This weekend, around 100 people arrived from around the UK to a lovely squatted building in Leeds for a squat network gathering. Our presence was bold with a banner across the side of the place reading 'There is a lot of 'money' (crossed out, inserted 'people') in this building'. A blank agenda on the wall was gradually filled with interesting discussion/workshop ideas, and most of them took place in the sunshine outside! I did not stay until the very end of the gathering, so there might be a need for additions to this report. Here is a summary of some of the significant outcomes from each discussion.
What to do next with the network
The feeling was positive, that a network of networks was a good thing to have. The decision was taken to aim for two of these big gatherings every year and Manchester squatters will host the next one which will be the last weekend 27th 28th of September. Different methods of communication will be used and it is down to local groups to work out the best ways to build their network. A newsletter for the network will be distributed- send news to 325collective[at]hush.com Also email squatmeetup[at]googlemail.com to be on general email list.
The network aims to build support for fighting evictions, it may come together for mass action and it will share skills. A lot of the inspiration for these networking around neighbourhood ideas come from other cities in Europe. For example, The Barcelona scene uses an Info Usurpa which is a weekly calendar that is circulated- the calendar cover all the events that will happen around different squats of the area and it is put up for everyone to see. Canada is starting one as well.
Days of Action
The network will respond to the international callout for days of action for squats and autonomous spaces, by having local actions that each area will sort out themselves. The call out is for 11th and 12th April and came from squatters who met from 25 different countries across Europe, see
http://april2008.squat.net/en/ for more. The UK network will coordinate only in terms of media for this one, with a press release to be circulated.
Gender Issues in the scene
Many people felt that however well-meaning this squat scene is, it is important to remember that it takes a bit of effort to break down borders between us, such as gendered ones. Some tips were shared for doing this; eg. It can be re-assuring for many queer people to see an explicit rejection of discrimination in free spaces, such as a sign telling people to leave their discriminations at the door. There was also general consensus that it is important to make time for skill sharing, because for a lot of people, the beauty of autonomous political action (doing things for yourself) is that the way you do things is just as important, if not more important, than the end product, this was summed up in the comment 'I would rather sleep outside than in a squat that i didn't feel empowered to break'. On this point, some people felt that a false sense of urgency when breaking a squat is no excuse for one skilled person to dominate. There was agreement to try not to judge by appearance, eg. An anarchist wearing a stolen nike jumper answers to themselves. There was discussion about the role of humour and how useful it can be for challenging current power dynamics.
Drugs in the scene
Some people felt that the scene can be divided over this issue. Not everyone saw this as a bad thing though- most felt that there is no problem with having lots of different squats covering different needs. The general consensus was that these squats can still support each other and people are not fixed in either type but have a bit of both. The discussion covered the issue of having safe spaces for children- it was noted that it is important not to dismiss single mothers on the grounds that they will get council housing quickly- it can be misleading because they will often be desperate for other choices eg of location.
Other topics that were covered;
Lifestyle V's Political motive V's Necessity
Resistance Culture
Plumbing
Social Centres
Breaking out of the scene
Blags and scams
Health and safety
Skipping
(not all of these topics were covered as planned so they could come up again at the Manchester gathering)
The feeling was positive, that a network of networks was a good thing to have. The decision was taken to aim for two of these big gatherings every year and Manchester squatters will host the next one which will be the last weekend 27th 28th of September. Different methods of communication will be used and it is down to local groups to work out the best ways to build their network. A newsletter for the network will be distributed- send news to 325collective[at]hush.com Also email squatmeetup[at]googlemail.com to be on general email list.
The network aims to build support for fighting evictions, it may come together for mass action and it will share skills. A lot of the inspiration for these networking around neighbourhood ideas come from other cities in Europe. For example, The Barcelona scene uses an Info Usurpa which is a weekly calendar that is circulated- the calendar cover all the events that will happen around different squats of the area and it is put up for everyone to see. Canada is starting one as well.
Days of Action
The network will respond to the international callout for days of action for squats and autonomous spaces, by having local actions that each area will sort out themselves. The call out is for 11th and 12th April and came from squatters who met from 25 different countries across Europe, see
http://april2008.squat.net/en/ for more. The UK network will coordinate only in terms of media for this one, with a press release to be circulated. Gender Issues in the scene
Many people felt that however well-meaning this squat scene is, it is important to remember that it takes a bit of effort to break down borders between us, such as gendered ones. Some tips were shared for doing this; eg. It can be re-assuring for many queer people to see an explicit rejection of discrimination in free spaces, such as a sign telling people to leave their discriminations at the door. There was also general consensus that it is important to make time for skill sharing, because for a lot of people, the beauty of autonomous political action (doing things for yourself) is that the way you do things is just as important, if not more important, than the end product, this was summed up in the comment 'I would rather sleep outside than in a squat that i didn't feel empowered to break'. On this point, some people felt that a false sense of urgency when breaking a squat is no excuse for one skilled person to dominate. There was agreement to try not to judge by appearance, eg. An anarchist wearing a stolen nike jumper answers to themselves. There was discussion about the role of humour and how useful it can be for challenging current power dynamics.
Drugs in the scene
Some people felt that the scene can be divided over this issue. Not everyone saw this as a bad thing though- most felt that there is no problem with having lots of different squats covering different needs. The general consensus was that these squats can still support each other and people are not fixed in either type but have a bit of both. The discussion covered the issue of having safe spaces for children- it was noted that it is important not to dismiss single mothers on the grounds that they will get council housing quickly- it can be misleading because they will often be desperate for other choices eg of location.
Other topics that were covered;
Lifestyle V's Political motive V's Necessity
Resistance Culture
Plumbing
Social Centres
Breaking out of the scene
Blags and scams
Health and safety
Skipping
(not all of these topics were covered as planned so they could come up again at the Manchester gathering)
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