Our research team is traveling the West Coast of the U.S., interviewing many amazing horizontal participant-leader women of occupy! Beginning December 12, PI Megan Boler landed in Los Angeles and has since met and interviewed six inspiring and diverse women in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and soon more in Oakland and San Francisco. Team members Emil Marmol and Christina Nitsou will also be doing interviews with Occupy women in southern California this month.
Our interviews focus on women’s experiences as central participants in this movement of horizontal leadership, and how and when issues of gender and race are discussed as central to the goals and/or process of the movement. We are particularly interested in women’s roles in admin of social media and communications for Occupy, and whether there is evidence of new forms of feminism or women’s liberation movements. Interview questions include: What were your hopes and motivations when you participating in the Occupy Movement? Are there particular philosophies, books, theories, documentaries of guidance/guidelines that Occupy participants frequently reference? Have you witnessed cross-generational fertilization going on between veteran activist and younger new activists?
Check in soon for our preliminary finding from these 12 interviews with #occupywomen!
