Thinking
Keynotes and talks on activism, technology, and social change. Past venues include the World Economic Forum, OECD, and Princeton.
Micah Bornfree, PhD
Activist • Technologist • Strategist
MICAH BORNFREE
I co-created Occupy Wall Street, taught activism at Princeton and UCLA, and wrote The End of Protest. Today, as Micah Bornfree, I'm exploring what comes next at the intersection of activism, crypto, and AI.
What I Do
Consulting
Advising organizations navigating the intersection of social activism and AI.
Creating
Building OutcryAI.com to explore how activism evolves in the age of artificial intelligence.
Biography
WORK AND DIRECTION
In 2011, I co-created Occupy Wall Street, a global movement that spread to over 80 countries and 1,000 cities. I also conceived the activist debt forgiveness tactic later used by Rolling Jubilee and Undue Medical Debt. That work led to my book, The End of Protest, published in English, German, and Greek.
Along the way I co-founded Activist School, taught at Bard, UCLA, and Princeton, and held fellowships including the Roddenberry Fellowship and Voqal Fellowship. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Guardian.
I hold a PhD in Media and Communications from the European Graduate School and a BA in Philosophy from Swarthmore College.
Today my focus has shifted to the technologies reshaping collective mobilization. I work as a cryptocurrency advisor, an AI consultant and participate in AI safety programs with OpenAI and Anthropic. I am building OutcryAI to explore how activism evolves in the age of AI.
Selected Talks
PAST SPEAKING
Selected talks from conferences, universities, and literary festivals worldwide.
World Economic Forum
Davos, Switzerland
OECD Forum
Paris, France
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde, Denmark
OLA Super Conference
Toronto, Canada
Ground Festival
The Hague, Netherlands
Melbourne Writer's Festival
Melbourne, Australia
Antidote Festival
Sydney, Australia
"Making Protest Work"
Princeton University
"Power of the People"
University of Chicago
EARCOS Global Issues Network
Bali, Indonesia
Ideas City Festival
New York City, NY
V3DAY Rally (40,000+ attendees)
Genoa, Italy
Archive
PAST WRITINGS & INTERVIEWS
Selected articles, essays, and interviews from twenty years of writing about activism. My views on many of these topics have evolved, changed and morphed over the years.
Essays
Interviews
Activism Theory
Adbusters
Frequently Asked
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Who co-created Occupy Wall Street?
Micah Bornfree (formerly Micah White) co-created Occupy Wall Street in 2011 while serving as editor at Adbusters magazine. The movement spread to 82 countries and over 1,000 cities worldwide, becoming one of the largest protest movements of the 21st century.
What is clicktivism?
Clicktivism is the practice of reducing activism to online clicks, shares, and petitions — prioritizing digital metrics over real-world impact. Micah Bornfree popularized this critique in his 2010 Guardian essay “Clicktivism Is Ruining Leftist Activism,” arguing that digital-only activism commodifies dissent.
What is The End of Protest about?
The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution (2016) argues that contemporary protest tactics have become ineffective and predictable. The book proposes a theory of “constructive failure” — that movements like Occupy succeeded by revealing the limits of existing protest methods, forcing activists to innovate.
What is constructive failure?
Constructive failure is a framework developed by Micah Bornfree to analyze how social movements that appear to “fail” can actually succeed by exposing the limitations of existing protest tactics and forcing innovation. Occupy Wall Street is the paradigmatic example.
How does AI relate to activism?
Micah Bornfree works at the intersection of AI and activism through OutcryAI, exploring how artificial intelligence transforms collective action. He participates in AI safety programs with OpenAI and Anthropic, bringing activist perspectives to AI red-teaming.
What is the Rolling Jubilee?
The Rolling Jubilee is a debt-forgiveness activism tactic conceived by Micah Bornfree, in which activists raise funds to purchase distressed debt at pennies on the dollar and then abolish it. The concept was later adopted by organizations including Undue Medical Debt.
Contact
GET IN TOUCH
For select speaking engagements, consulting, and media inquiries.
micah@micahbornfree.com
