Occupy in Ireland: Impacts on activists and subsequent protest

Abstract

I explore the impact that Occupy in Ireland had on subsequent campaigns and the lives of some of its core activists and analyse the interpretative processes through which they evaluated and modified the lessons and tactics of the protest. The picture that emerges from this empirical analysis is inherently complex and transient. It shows how the symbolic associations and framing of the encampments evolved and stalled the diffusion of their most recognisable practices and tactics such as assemblies. This observation highlights the importance of studying the empirical processes that explain how the interpretations of movements change over time, influencing the potential for the diffusion of tactics from one movement to another. Additionally, movement–movement influence may be constructed subjectively and hence, the individual engagement trajectories of activists can inform the analysis of how past protest influences future campaigns. Even though the practices and tactics that were most characteristic of the movement did not diffuse to subsequent protests, the analysis of the impacts of Occupy in Ireland suggests that the encampments functioned as a space for political training and experimentation which may have durable effects for future protest as well as its participants long after they left Occupy.