Last Sunday, around 50 people from numerous social centres across the UK gathered at the Common Place social centre in Leeds to discuss what we are doing and how we can work together as a network. A brief report follows.
The social centres gathering at Leeds last Sunday (29 Jan) was the definitive spontaneous event - and a positive step in the creation of a working network of social centres. The Common Place Cinema Collective had scheduled an afternoon of films and discussions on social centres and autonomous centres for Leeds folk and put a call out to other social centres to come along.
No one was expecting many people to come, especially as it was a Sunday and the trains are so shit! But to our collective surprise, our regular cinema-goers were joined by regulars activists from past centres like ex-Grand Banks, Institute for Autonomy, PAD, current spaces like Kebele, LARC, Matilda, Basement, Sumac, Chalkboard, Common Place, Hanover Squares, 1-in-12 and future initiatives in Preston, Liverpool, Newcastle all turned up for an enjoyable and productive afternoon.
After a hearty veggie breakfast, some 60 people watched a montage of clips about social centres and other autonomous spaces from across Europe in the Common Place cinema. It was interesting to see how each centre shares similar objectives in fighting capitalist logic but does so in unique ways. NEWSFLASH: the Common Place Cinema Collective is making copies of its social centre archive available on demand (email stuart [at] riseup.net).
Then, at 4pm, a large meeting took place of social centre activists. Someone from the commonplace began by explaining why they had put a call out to other social centres: "We were putting on these films with the aim of educating ourselves about what we are doing but realised that there have been a few attempts to create a network and we thought this would be a useful contribution to that end".
Someone from each social centre present then gave brief presentations about the background to and history of their particular space. This immediately gave a lot of us a sense of being part of a broader political movement. This was followed by a wide-ranging discussion about what we are trying to achieve, some of the problems and shortfalls involved and in what ways we can work together.
Not everyone agreed on why a network was needed but everyone seemed to think that better communication and sharing of resources was a good start. Many ideas were put forward: video/film sharing; skills sharing; technical support; combined speakers/band tours/art exhibitions; joint-campaigns against gentrification; joint-gatherings in one area to 'do something' positive/ransform a place; shared bar at Big Green Gathering; guide to setting up social centes; citizens user manuals (Glasgow working on one)
There were a number of concrete outcomes:
- there will be a properly facilitated 2-day gathering of social centres/autonomous spaces in approx 3 months time (time/date/venue TBD), which will have a mixture of political discussions, practical skills and resource sharing, and action
- a website working group has been set up to put together a resource-based website incorporating aspects of existing sites in order not to duplicate (contact michael_bakunin [at] hotmail.com to join the WG). The website could have links to and descriptions of past and present spaces, a resource section comprising writings, practical guides, contacts etc, a discussion forum, a newswire (taken from Indymedia free spaces) etc.
- the existing social centres e-list is being updated to function as a working inter-centre list
Actual minutes and a full report should be on its way from those geordies who were there.
No one was expecting many people to come, especially as it was a Sunday and the trains are so shit! But to our collective surprise, our regular cinema-goers were joined by regulars activists from past centres like ex-Grand Banks, Institute for Autonomy, PAD, current spaces like Kebele, LARC, Matilda, Basement, Sumac, Chalkboard, Common Place, Hanover Squares, 1-in-12 and future initiatives in Preston, Liverpool, Newcastle all turned up for an enjoyable and productive afternoon.
After a hearty veggie breakfast, some 60 people watched a montage of clips about social centres and other autonomous spaces from across Europe in the Common Place cinema. It was interesting to see how each centre shares similar objectives in fighting capitalist logic but does so in unique ways. NEWSFLASH: the Common Place Cinema Collective is making copies of its social centre archive available on demand (email stuart [at] riseup.net).
Then, at 4pm, a large meeting took place of social centre activists. Someone from the commonplace began by explaining why they had put a call out to other social centres: "We were putting on these films with the aim of educating ourselves about what we are doing but realised that there have been a few attempts to create a network and we thought this would be a useful contribution to that end".
Someone from each social centre present then gave brief presentations about the background to and history of their particular space. This immediately gave a lot of us a sense of being part of a broader political movement. This was followed by a wide-ranging discussion about what we are trying to achieve, some of the problems and shortfalls involved and in what ways we can work together.
Not everyone agreed on why a network was needed but everyone seemed to think that better communication and sharing of resources was a good start. Many ideas were put forward: video/film sharing; skills sharing; technical support; combined speakers/band tours/art exhibitions; joint-campaigns against gentrification; joint-gatherings in one area to 'do something' positive/ransform a place; shared bar at Big Green Gathering; guide to setting up social centes; citizens user manuals (Glasgow working on one)
There were a number of concrete outcomes:
- there will be a properly facilitated 2-day gathering of social centres/autonomous spaces in approx 3 months time (time/date/venue TBD), which will have a mixture of political discussions, practical skills and resource sharing, and action
- a website working group has been set up to put together a resource-based website incorporating aspects of existing sites in order not to duplicate (contact michael_bakunin [at] hotmail.com to join the WG). The website could have links to and descriptions of past and present spaces, a resource section comprising writings, practical guides, contacts etc, a discussion forum, a newswire (taken from Indymedia free spaces) etc.
- the existing social centres e-list is being updated to function as a working inter-centre list
Actual minutes and a full report should be on its way from those geordies who were there.
