In fact, early on, Eric pointed out that the "big A anarchists" against whom Graeber contrasts "small a anarchists" were critical of OWS. [1]
Additionally, there's this really interesting article I read recently that looks at some of the "Dear OWS" letters sent by crimethinc, etc.
A letter to OWS: http://permanentcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/11/open-letter-to-occupy-movement.html (this from the same blog, I think, that Eric pointed out to clarify the anarchist business early on.)
I also noticed an interesting article about the presence of anarchists at Oakland since the beginning. There's also a 15 minute video produced by some anonymous anarchist and sent to Crimethinc. They bill it as anarchist agitprop - the focus is heavy on attacking capitalism - suggesting that there is at least one place in the country where the Occupy movement has been heavily influenced by anarchism of the sort the big As approve of. In this, they are talking about the declaration Oakland Commune.
The video is agitprop to send the message that the problem OWS is facing can't be fixed by legislation. The problem is capitalism. It's also a critique of work from an anarchist perspective, as evident by the Oakland anti-capitalist banner: "If we can't live, we won't work. In the video it's "this is about jobs or more jobs or better jobs. it's about what we can do together."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7Ev8Bg4nT6w#!
http://viewpointmag.com/the-insurrection-oakland-style/ Anarchists
<quote> The efforts and effects of the anarchist tradition in the Bay Area cannot be ignored, neither in the case of Oscar Grant nor #OccupyOakland. There are hundreds of anarchists active in “street level” actions; hundreds more working in various corporate, non-profit, alternative, and other industries that bring money, logistical support, and experience when needed; and hundreds still who are engaged in their own projects, communities, and building families.
The presence of such a high concentration of anarchists at radical or potentially explosive demonstrations has influenced how people protest. To be sure, not every person at a demo is an anarchist, far from it, but many have adopted anarchist practice. Masking up, wearing black, and working in teams has created a safer and more disciplined force. The attendance of anarchist street medics, propagandists, and experienced street fighters adds a level of infrastructural and logistical support that makes actions on the streets feel supported and emboldened. Traditionally organizing on egalitarian and non-hierarchical planes, as well as a familiarity with consensus process, have facilitated the creation of a strong general assembly. The creation of solidarity groups for those arrested at actions, and access to the legal network that years of Bay Area activism created has been key in movement progress. In both social movements the anarchist presence has been an important, though by far not the only, element to any success.
This is not to say that an anarchist presence in the Bay Area has not had its troubles in recent years. The attempt by the state to brand anarchists as “outsiders” failed in the buildup of Operation Verdict, but did highlight racial and class issues that people are still confronting. Furthermore there was a successful attempt to brand anarchists has violent, although this was just one more step in a process dating back hundreds of years to redefine “anarchism” in the negative. Still, the only contact that many people have had with anarchists is the images presented by the media of “black-clad hooligans destroying things.” The insurrectionary anarchist current that is alive within the Bay has showed itself as a trend of attack, security culture, and tightknit networks. In the past it was inward focusing and only surfaced in times of action, although the presence of many insurrectionists at the general assemblies and their use of violence in a form different from that of property destruction does give credence to the idea that this trend is maturing.
[1] They continue to be critical of much at OWS, just as, say, Democratic Socialist are, or the Marxist sectarians on the Demands Working Group are. But if Demands gets its jobs for all thing going and something gets underway, that is the point no? To advance something you don't think is advanced enough. "Struggles and wishes of the age" as the old man said - when he was young!
-- http://cleandraws.com Wear Clean Draws ('coz there's 5 million ways to kill a CEO)