The Global Justice Movement and Occupy Wall Street: spillover, spillout, or coalescence?

This article examines the interactions of the Global Justice Movement (GJM) and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and investigates whether these linkages sparked spillover, spillout, or a coalescence of these movements.1 After discussing these competing arguments and outlining their observable implications, I present the empirical evidence concerning these movements, evaluating overlapping actors, frames, targets, and tactical repertoires and dynamics in protest mobilization levels. I conclude that the relationship between the GJM and OWS is best characterized as a symbiotic coalescence and not as a spillover or spillout. These movements shared many commonalities and were each influenced by one another. It is noteworthy that OWS benefited more from the crossmovement ties than the GJM. Moreover, the rise of OWS occurred after the demobilization of the GJM. Although both OWS and GJM took advantage of their coalescence in working to mobilize supporters, the GJM may have missed some opportunities to capitalize on the popularity of OWS in re-mobilizing participants. The underlying network of OWS has been preserved and retains a lot of untapped potential, which can be used in future waves of activism.