[matilda] Where now for social centres? Films & discussions at the Common Place Leeds 29 January

[Stuart Hodkinson]

A call out to all social centre activists and interested people in the 
UK...please forward widely
(see below)

*Social centres and autonomous spaces in the UK: where next after 
Gleneagles?*

Sunday 29 January
The Common Place social centre
23-25 Wharf Street
Leeds
www.thecommonplace.org.uk

*"Crash accommodation is available for people wanting to travel down on 
the Saturday or stay Sunday night"*
*"Donations to the cinema will be shared out to help cover travel costs"*

Across Britain, people are buying, renting or squatting disused, empty 
buildings in city and town centres and turning them into vibrant 
political and residential spaces run by volunteers such as ‘social 
centres’, 'infoshops', and 'resource centres'. Inspired by many 
influences, from anarchist principles of mutual aid and self-management 
to Italian autonomism, these spaces often provide free or cheap food, 
regular film and gig nights, political meeting spaces, libraries, free 
shops and independent media groups. Following recent attempts to boost 
their number in the run-up to the G8 protests in Scotland, social 
centres in particular are rapidly becoming a key battle ground in 
anticapitalist struggle. Why have these spaces emerged? What can they 
achieve? Are they activist ghettoes, radical community centres or 
something else? We will show films and clips from across Europe about 
the rise and experience of social centres and the like, and invite 
activists from across the UK’s social, resource and radical info-centres 
are invited to come and share their experiences and ambitions.

Day programme:

11am - 2pm Veggie Breakfast (regular cafe collective event) - read the 
sunday papers with a full 'inglish' and a Zapatista coffee

2pm - 3.45pm Films: clips from the UK (Aspire, Rampart, Summac, 1 in 12, 
The Basement, PAD, OARC) and across Europe (Canmasdeu, Christiania, 
Forte Prenestino, Molli etc)

4pm - 6pm Discussion: provisional agenda (please send on ideas)

    * Why social centres and other kinds of autonomous spaces?
    * What are our experiences so far?
    * Where next for these spaces?
    * How can we work together? e.g. do we need a national network or
      website?

6pm onwards Social and evening meal

including:

7pm Film: The Killing Fields (1984; dir. Roland Joffe)

/New York Times/ reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is covering 
the secret US bombing campaign in Cambodia. After having persuaded his 
Cambodian assistant, friend and interpreter, Dith Pran (Dr. Haing S. 
Ngor) to remain behind with him to help cover the story after the 
communist Khmer Rouge takeover and withdrawal of US military forces, 
Schanberg unintentionally betrays his aide by miscalculating the 
situation. They are separated and Pran is forced to remain when 
Schanberg and other American journalists and Westerners evacuate to 
escape a life-threatening situation in occupied-Cambodia during the fall 
of Phnom Penh in 1975. The film chronicles unforgettable scenes of 
suffering endured during the Cambodian bloodbath (known as "Year Zero") 
that killed 3 million Cambodians.

********

This started out as a local event but there has been such interest 
coming from existing social centres to make it a serious networking 
event that we decided to put a call out for a 'national gathering'. We 
really want to see as many people as possible coming up from previous 
and current spaces Kebele, OARC, PAD, Rampart, LARC, The Basement, 
Matilda, ACE, ASBO, Sumac, Cowley, Chalkboard, etc etc - everyone is 
warmly welcome.

    * there is a saturday night fundraiser for the common place (28th
      January)
    * accommodation will be provided
    * affordable food and drink - we will hopefully have a temporary licence
    * contribution to travel costs from donations taken at the cinema

If you are planning to come, please let us know so we can plan for crash 
accommodation and food.
RSVP to stuart at riseup.net or ring 07775886617