Occupy movement hand signals

Occupy movement hand signals, grouped by function.

The Occupy movement hand signals are a group of hand signals used by Occupy Wall Street protesters to negotiate a consensus.[1][2][3] The signals have been equated with other hand languages used by soldiers, cliques, or even Wall Street traders.[4] Hand signals are used instead of conventional audible signals, like applause, shouts, or booing, because they do not interrupt the speaker using the human microphone, a system where the front of the crowd repeats the speaker so that the content can be heard at the back of the crowd. Between sharing of information on Facebook, Twitter, and other news reports, the hand signals have become common at other Occupy movement protest locations.[5][6][7][8] Some protesters go to neighboring groups to assist in teaching the hand signals along with other general cooperation.[9] There are YouTube videos showing the hand signals, though the signals are not universal at all locations.[10][11]

Example signals

Diagram of Occupy movement hand signals used in London 2011.

Twinkles and down twinkles are referred to as a "temperature check". They indicate if a group is getting close to consensus. Twinkles are also known as "sparkle" or spirit fingers.[13]

Origins

In addition to commonalities with various sign languages, and cultural gestures, these or similar hand signals have been used by other groups and events prior to the Occupy Wall Street protests. These include:

See also

References

  1. Occupy Portland -Down Twinkles, YouTube Video, Occupy Portland Media Coalition, Last viewed November 1, 2011
  2. Colbert Report interview with Occupy Wall Street protesters Justin Weedus and Ketchup, October 31, 2011 at 7:00 et seq.
  3. Erin Alberty, “Occupy SLC protesters vilify elite, camp with destitute” The Salt Lake Tribune, October 28, 2011
  4. "Water Cooler Wars: Occupy hand signals » Anderson Independent Mail". Independentmail.com. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  5. DOUG WARD, Vancouver Sun October 17, 2011 (2011-10-17). "Human mike, hand signals unify Occupy Vancouver crowd". Vancouversun.com. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  6. Andrew, Susan. "Checking out Occupy Asheville's 'General Assembly' | Mountain Xpress | Asheville, NC". Mountainx.com. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  7. Poisson, Jayme (2011-10-22). "Hands up, Toronto". thestar.com. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  8. "The Literature Of Occupy Wall Street | The Prague Post Blogs". Praguepost.com. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  9. Woolfolk, Daniel (2011-11-04). "Occupy Oceanside to Send Delegates to Occupy North County - Camp Pendleton, CA Patch". Camppendleton.patch.com. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  10. 1 2 ekai (2011-10-05). "Consensus Decision-Making Hand Signals Explained at #OccupySF". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  11. KimBoekbinder. "Occupy Wall Street - Hand Signals". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-11-17.
  12. "Reaching Consensus". October 17, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  13. Chris Barton "'Occupy Auckland' protest speaks with many voices", New Zealand Herald, October 29, 2011
  14. Francesca Polletta, Freedom Is an Endless Meeting: Democracy in American Social Movements, University of Chicago Press, 2002
  15. "Signos asamblearios". 15Mpedia. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  16. 1 2 Howker, Ed (2011-04-10). "Hands up to protest". Guardian Online (London). Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  17. Schwartz, Mattathias (2011-11-28). "Pre-Occupied. The origins and future of Occupy Wall Street.". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.