Bloomsbury Social Centre

Short-lived self-managed project in London

Bloomsbury Social Centre

Bloomsbury Social Centre

Location within Greater London

Address| 53 Gordon Square, London
Coordinates| 51°31′28″N 0°07′47″W﻿ / ﻿051.524333°N 000.129667°W﻿ / 051.524333; -000.129667
Construction
Opened| 23 November 2011 (2011-11-23)
Closed| 22 December 2011 (2011-12-22)
Architect| Charles Holden
Tenants
School of Oriental and African Studies
Website
bloomsburysocialcentre.wordpress.com

Bloomsbury Social Centre was an impromptu squat and social centre in Bloomsbury, London, which was squatted as a self-managed social centre by students in affiliation with Occupy London, and the global Occupy movement. It was formed on 23 November 2011, and evicted on 22 December, lasting a total of 30 days.[1] It occupied 53 Gordon Square,[2] a historic six-storey Georgian Grade II-listed building, renovated by famous British architect, Charles Holden, the principal architect of nearby Senate House,[3] now part of the Doctoral School.

## Occupation[edit]

The self-managed social centre was squatted by University of London students as an act protesting political issues of the day, including cuts to the national budget by the incumbent Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government, the tripling of university tuition fee contribution caps in England and Wales, the wars in the Middle East,[vague] and, more generally, free market capitalism, the political right-wing, and neo-liberalism.[citation needed]

## Activities[edit]

The occupiers aimed to make Bloomsbury Social Centre an open-access space for the local community. Spare rooms could be booked online for unspecified use.[citation needed] The space was used for open and closed events by book clubs, university societies, artists, musicians, actors, and students. It served as a space for meetings, discussions, drama and music rehearsals, art projects, and group work sessions.[citation needed] They also routinely organized nightly films ("Usually communist, always beautiful" - the last week included Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Germany in Autumn and an unspecified film of Beckett's Endgame[4]), open forum discussions, English and foreign language classes, international cuisine cooking classes, bicycle workshops and other less-frequent events, all of which were free. They set up a small museum on the first floor, called the Museum of Neo-Liberalism, chronicling its rise and fall. An open-access library was set up on the fourth floor, with a focus on radical left-wing literature. The public were encouraged to read and work there.[5]

## Eviction[edit]

The building was leased by School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) from the University of London. [6] SOAS responded to the occupation of the building by acquiring a possession order. Five occupiers were evicted by bailiffs around 6 a.m. on 22 December 2011.[7]

## See also[edit]

* Bank of Ideas
* RampART
* Really Free School
* St Agnes Place

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Eviction". Bloomsbury Social Centre. Wordpress. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
2. ^ "Bloomsbury Social Centre evicted". Freedom Press. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
3. ^ "Bloomsbury Social Centre". Wordpress. 9 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
4. ^ https://bloomsburysocialcentre.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/this-week-at-the-bloomsbury-social-centre-2/
5. ^ Finchett-Maddock, Lucy (12 October 2017). Protest, Property and the Commons: Performances of Law and Resistance. Routledge. ISBN 9781138570450.
6. ^ https://bloomsburysocialcentre.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/our-response-to-soas-managements-eviction-threat/
7. ^ Tickle, Louise (9 January 2012). "Student Protesters get evicted by universities". Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

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Former|

* 121 Centre
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North
America|

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* ABC No Rio
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Former|

* Boxcar Books
* Brian MacKenzie Infoshop
* The Brick House
* Catalyst Infoshop
* Internationalist Books
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* Old Market Autonomous Zone

Oceania|

* Freedom Shop
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Related|

* Alternative media
* Autonomism
* Community centre
* DIY ethic
* Indymedia
* Library
* Self-managed social centre
* Squatting
* Temporary use
* Zine
* Intentional Community

Category:Infoshops

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Squatting in England and Wales

Influences|

* Diggers
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Squatter groups|

* Advisory Service for Squatters
* Da! collective
* Exodus Collective
* Focus E15
* Grow Heathrow
* Justice?
* Justice Not Crisis
* London Street Commune
* Occupy London
* Really Free School
* Spiral Tribe
* SQUASH
* The Land is Ours
* WOMBLES
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Legalized squats|

* BASE
* Bonnington Square
* Frestonia
* Villa Road

Former squats|

* 12 Bar Club
* 102 Eaton Square
* 121 Centre
* 491 Gallery
* Argyle Street
* Bank of Ideas
* Bloomsbury Social Centre
* Cardboard City
* Centro Iberico
* City Racing
* Hounslow Community Land Project
* Kew Bridge Ecovillage
* Lyndhurst Way
* M11 link road protest
* Matilda Centre
* Medina House
* Oval Mansions
* rampART
* Spike Surplus Scheme
* St Agnes Place
* Sutton House
* Titnore Wood

Notable squatters|

* The 101ers
* Baron Bassam
* Chumbawamba
* Piers Corbyn
* Ian Dury
* Harry Hallowes
* Olive Morris
* Jim Radford
* Sid Rawle
* Heathcote Williams
* Christian Wolmar

Legal framework|

* Adverse possession
* Erection of Cottages Act 1588
* Criminal Law Act 1977
* Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
* Land Registration Act 2002
* Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Linked topics|

* Homelessness in the United Kingdom
* New Age Travellers
* Occupation (protest)
* Principality of Sealand
* Reclaim the Streets
* Romanichal
* Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom

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