What's This Place?
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What’s this place? What’s this place? contents: 02. Introduction 06. the 1 in 12 club Bradford’s radical hub - Bradford. 08. the Trades Club Education, Recreation, Agitation - Hebden Bridge. 10. “Social Centre” – a working class history 12. The Casa - Liverpool. 15. The Kebele - Bristol. 18. so what is this place? 19. the anarchist teapot - Brighton. 20. Cowley Club - Brighton. 26. The Sumac Centre A place where people can meet and talk and plan and change the world! - nottingham. 27. Sustaining social Centres in the long term 29. London Action Resource Centre (LARC) - london. 33. The spring of social centres 35. The Common Place Leeds’ radical, independent social centre - leeds. What’s this place? contents: 40. The Basement - Manchester. 43. The PAD. People’s Autonomous Destination - Cardiff. 44. Chalkboard the successes and failures of a Maryhill community tendency - glasgow. 49. The Seomra Spraoi - Dublin. 51. The Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh (ACE) - Edinburgh. 55. 56a Infoshop, Black Frog and more Local Tradition, Local Trajectories and Us - South London. 59. The Forest cafe - Edinburgh. 62. Star and Shadow Cinema PARTICIPATORAMA - THE NEWEST DEVELOPMENT TO HIT CINEMA IN YEARS - Newcastle. 65. The rampART. Creative Centre and Social Space - London. 69. the london social centre network 73. camberwell squatted centre Yes, we are dreamers… An Invitation. - london. 76. Squats and Spaces Solidarity Day: The Globe as a Temporary Autonomous Zone 79. Autonomous spaces and social centres. So what does it mean to be anti-capitalist? 86. RESOURCES 02. What’s this place? INTRODUCTION WHAT’S THIS Social centres are a vital part of the infrastructure of PLACE radical social movements, and recently in the UK and ? Ireland struggles in our cities and communities have given energy to a whole network of places. This is what this booklet is about – the co-operatives attached, providing lower cost growth of a network of autonomous spaces accommodation. Social centres also have and social centres. The demand to mark out deep roots in struggles for collective, common a place - giving us space to breath, take action space throughout history and connections and experiment with managing our own lives around the world. The most immediate are collectively – is an almost universal desire the occupied centri sociali of Italy and the amongst radical groups today. We are often strong tradition of squats across Europe in called anarchists, anti-capitalists and anti- the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and France Stories from Radical globalisers but these labels don’t really do where cities like Berlin, Barcelona, Milan and justice to the diversity of the projects we are Amsterdam have an impressive array of well Social Centres in building and the kinds of connections and established squats and autonomous political networks of solidarity we are making in the spaces which are a visible part of the city’s the UK and Ireland places we live. political and cultural life. The idea of an autonomous space or social Social centres have also both drawn from and centre is difficult to pin down and the two given resources to, the big recent movements labels are often used inter-changeably. The in the UK and beyond – the squatting and word autonomous is about the demand for free party scenes, anti-roads camps and self-management (the origins of the word the anti-G8, climate action and No Borders autonomy come from auto-nomos – literally movements and their temporary self managed to self-legislate). These autonomous spaces encampments. The squat scene in the UK come in many different forms – small info continues to be an inspiration and important shops and resource centres, radical arts, base for activism, especially in London and music and cinema spaces, large centres with the bigger cities. But in smaller places and meeting spaces and bars, often with housing in the face of repeated, often illegal evictions introduction 03. or a lack of suitable empties, there has been And we have seen the need to respond and ordinated European police action against the repression, many activists wanted something a rise in the number of rented or bought find strong roots for radical politics in our squatting movement. As a response there has more permanent and argued that the two social centres over the last few years. There’s localities to resist oppression and greed and been a European wide call out for a day of approaches were not mutually exclusive. By also connections to socialist, co-operative, to create responses and alternatives. Having action in support of squats and autonomous going permanent through renting or buying punk, DIY, anti-fascist, peace, vegan, and a public space where anti-authoritarian spaces in April 2008 (see page 76). it is true in many cases that we have lost the claimants union movements. It’s a rich and politics are accessible and clearly visible is oppositional culture that goes hand in hand diverse political world which defies any clear key to what it’s all about. Social centres are with squatting. But we have, in many cases, categories. But it’s also important to define vital hubs where connections can be made As our cities also built deeper bonds of solidarity locally, what they are not – with autonomous social in cities which are divided and increasingly especially with those who may not for whatever centres we are not talking about independent controlled by wealth and privilege. As our and neighbourhoods reason come to a squatted space. Debating cafés (however counter cultural they may cities and neighbourhoods face ongoing the effectiveness of this apparently pragmatic seem!), working men’s clubs or community waves of privatisation and gentrification the face ongoing waves response to rapid expansion of corporate centres. opportunities for occupying space becomes capital and police repression remains vitally both increasingly difficult and necessary. of privatisation important. We should also be wary of creating a false division. There are many examples of A huge amount of effort goes into building and gentrification really close, productive links between more Having a and maintaining autonomous spaces. Dealing temporary and permanent spaces where with issues such as openness and cliques, the opportunities there is mutual support and where they feed public space where financial pressures and repression, never off each other’s strengths. mind day to running on a voluntary basis, for occupying anti-authoritarian can mean that being involved with social A recent turning point in the make up of centres is draining and frustrating at times. space becomes both UK social centres was in 2004 when a large politics are accessible Social centres are not about high adrenaline amount of funding was made available activism – they require the more mundane increasingly difficult to set up (mainly rented) explicitly anti- and clearly visible everyday work that often gets overlooked and capitalist social centres as one key element often relies on a small group of committed and necessary of the Dissent! mobilisation against the is key to what it’s all individuals. Opening a space also requires a G8 in Scotland, 2005. It was hoped that confidence in your collective capabilities, a lot these projects would become self sustaining about of learning by doing and constant questioning bases for radical activity and leave a legacy and evolving of the ways we manage them One of the most discussed aspects of the of resources for the UK activist movement. and make them accessible, effective and recent rise of autonomous spaces and social Groups in Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, So what do they aim to do? Social centres functioning. Autonomous spaces also face centres has been the validity of whether Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Edinburgh and come from a demand for spaces for radical a much more ugly and brutal backdrop of to squat or go legal in some form (renting, Glasgow, all received a considerable sum of political debate and action, meetings, increased European wide repression in the buying). This has been a really important and money to start up a project. With varying eating together, grass roots music, mutual last year or so. A recent flashpoint was the tough debate for some years. In the summer degrees of luck, groups in these cities support and information and skill sharing eviction of the long running Ungdomshuset of 2004 in the UK a booklet called “You can’t found and rented spaces – most of them and collective education. They come from a (house of the young) in Denmark in March rent your way out of a social situation” argued identifying as autonomous social centres. common desire to build networks, solidarities 2007 which led thousands onto the street to that rented or bought spaces would weaken For some groups the money was a blessing and movements, make connections and demonstrate for their space, openly expressing the squatting movement and that the latter and they were able to quickly move into a develop our politics with our communities their discontent and their willingness to fight was a more radical and urgent priority. No space they had been wanting for ages, for and cities. We have seen endless waves for their space. Repression against squats doubt there is much truth in this, but in the others it became something of a curse and of property speculation, gentrification, continues to mount in Spain, Germany, face of what seemed like a constant cycle caused conflicts over how best to spend it. dispossession and cuts in welfare services. France and the UK with concerns over co- of short term experiments, evictions and Considering the sums involved, this was 04. What’s this place? always going to be a controversial injection build a network of autonomous spaces and emerged in the early to mid 2000s, the stories several occupied social centres undertaken by of money onto a political scene where money social centres - rented, squatted or bought in this booklet extend beyond them.