The protestors that comprised the Occupy Wall Street movement came from diverse backgrounds. But how were these activists—who sought radical social change through many ideologies—able to break down oppressions and obstacles within the movement? And in what ways did the movement perpetuate status-quo structures of inequality?  

Are We the 99%? is the first comprehensive feminist and intersectional analysis of the Occupy movement. Heather McKee Hurwitz considers how women, people of color, and genderqueer activists struggled to be heard and understood. Despite cries of “We are the 99%,” signaling solidarity, certain groups were unwelcome or unable to participate. Moreover, problems with racism, sexism, and discrimination due to sexuality and class persisted within the movement.  

Using immersive first-hand accounts of activists’ experiences, online communications, and media coverage of the movement, Hurwitz reveals lessons gleaned from the conflicts within the Occupy movement. She compares her findings to those of other contemporary protest movements—nationally and globally—so that future movements can avoid infighting and deploy an “intersectional imperative” to embrace both diversity and inclusivity.

This volume reimagines conventional academic forms to highlight creative-critical approaches grounded in queer, antiracist, transfeminist, and decolonial frameworks. 

Creative Critical Interventions for Social Justice is an edited volume grounded in a commitment to politically engaged research. It examines knowledge that is often excluded from conventional academic production and explores the potential for creative critical writing and cultural production to advance social justice-focused research and practice. It highlights creative-critical research by queer and/or racialized scholars, accompanied by reflections on the possibilities and pitfalls of drawing on researcher positionality in knowledge production. 

An exploration of how the Iranian people have renewed their longtime struggle for freedom

The Woman, Life, Freedom uprising is only the latest manifestation of a century-long struggle for liberation in Iran. This ongoing movement for justice has encompassed two revolutions against domestic dictatorship and foreign imperialism, as well as a series of uprisings since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which was followed by a new era of repression. Post/Revolutionary Conditions: Renewed Visions of the Iranian Freedom Struggle offers an intersectional analysis of how progressive and radical movement builders have reenvisioned liberation in the post-’79 era, despite new forms of oppression under the Islamic Republic and from US and other foreign imperial powers. Bringing together a diverse array of sources, including oral histories with Iranian labor, student, and gender justice organizers, as well as resistance literature and art, Alborz Ghandehari challenges narratives that treat working-class, feminist, queer, and oppressed ethnic minorities’ movements as separate from one another. Post/Revolutionary Conditions demonstrates how such potent reimaginings of collective liberation and a radically democratic future have been shaped by multiple generations of protest and kindred struggles globally.

In Untangling the Intangible a diverse group of authors focuses on new and rigorous ways to approach religion, beliefs, and ideology in archaeology. Reconstructing the human experience from archaeologically recovered materials is a complex task that can only benefit by making use of all available avenues of inquiry. To that end, the authors of this volume model inclusive discussions that recognize the inherent overlap, intersectionality, and co-constitutive relationship among the widely considered “intangibles” of culture: ideas, beliefs, ideology, and religion. The material and tangible aspects of these related elements inform human behavior and should not be treated independently because they constitute different and equal parts of a cognitive mosaic that forms the basis of the human experience.

The chapters encompass an array of research topics, geographical settings (Crete, Eurasia, the eastern Mediterranean, Madagascar, Mexico, and Mongolia), and temporal periods and highlight how practices associated with religious and ideological beliefs have shaped human societies across space and time. By focusing on multiple scales of inquiry and novel ways of accessing the material expressions of cultural phenomena and addressing underrepresented themes, this book challenges existing approaches and perspectives on the topic and directs future researchers to grapple with these elements as integral to researching the past.

Emphasizing a more comprehensive study of religious and ideological aspects of material culture, Untangling the Intangible highlights the potential for a more holistic understanding of the past and for approaching the very aspects that make us human through archaeology.

Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the von Bothmer Publication Fund of the Archaeological Institute of America.