List of Occupy movement protest locations in the context of "Occupy Movement"

The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of authentic democracy around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and different forms of democracy. The movement has had many different scopes, since local groups often had different focuses, but its prime concerns included how large corporations and the global financial system control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and causes instability.

The first Occupy protest to receive widespread attention, Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, Lower Manhattan, began on 17 September 2011. By 9 October, Occupy protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 951 cities across 82 countries, and in over 600 communities in the United States. Although the movement became most active in the United States, by October 2011 Occupy protests and occupations had started in dozens of other countries across every widely inhabited continent. For the first month, overt police repression remained minimal, but this began to change by 25 October 2011, when police first attempted to forcibly remove Occupy Oakland. By the end of 2011 authorities had cleared most of the major camps, with the last remaining high-profile sites – in Washington, D.C., and in London – evicted by February 2012.

The Occupy movement hand signals are a group of hand signals used by Occupy movement protesters to negotiate a consensus. 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. The signals have been compared to other hand languages used by soldiers, cliques and Wall Street traders.

Between sharing of information on Facebook, Twitter, and other news reports, the hand signals have become common at other Occupy movement protest locations. Some protesters go to neighboring groups to assist in teaching the hand signals along with other general cooperation. There are YouTube videos showing the hand signals, though the signals are not universal at all locations.