Steven Colatrella

has participated in the Midnight Notes Collective for over 30 years. He is the author of Workers of the World: African and Asian Migrants in Italy in the 1990s, and lives in Padua, Italy.

A Constituent Power Greater Than its Parts: Occupy and Workers from the Port Shutdown to the Primaries

A Constituent Power Greater Than its Parts: Occupy and Workers from the Port Shutdown to the Primaries

From its beginnings in New York City to the recent West Coast Port Shutdown, the Occupy movement has consistently confronted the issue of co-optation. About a month and a half or so ago, many participants voiced worries about being co-opted by MoveOn, the Democrats, unions (to a lesser extent, since they had shown up as allies without seeming to try to monopolize the definition of actions and events), and other groups affiliated with the political parties.