The progressive stack is a technique used to give marginalized groups a greater chance to speak.
The progressive stack technique attempts to counter what its proponents believe is a flaw in traditional representative democracy, where the majority is heard while the minority or non-dominant groups are silenced or ignored.
[2][3] The "stack" in the Occupy movement is the list of speakers who are commenting on proposals or asking questions in public meetings.
In meetings that don't use the progressive stack, people typically speak in the order they were added to the queue.
[4] A. Barton Hinkle, a columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, has expressed the opinion that "lining up speakers by race and gender might not seem fair on an individual level", and suggests that proponents of the progressive stack care more about class struggle than individual concerns.