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Infoshop
Infoshops are places in which people can access anarchist or autonomist ideas. They are often stand-alone projects, or can form part of a larger radical bookshop, archive, self-managed social centre or community centre. Typically, infoshops offer flyers, posters, zines, pamphlets and books for sale or donation. Other items such as badges, locally produced artworks and T-shirts are also often available. Infoshops can also provide printing and copying facilities for people to produce their own literature or have a meeting space. Infoshops can be found in many cities in North America and Western Europe, and also in other locations around the world such as Australia, Israel and New Zealand. They are self-managed spaces run by volunteers which vary in size and function, depending on local context. Radical spaces An infoshop (the word being a portmanteau of information and shop) is a physical space where people can access radical ideas through flyers, posters, zines, pamphlets and bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-managed Social Centre
Self-managed social centers, also known as autonomous social centers, are self-organized community centers in which anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venues affiliated with anarchism, can include bicycle workshops, infoshops, libraries, free schools, free shops, meeting spaces and concert venues. They often become political actors in their own right. The centers are found worldwide, for example in Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom. They are inspired by various left-wing movements including anarchism and intentional communities. They are squatted, rented, or owned cooperatively. Uses Self-managed social centers vary in size and function depending on local context. Uses can include an infoshop, a radical bookshop, a resource centre offering advice, a hacklab, a café, a bar, an affordable gig space, independent cinema or a housing co-operative. As well as providing a space for activities, these so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Centres In The United Kingdom
Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom can be found in squatted, rented, mortgaged and fully owned buildings. These self-managed social centres differ from community centres in that they are self-organised under anti-authoritarian principles and volunteer-run, without any assistance from the state. The largest number have occurred in London from the 1980s onwards, although projects exist in most cities across the UK, linked in a network. Squatted social centres tend to be quickly evicted and therefore some projects deliberately choose a short-term existence, such as A-Spire in Leeds or the Okasional Café in Manchester. Longer term social centres include the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford, the Cowley Club in Brighton and the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, which are co-operatively owned. The projects draw influences from self-managed centres in Italy, working men's clubs, and anarchist clubs such as the Rose Street Club. Each individual social centre's activities are determi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autonomous Centre Of Edinburgh
The Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, also known as ACE, is an infoshop and autonomous social centre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1997, although it follows on from previous groups. Antecedents ACE formed out of the Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre of the 1980s, which was originally a non-partisan council office, which later split from the council when it became increasingly politicised due to the struggles of the period such as resistance to the poll tax. Glaswegian writer James Kelman gave a speech at the opening of the Edinburgh Unemployed Workers Centre which is featured in Kelman's book ''And the Judges said''. Kelman has publicly expressed support for ACE. Setting Up In a flyer circulated in 1996, ACE stated the following aims for the project: * Advice and solidarity against dole harassment * A meeting place for community-political groups * Radical books, 'zines, and information * A low-cost vegan cafe and drop-in centre * Local arts and crafts * Underground ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy Parsons Center
The Lucy Parsons Center, located in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, is an radical, nonprofit independent bookstore and community center. Formed out of the Red Word bookstore, it is collectively run by volunteers. The Center provides reading material, space for individuals to drop in, and a free space for meetings and events. History The Red Book Store (now the Lucy Parsons Center) began in 1969 in a small one-room basement shop in Central Square, Cambridge. It moved two or three times in the first couple of years, before settling into what would be its home until 1983 in a large space on the corner of River and Pleasant streets in Cambridge. In 1983 the project moved to Jamaica Plain, Boston. It stayed there until May 1994, returning to Central Square, where it stayed four years until it was evicted so the building could be demolished. In May 1998 it moved into a temporary space in Davis Square, Somerville. Davis Square was a temporary location and with sales suffering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forte Prenestino
CSOA Forte Prenestino is a large self-managed social centre based in a squatted fort in Centocelle, Rome. It was occupied on May Day 1986. Forte Prenestino is an "important node of production of cultural and political events" and hosts many groups and events across its 13 hectares. History of fort Forte Prenestina was built between 1880 and 1884. It was one of fifteen Roman forts constructed in this time and never used in battle. By the 1950s it was derelict and from 1977 onwards it was used as a dump by the Municipality of Rome. Occupation CSOA Forte Prenestino was occupied on May 1 1986, during a 'Festival of Non-Work.' CSOA ( Italian: ''Centro Sociale Occupato Autogestito'') means 'Occupied Self-Managed Social Centre.' The squatters cleaned the site and all the rubbish which had been dumped there was removed. Activities The size of the centre allows it to host many groups and activities. In 1996, Steve Wright wrote that: "Forte Prenestino plays an important role in its lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
121 Centre
121 Centre was a squatted self-managed social centre on Railton Road in Brixton, south London from 1981 until 1999. As an anarchist social centre, the venue hosted a bookshop, cafe, infoshop, library, meeting space, office space, printing facility, and rehearsal space. Organisations using the space included Food Not Bombs, Anarchist Black Cross prisoner aid chapters, an anarcho-feminist magazine, a squatters aid organisation, and an anarchist queer group. Regular events at 121 Centre included punk concerts, a women's cafe night, and a monthly queer night. The centre kept a low profile and was one of the longest-lasting squats in London. Original occupation 121 Railton Road was first squatted by Olive Morris in 1973. Sabaar Books was established there before moving elsewhere. The centre then became an anarchist social centre. Activities During the 1981 Brixton riots, the centre was left untouched. In 1983, the centre hosted people coming to London for the Stop the City demonstra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The 1 In 12 Club
The 1 in 12 Club refers to both a members' club and the building in which it is based, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Owned and run by its membership as a collective based upon anarchist principles, its activities include social and political campaigning—most visibly as a hub for the city's May Day activities—and use of the building as a self-managed social centre and host for performing arts. In the 1980s it was one of the main locations for the UK crust and anarcho-punk scene, and in the 1990s played host to much of the country's straight edge metalcore scene. Background The club was formed by members of Bradford's anarchist orientated Claimants Union in 1981. The immediate objectives of the club were to generate and sustain a social scene, accessible and affordable to both the low waged and unemployed. The expectation and hope was that this would in turn encourage the anarchist values of self-management, co-operation and mutual aid. The late 1970s and earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jura Books
Jura Books is an anarchist bookshop and infoshop located in Sydney, Australia. The shop was named after the Jura federation, the federation of workers of the Jura region that associated with Bakunin in the First International. It has operated since August 1977, first on King Street, Newtown, before moving to Parramatta Road, Petersham. Anarchist Resources Incorporated, a non-profit collective, manages the bookshop building, which also includes meeting space and an inherited library collection, The Fanya Baron Library, that was named in honour of Russian anarchist, Fanya Baron. Australian Ethical Investment uses Jura Books as an example of Socially responsible investing practice, stating that Jura is "a major source in Australia for a wide range of affordable books of community and educational interest including the areas of trade unionism, women's rights, environment, permaculture, indigenous peoples' issues, poetry, arts and non-violent revolution." Over the many years of o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cowley Club
The Cowley Club is a libertarian self-managed social centre in Brighton, England. It opened in 2003, providing resources and meeting spaces for groups and individuals active in areas such as workplace and unemployed struggles, international solidarity, animal liberation, ecological defence, feminist and queer activism and opposing the arms trade. Its political identity is close to anarchism or libertarian socialism. It also houses a vegan community café, a bookshop, and free English lessons for migrants. The Cowley Club is named after local activist Harry Cowley and is part of the UK Social Centre Network. In their study of the radical social centre movement in the United Kingdom, academics Stuart Hodkinson and Paul Chatterton characterise the Cowley Club as a similar type of collective-ownership initiative to the London Action Resource Centre (LARC), "with the added dimension of a housing cooperative". Chatterton depicts the club as one of a number of resurgent social centres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1 In 12 Club
The 1 in 12 Club refers to both a members' club and the building in which it is based, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Owned and run by its membership as a collective based upon anarchist principles, its activities include social and political campaigning—most visibly as a hub for the city's May Day activities—and use of the building as a self-managed social centre and host for performing arts. In the 1980s it was one of the main locations for the UK crust and anarcho-punk scene, and in the 1990s played host to much of the country's straight edge metalcore scene. Background The club was formed by members of Bradford's anarchist orientated Claimants Union in 1981. The immediate objectives of the club were to generate and sustain a social scene, accessible and affordable to both the low waged and unemployed. The expectation and hope was that this would in turn encourage the anarchist values of self-management, co-operation and mutual aid. The late 1970s and earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wooden Shoe Books And Records
Wooden Shoe Books and Records, also known as The Wooden Shoe, is an anarchist bookstore and infoshop in Philadelphia. Founded in 1976, the store specializes in radical and non-traditional literature. Wooden Shoe is run by an all-volunteer worker collective that encourages community building and anti-capitalist activism. Description Located on 704 South Street in the South Street district, Wooden Shoe Books is in its third location. The Wooden Shoe has always been primarily political, created with the intention of consolidating published anarchist materials into one location and providing opportunities for community organizing. The shop volunteers its space to local organizations that align with its political goals of challenging systems of oppression. Events include poetry readings, educational discussions, workshops, author talks, and rock shows. The space also features a community board advertising local events such as book clubs and musical performances. The Wooden Shoe h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-managed Social Centres In Italy
Self-managed social centres in Italy exist in many cities. They are part of different left-wing political networks including anarchist, communist, socialist, and autonomist. The centres ( Italian: centri sociali) tend to be squatted and provide self-organised, self-financing spaces for alternative and noncommercial activities such as concerts, exhibitions, farmers' markets, infoshops, and migrant initiatives. Over time, some but not all projects have opted to legalize their status. History Self-managed social centres were first occupied in the mid-1970s in cities such as Milan by groups of young people, both students and unemployed. The social centres in Milan were used for diverse activities such as concerts, films, yoga classes, discussion groups and counselling for drug addicts. They often affiliated themselves with Autonomia Operaia (Workers' Autonomy) and suffered when social movements were repressed following the Years of Lead. A second wave of social centres began i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
