Does your city still have a GA? Is it working?
A team of Denver based Occupiers are conducting a large scale research project to understand Occupy GAs around the country. How many are still going? What are they like? Who attends them? What do they do?
Take our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5NNHZK6
The Project:
The purpose of the research is to gather information about the practices and developments of Occupy General Assembly’s across the country since September 2011. The goal is to learn how GAs have been used within the Occupy movement; to learn why some GAs continued and others discontinued; to learn what procedures and facilitation techniques worked and did not work; to learn what the demographics of Occupy GAs has been and how marginalized communities have been represented; and to compare the GA methods of different Occupies around the country.
Interviews and surveys with participants in Occupy GAs across the country will be used to gather information about the developments of GAs. Surveys will be used to gather information from a large pool of respondents from each Occupy. A smaller number of interviews will ask for more in depth explanations and stories about the processes and development of each GA.
The results will be published on interoccupy, occupy websites, and other outlets.
What we need from you:
We are looking to get as many people as possible who have participated in Occupy and attended a GA to fill out the survey about how GAs have functioned in that city. We want to get survey responses from people in Occupies that still have GAs and Occupies that do not still have GAs.
Spread the word by: mass emails, inclusion in newsletters, endorsements by GAs, facebooks posts, on Occupy websites, or any other methods. If you would like to distribute printed versions of the survey, contact us and we’ll send a printable version.
Be sure to include this link when spreading the word.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5NNHZK6
The Researchers:
This research project is being conducted by Terese Howard and Christopher Mandel. They have participated in at least 500 combined hours of Occupy Denver GAs since September 2011, and are frequent GA facilitators. Both researchers have done sociological research in academic settings before, but are proudly doing this project independent of any institutional structure.
Dick Dick something to consider for your trip
There’s something wrong with the survey. In certain parts, like where it makes you select the ages of participants, it doesn’t let you pick majority/minority/a handful if you have selected the answer for another age group.
@InterOcc I couldn’t use the same response because of the way q’s were laid out. i.e., the gender and age range one
@InterOcc Do people really go to GAs to ask for/get money? Do GAs have money? @global_orgasm #Occupy
@small_affair @InterOcc @global_orgasm From what I have gleaned they do (or did) here in Chicago. But this GA has been way too strange.
@cliffpotts I wish I had been here from day 1 and known anything about fundraising. @InterOcc @global_orgasm
@small_affair @InterOcc @global_orgasm It started with just asking for donations. By Mid Nov Chi had a good bank.
@small_affair @InterOcc @global_orgasm #Occupy I’ve seen working groups ask for funds and hats passed for bail but no money for individuals.
@InterOcc Did anyone conduct a survey about how #Occupy GAs get/use money? I have never seen #ONOLA GA have any $$$$ @global_orgasm
u all need to talk to me…
@InterOcc SF GA ended in October 2012…we hope to bring em back soon