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The nationwide Occupy movement that took off in the US in late 2011 – inspired in part by popular movements around the world – has changed the landscape of our work. It signals a vastly increased receptivity to socialist ideas, and has sparked bursts of defiant energy in unexpected places. But it has yet to channel such power-resources into an agency capable of mounting a true challenge to the powers that be – one that can survive bad moments, attract newly aroused populations, develop a lasting structure and culture, and eventually become capable of reorganizing the society.

Fabian Balardini is Assistant Professor of Economics at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of Oil Price Cycles: 1973-2010: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation using Marx's Theory of Value. <ABalardini@bmcc.cuny.edu>