A new social center for London

squat the lot | 17.12.2007 12:56 | Free Spaces | London

Things appear to be on a low ebb in terms of social centers in London and with the rampART likely to be closing within the next month or so, it is clearly time to open a new space.

Ideally, a city this size would have many squatted social centers but at the very least two or three at any one time so that the loss of one is covered by the existence of the others able to absorb the events and resources of an evicted space until yet another is opened. Unfortunately things appear to be on a low ebb in London and with the rampART likely to be closing soon, it's time to open another.

While smaller meetings can probably transfer fairly painlessly to LARC, things like Food Not Bombs and the weekly samba band practice are going to be much harder to relocate.

There is a meeting at the rampART tonight (Monday 17th) at 7pm which aims to look at the future of the rampART, both in terms of the current building and it's users but also thinking ahead to the possibility of a new building. After the meeting there will be a call out for people interested in setting up a new space somewhere but it would be good if such people attended the meeting tonight.

The call out will also ask people to keep their eyes open for empties that might make good social centers and it will also ask people to volunteer storage space and transport.

squat the lot

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

yep

17.12.2007 13:51

a few of us are looking for the new year. not keen to say where, but keep yer ears to the ground...!

fjwimcaphauaovnoav

The problem with

17.12.2007 16:13

the squatting scene and indeed the whole movement in London to me seems to be an overiding paranoia and cilqueniess. I am in my mid 40`s and been politically active since my teens,however,I seem to feel constantly excluded from meetings and the like because of my age and perhaps my dress,as I no longer dress in the uniform of a lifestyle anarchist(black hood,fatigues and boots. Because I dress smart casual in hemp clothing I am constantly being looked upon in these type of open meetings as a lackey of the state and because I have chosen to keep a low profile over the decades(I feel this to be paramount if I am to take up direct action as I cannot be identified by grasses or the state.)I`d rather not be a celebrity anarchist like Ian Bone. In short,please try to be more inclusive as the London scene can be a bit ageist. I don`t think the state and police bother too much in sending thier spies along when they seem to glean the majority of thier information through arrests and street searches. Strenght comes from within.

Concerned aging citizen

Center?

17.12.2007 17:12

It's spelt "Centre".

Yes I am a linguistic fascist. US spellings make my eyes bleed.

pedant

Just a thought...

17.12.2007 17:43

Anarchists always complain that communists and socialists become preoccupied with their publications to the extent that 'selling the paper' becomes the reason for existence rather than a means of propogating the message. Anarchists and autonomists often end up with the same relationship to social centres, where finding, maintaining and not losing the centre becomes the be all and end all of their politics...

Anti-imperialist

lifestyle/aesthetics etc

18.12.2007 08:36

re. the guy in mid-forties - i've been involved in social centres for a few years and i can say that although there are a lot of subcultural kids, i look relatively normal. no black hoodies, no ripped jeans. only long-ish hair.

to 'anti-imperialist' - hmm. i wouldn't say that's true. the social centres movement (if you can really call it that) is about making a positive impact in your own community. now the Ex-Vortex i think, for all its faults, made some good progress towards this. some previous centres have been a bit too much focussed on the pure struggle of squatting per se, but more recent centres like the Ex-Vortex have moved far more towards a better model of inclusion and participation. i think socialists and communists (althoguh remember anarchists are communists too!) can learn from the efforts of the anarchists in attempting to create such spaces autonomously from institutions of the state and so on. i hope any future centres continue and elaborate in this positive direction. i'll certainly push it that way if a local one springs up near me...

bob

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