Tidal Magazine

TIDAL is a theory and strategy magazine of the Occupy Wall Street movement born in Zuccotti Park in NYC in December 2011 and continues beyond the physical occupation.

There is no radical action without radical thought. TIDAL offers a space for the emergence and discussion of movement-generated theory and practice. It is a strategic platform that weaves together the voices of on-the-ground organizers with those of long-standing theorists to explore the radical possibilities sparked by the occupations of Tunis’ Kasbah, Tahrir, Sol, Syntagma, Zuccotti and their aftermaths.

TIDAL understands that we are engaged in the early stages of an anti-capitalist struggle in the United States and beyond that’s finally capable of ushering in a non-capitalist way of living. In TIDAL, our immediate role is to facilitate movement and action that can transform existing power structures. Our overarching objective lies in locating power and agency with people so that they can determine their own destinies.

In TIDAL, theory is a means of analysis that can enable us to collectively better understand our situation. Strategy follows. It is the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems towards the goals defined in the course of action. Action means the search for, and creation of, ruptures in the existing order. This struggle. Many voices. History. Collectively: imagine.

TIDAL will now live on many platforms from face-to-face conversations to online discussion, regular columns, and printed books but always returning to and centered around the print magazine. In each space, TIDAL creates conversations across life experiences in resistance and building, in negation and affirmation.

Aware that knowledge and time are privileges, TIDAL endeavors to offer challenging ideas in language that’s accessible, and at reasonable length. TIDAL carries us forward, toward the coming uprisings, while remembering and analyzing those we have already lived. It is a critical commons for these intensified times, a collective voice that respects difference and resists oppression. Feel the flow of the moment. Join the current. Rise up with the tide of resistance. Always live and love.

This is a living document.