From 'Corruption' to 'Democracy': Cultural Values, Mobilization, and the Collective Identity of the Occupy Movement

The study focuses on the evaluative dimension of social movements. The central question is: How do values and ideas shape collective identity during the process of mobilization? This issue is examined in three steps: in the first step, we investigate the relationship between cultural values and collective identities from a sociological perspective. In the second step, the discussion shifts to the influence of general value commitments on the mobilization of the Occupy movement in the USA. Based on a content analysis of text material from two sources-magazine articles and Tactical Briefings from the Adbusters Media Foundation's website-we examine similarities and differences in cultural orientations. In the third step, we analyse the central value relations in the discursive space that shaped the collective identity of the Occupy movement.