Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests
The essay analyzes concepts of social justice, which were influential during the US-American Occupy protests of 2011. It discusses the recent genealogy of notions of social justice in the alter-globalization movements of the 1990s and argues that constitutive elements of Occupy’s tactics, like carni...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13982 |
| _version_ | 1797310329137397760 |
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| author | Andreas Beer |
| author_facet | Andreas Beer |
| author_sort | Andreas Beer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The essay analyzes concepts of social justice, which were influential during the US-American Occupy protests of 2011. It discusses the recent genealogy of notions of social justice in the alter-globalization movements of the 1990s and argues that constitutive elements of Occupy’s tactics, like carnivalesque frivolity, recurred to protest forms of that decade. The essay investigates how the usage of the Guy Fawkes-mask, later associated with the comic superhero V, complicates binary logics of good and evil, arguing that such binary narratives helped in the organizational phase of the protests, but turned out to be inimical to further discussions of what constitutes social justice in the 21st century. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85a0ff1742ed4dc8b0539c9fdb769fde |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:23Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-85a0ff1742ed4dc8b0539c9fdb769fde2024-02-14T13:21:51ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933613410.4000/ejas.13982Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street ProtestsAndreas BeerThe essay analyzes concepts of social justice, which were influential during the US-American Occupy protests of 2011. It discusses the recent genealogy of notions of social justice in the alter-globalization movements of the 1990s and argues that constitutive elements of Occupy’s tactics, like carnivalesque frivolity, recurred to protest forms of that decade. The essay investigates how the usage of the Guy Fawkes-mask, later associated with the comic superhero V, complicates binary logics of good and evil, arguing that such binary narratives helped in the organizational phase of the protests, but turned out to be inimical to further discussions of what constitutes social justice in the 21st century.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13982comicsAlan Moorealter-globalizationgraphic justiceGuy Fawkesmask |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Beer Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests European Journal of American Studies comics Alan Moore alter-globalization graphic justice Guy Fawkes mask |
| title | Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests |
| title_full | Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests |
| title_fullStr | Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests |
| title_short | Just(ice) Smiling? Masks and Masking in the Occupy-Wall Street Protests |
| title_sort | just ice smiling masks and masking in the occupy wall street protests |
| topic | comics Alan Moore alter-globalization graphic justice Guy Fawkes mask |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/13982 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreasbeer justicesmilingmasksandmaskingintheoccupywallstreetprotests |