Occupy Edinburgh was a protest against economic and
social inequality
Social inequality occurs when resources within a society are distributed unevenly, often as a result of inequitable allocation practices that create distinct unequal patterns based on socially defined categories of people. Differences in acce ...
as part of the global
Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...
.
The "occupation" began with the erection of a number of tents in
St. Andrew Square on 14 October 2011. The site was chosen because St. Andrew Square is the historic centre of the Edinburgh's financial sector and location of the head branch of the
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
, which was
partly nationalised in 2008 following its role in the
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
.
Journalist Peter Geoghegan visited St. Andrew Square on the second day of its occupation and described the participants:
On the night of 24 November 2011,
Edinburgh City Council
The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up area of Edinburgh, capital of Sco ...
became the first governmental body in the world to grant both the Occupy Edinburgh and the worldwide Occupy Movement official recognition.
On 24 December Occupy Edinburgh activists raised a pirate flag above the nearby RBS Head Branch, claiming it was "it was the work of santa".
[ and ]
The group was urged to leave the site by
Essential Edinburgh, the business group that manages St. Andrew Square, and the
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber's deputy chief executive, Graham Birse, said: "We did not spend all that public money for St Andrew Square to become a campsite for those with nowhere else to go."
On 30 January the group relocated to
The Meadows, a park within Edinburgh, before leaving this site a couple of weeks later ahead of a legal bid to have them evicted by the City Council.
The occupation of St. Andrew Square lasted 108 days.
See also
*
15 October 2011 global protests
The 15 October 2011 global protests were part of a series of protests inspired by the Arab Spring, the Icelandic protests, the Portuguese "Geração à Rasca", the Spanish "Indignants", the Greek protests, and the Occupy movement. The prote ...
*
List of global Occupy movement protest locations
*
"Occupy" protests
The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...
*
Timeline of Occupy Wall Street
The following is a timeline of Occupy Wall Street (OWS), a protest which began on September 17, 2011 on Wall Street, the Financial District, Manhattan, financial district of New York City and included the occupation of Zuccotti Park, where pro ...
*
We are the 99%
"We are the 99%" is a political slogan widely used and coined during the 2011 Occupy movement. The phrase directly refers to the income and wealth inequality in the United States, with a concentration of wealth among the top-earning 1%. It ref ...
*
Occupy Glasgow, another occupy camp in Scotland
*
Climate Camp UK, another protest which targeted RBS in Edinburgh, August 2010
References
External links
Occupy Edinburgh websiteOccupy Edinburgh tumblr
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2011 in Scotland
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
Protests in Scotland
Squatting in Scotland