Occupying the Commons is a project supported by the International University College of Turin (IUC http://www.iuctorino.it/),
a program dedicated to the study and practice of the Commons. The aim
of the project is to explore the connection between the occupation
movements of 2011 & 2012 with the paradigm of the "commons."
The
first part of the series begins with an Occupation in Rome at the
Teatro Valle, the oldest theater in Italy and one of the most important
theaters in all of Europe: http://www.teatrovalleoccupato.it/.
Table Bed Chair is a documentary about the squatter scene of Amsterdam. The film combines insights into the history of the squatter movement and its particularly well developed autonomous structures and practices with a focus on the extraordinary legalsituation in the Netherlands."Squatting is taking over an empty house, basically." With this statement, cool and precise at once, the viewer is introduced to the world of the ‘krakers’, as Amsterdam’s squatters are called.
Table Bed Chair sketches a documentary portrait of the movement by inquiring into ideological approaches and real-world alternatives to existing social structures. Explosive archival footage traces the historical roots of the movement to its climax in the volatile years of the 1980s when up to 10.000 krakers lived in squatted houses in Amsterdam.Contrasting interviews are used to explore differing points of view on issues such as self-organisation, autonomy and ideology, as well as violence as a legitimate means in the struggle.
"Squatting will go on!" For decades, this has been the national rallying cry of the Dutch squatters' movement. But if a current parliamentary majority has its way, their activities will soon be dealt a swift and lethal blow. Radio Netherlands (with another video).
Dutch squatters are under fire. After a series of incidents surrounding evictions, a majority in the lower house of parliament is in favour of a ban on squatting. "They should just keep their hands off other people's property." The squatting scene is in shock.
The words of Christian Democrat MP Jan Ten Hoopen sum up the anti-squatting mood. "Squatting has become far too blunt an instrument to combat speculation. It doesn't suit the times any more. It causes annoyance and inconvenience, and a lot of damage that can't be recouped."He has the wind behind him, following a series of turbulent evictions in Amsterdam, the bastion of the squatters' movement. Apart from being on the receiving end of what has become a traditional barrage of paint bombs, the Amsterdam police claim that unpleasant surprises awaited them once they entered the buildings. According to Chief of Police Hans Schönfeld, the police encountered "booby traps and snares, which in one case actually enabled the squatters to make the ceiling collapse". Squatting ban threatened after eviction incidents
To what extent today do you think squatters are appreciated or demonized?
"I think in Amsterdam they are still appreciated by most of the population. People will feel that squatters are kind of weird, maybe deviant people, but at the same time they recognise that they have a very important role to play. In a city that has such a huge demand for space and is so much under the threat of commercialisation, squatters do provide a powerful antidote." Uiterman Justus Uitermark, University of Amsterdam
This is a 1944 riot in Nørrebro, Copenhagen during the German occupation of Denmark
I have been watching the present situation in Nørrebro in Copenhagen with interest. For the past three days police and activists have been battling in the streets of the suburb around the 'Young Peoples House' that has been a thriving center for culture for over 20 years and is now being closed as the recently acquired property of a Christian sect. The new owner of the house decided to evict the young people when they used the word "Hell" in a banner they hung from the wall of the building.
It seems this is not the first time Nørrebro has seen civil insurrection on a mass scale. In 1944 the Danish people resisted the Nazi occupation on the same spot. A large collection of videos on the 2007 riot are being amassed on YouTube. As I write several thousand activists have assembled at Rådhuspladsen and it seems there will be another night of action in Copenhagen tonight. With the G8 coming up in Berlin in June this year we could be in for a European summer of anti-fascist street actions.
