the discrepancies between the curtailment of freedom of speech at home and its celebration abroad. Professor of Economics, Suresh Naidu, spoke about his involvement with the OWS movement. He focused on the use of civic mobilization tactics, elaborating on their historical impact on progressive movements. He also stressed the backfiring of Mayor Bloomberg’s failed attempt to silence Occupy Wall Street. By engaging in massive arrests and evicting the protestors from Zuccotti Park, the authorities actually placed public sympathy on the side of the protestors. “Bloomberg’s use of excessive force and repressive response to the movement has probably done more to strengthen OWS than anything we could have done as protestors,” said Naidu. With regard to the removal of Occupiers from Zuccotti Park and the documented use of excessive force by the NYPD against peaceful protesters, Professor Barkan called attention to the excessive militarization of the police force taking place. He quoted Mayor Bloomberg’s assertion that he had his own “seventh largest army in the world” to highlight the use of the New York Police Department and the counter-terrorism unit to curtail fundamental rights. “New York City’s highly militarized police force needed to find a target, and the target is now us,” said Professor Barkan. Alicia White added, “My experience as a protester, as a result of the oppressive measures taken, has been absolutely horrifying.”

What Comes Next?

Ordinary citizens of all ages and backgrounds have taken it upon themselves to open their eyes to the grave levels of inequality and inequity in the United States. In terms of the movement’s future, Sachs said that although the current socio-economic situation is dire, “We have been here before and we cleaned it up. Now it’s time to clean it up again… Occupy Wall Street is the beginning.” The protestors agreed and urged OWS to be understood as a long-term project for social transformation. Professor Bruce Kogut, drawing from his experience in the business field, described the huge potential for the organizational skills taught in business schools to be used in the non-profit sector. He added that he is hopeful with regard to the potential of the movement, “OWS has gained consensus on what the most pressing issues to be addressed are; now all stakeholders must effectively organize to make change happen.” Professor Naidu agreed, stating that the movement’s next phase will attempt to “translate the energy from the Park into organized political action,” in order to turn OWS’ demands into policy. Yesenia Barragan added that it is also vital to make the transition from raising awareness to organizing peaceful resistance. For example, she argued, the movement should continue actively participating in attempts to halt physically the foreclosure of working families’ homes—a practice already in place at OWS. Columbia Law School Professor Peter Rosenblum urged all those who have been failed by the system to stay with the movement. He stressed that it is in the movement’s hands to be creative and resourceful in both exerting their rights to challenge oppression, and in finding new spaces to occupy. Rosenblum presented Columbia University’s Bureau for Socially Responsible Investment, a committee ready for students to make their voices heard about the University’s allocation of funds.“Take this space over, it’s yours. Take all spaces open to make your voice heard. Take the world over!” said Professor Rosenblum to the audience. On whether to see OWS as a human rights movement, Professor Rosenblum recalled that the human rights field has usually followed a few steps behind activism and advocacy; he observed that OWS may be the beginning of a more profound understanding of human rights by the general American public, including the notion of respecting economic and social rights along with civil and political freedoms. He agreed that many of the underpinning concerns voiced by the movement fully resonate with international human rights norms. “The OWS’ activists, regardless of explicitly using human rights terminology to make their case or not, will shake the guardians of the status quo—and in doing so, they will indeed be defending the fundamental rights at stake,” he added.

If OWS is to retain momentum, the movement needs to use all tools at its disposal for peaceful activism. The panelists agreed that OWS will need to develop new tactics continuously in order to maintain momentum, yet they seemed confident in the protestors being well aware of their technological advantages. “They may not be able to fight money with money, but they can fight it with the truth,” said Professor Barkan. The “1%” has accumulated wealth, but the occupiers have free YouTube videos, social networking, and the strength of a collective voice to express their perspective and push for change in America.

Published in RightsNews Volume 30, no. 2, February, 2012.
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