Deregulated Markets
The squatting actions of the 'second wave' were largely made possible by the vast number of empty buildings purchased by councils during the 60s/70s; but after Thatcherism and the Neoliberal revolution of the 1980s, state assets were sold-off, and activist focus shifted to the market and the role of deregulated global capitalism.
'If a Tory does not believe that private property is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom, then he had better become a socialist and have done with it'
- Margaret Thatcher, 1975
1980's
Housing inequalities
While there were certainly actions against profiteering before the 1980s; the steady retreat of the state in favour of a deregulated market and financial sector also meant a shift in emphasis for housing and social justice campaigners. Instead of a moral argument around empty publicly-owned housing, the new focus was housing inequalities created by private ownership, as well as deregulated market mechanisms of speculation and profit.
1980's
Global Awareness
At the same time, there was also a shift in perspective to the global level, with concerns around war, famine, global inequalities,the dominance of deregulated global finance and consumer capitalism (especially after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the USSR in 1989), and environmental sustainability. This global awareness was facilitated by new information and communication technologies, like the World Wide Web.
Greenham Common Peace Camp 1981
From September 1981, the entrance to the U.S. airbase at Greenham Common, Berkshire, was surrounded by a women's peace camp, protesting plans to site 96 cruise missiles at the base. Established by Welsh group 'Women for Life on Earth', the squat repeatedly blockaded and trespassed onto the base, and was active for 19 years before being disbanded in 2000.
1981
Greenham Common Peace Camp
Against the idea that women should stay at home and rely on male protectors, Greenham Common Peace Camp sought to reject this passive role,arguing that 'women have been leaving home for peace, rather than men leaving home for war'. The camp consisted of 9 smaller squats at various gates, including Yellow Gate (the original occupation); Blue Gate (with a New Age focus); Violet Gate (with a religious focus); and Green Gate (which was strictly women-only and did not accept male visitors).
1981 - 2000
Widespread Media Attention
Sep 1981 - 36 women chain themselves to the fence in protest against nuclear weapons. After being removed, they set up the peace camp nearby.
December 1982 - 30,000 women respond to a chain letter by surrounding the base and joining hands at the Embrace the Base event.
April 1983 - 70,000 protesters form a 14-mile human chain from Greenham to Aldermaston. Attracts widespread media attention.
December 1983 - 50,000 women encircle the airfield. Some decide to cut the fence and trespass on the base with hundreds of arrests.
April 1984 - despite being evicted, the camp is re-established that night.
January 1987 - small groups cut down parts of the fence every night for a week
1991 - the last missiles leave the base, but the camp remains in place and continues to protest the UK nuclear programme 'Trident' until 2000.
14th October 1982
Women for life on earth say 'No Cruise Missiles' at Greenham Common
Extract from letter:
The women who set up the Peace Camp have made personal sacrifices because they feel so strongly about this issue. They have left their families and friends and given up jobs to live in tents and borrowed caravans without electricity or heating throughout the severe cold of last winter.
They have already faced 2 evictions and some of them have spent time in prison - but they are still here and will continue to stay and make a peaceful stand. We all felt that we cannot rely on those in power to protect our lives.
The women who have left their families feel that they are taking the greatest responsibility for caring for their children by stopping cruise missiles coming to this country.
Social Centres
Squatting can be used to open social centres. These offer an affordable (sometimes free) space for community use, hosting events such as gigs, talks, film screenings, and parties. Some also run swap shops, daycare and youth centres, bicycle repair, meeting rooms, as well as skills-sharing and educational workshops.
1980's
The 121 Centre
From the early 1980s, 121 Railton Road (originally squatted by Olive Morris and Liz Obi) became The 121 Centre - a base for groups such as Brixton Squatters Aid, Brixton Hunt Saboteurs,Food not Bombs, Community Resistance Against the Poll Tax,Anarchist Black Cross, the Direct Action Movement, London Socialist Film Co-op, the Kate Sharpley Library, and the Troops Out Movement. There was also a printing press in the basement which produced the feminist magazine Bad Attitude, the anarchist magazine Black Flag, and the squatters' newspaper Crowbar. The centre wasn't evicted until 1999.
1980's
The Rainbow Centre
The Rainbow Centre was a squatted church in Kentish Town and a main organising space for 'Reclaim the Streets' and 'Kill the Bill' protests. Around 40-80 people lived here and in a series of Rainbow Tribe Squats.
1991 - 2013
Critical Evictions
Frequent evictions mean that many projects do not last for more than a year. The ones that do become hugely influential, such as:
Cooltan Arts (on & off from 1991-2000);
Spike Surplus Scheme (1998-2009);
Ramparts (2004-9);
Cheese Factory (2008-13);
491 Gallery (2001-13).
1990's
Array of Social Centres
Not all social centres are squats. Some are rented or purchased from the start, whilst others turn to formal arrangements in order to survive eviction, such as: London Action Resource Centre (LARC); 56a Infoshop; Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) at Freedom Books; Pogo/Black Cat Cafe. In the 1990s, punk squatters occupied large buildings such as pubs (e.g. Black Bull/Boule 1993-4) and even convents like Lady Flo(1992-3). These were used as music venues and rehearsal spaces.
Eco Villages
The 'back-to-the-land' movements of the late 1960s/70s and late 1990s/2000s represented an attempt to radically diverge from the values and assumptions of mainstream consumer society, clustering around green radicalism, direct action, new music and experiences.
'We have spent so long in the countryside now that going into towns, let alone cities,seems alien and oppressive to us. We see these feelings as healthy. Humanity is rooted in nature, not concrete.'
- Laugh, Donga Tribe
1990's
Self-sufficiency
A 'back-to-the-land' ethos hinges on the adoption of rural livelihoods and a radical relationship with the land. Eco-villages therefore emphasise values of self-sufficiency, low-impact design, communal living, and permaculture, withdrawing from the urban in order to experiment with sustainable and eco-centric lifestyles.
1990's
The Land is Ours
Groups like The Land Is Ours (TLIO) campaign peacefully for universal access to the land, its resources, and the decision-making processes affecting them. They also seek to raise awareness around the universal threat of enclosure by staging both rural and urban actions.
1996
Wandsworth
In May 1996, 500 TLIO activists occupied 13 acres of derelict land on the banks of the Thames in Wandsworth, which had been vacant for six years. Lasting 6 months, the eco-village sought to highlight the appalling misuse of urban land, a lack of affordable housing, and the deterioration of the urban environment.
1990's
Kew Bridge
On 6th July 2009, eco-activists squatted brownfield land overlooking the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew Bridge, which had been vacant for over 20 years. Living in benders, growing vegetables, and recycling resources, the community were evicted a year later in May 2010. Many joined Hounslow Community land project and Democracy Village in Parliament Square.
2012
800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta
Coinciding with the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, a group of activists from the Occupy movement and the Kew Bridge Eco-Community founded Runnymede Ecovillage at a disused Brunel University campus in 2012. Calling themselves 'Diggers 2012' their aim was to spark land reform and return people to their right to live freely on the land. They were eventually evicted in September 2015. The land reclaim movement continues today with the Land Justice Network (www.landjustice,uk).
Free Festivals
The 1980s/90s saw renewed efforts by the government to control nomadic communities. These policies largely grew as a response to New Age Travellers who - at least since the Peoples Free Festival at Stonehenge, 1974 - had been living in vehicles and moving around the UK for festivals, parties, and anti-nuclear events, settling on land in-between.
1974
Stonehenge Solstice
Emerging partly as a protest against the commercialism of large-scale festivals,the original idea of a free festival was simply to be free entry, but became more than this. Free festivals were seen as a microcosm of a new, Utopian community, who considered themselves at the edges of an old and decadent society. Those who attended more spiritual events (such as the Stonehenge solstice) also consider themselves pilgrims, interested in the sacred space itself and combining elements of sun worship, polytheism, and Paganism.
1985
Operation Solstice
In 1985, Operation Solstice - more commonly known as 'The Battle of the Beanfield' - saw direct confrontation and police violence as Travellers were prevented from attending the 12th annual festival at Stonehenge. 537 were arrested. No convictions were made, but numerous children were taken into care while vehicles and pets were destroyed. This resulted in compensation for 24 travellers over wrongful arrest, injury, and damage to property.
'[the aim was to] claim back Stonehenge (a place... sacred to the people and stolen bythe government) and make it a site for free festivals, free music, free space, free mind.'
- Penny Rimbaud, co-founder of anarcho-punk collective 'Crass'.
1982
Torriano Avenue
First squatted in 1982, 99 Torriano Avenue (Kentish Town) was part of a derelict terrace. The squatters repaired the building and established a meeting house on the ground floor. They were later successful in obtaining a license to continue using the building, and it is still open today as an independent centre for arts and culture (including poetry and film) as well as local community events.
1984
Peaceful Access
As well as being active during the Miners Strike in 1984 (organising benefits and hosting the Miners' Wives group); Torriano also hosted the Stonehenge Campaign for getting peaceful access to the stones.
Raves and Criminal Justice Act 1994
The eight-day rave at Castlemorton Common in 1992 is seen as the ultimate event where New Traveller and Rave cultures crossed over. But it was also significant because of the media panic which followed, as well as a speech by PM John Major at the Conservative Party conference that year, which set out plans for the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
1980's
The Free Party Scene
Raves - or the free party scene - were directly influenced by the free festivals that preceded them, remaining unlicensed events that were kept secret until the last possible moment. The early rave scene also maintained a spiritual vibe, which developed from early rave scenes in Goa and Ibiza in the late 1980s. As trance travelled 'west' it became more Pagan/Shamanistic, eco-conscious, and earth-centred, often focusing on the indigenous religious traditions of the area.
'[techno-Pagan outfits such as SpiralTribe] preached a creed they calledTerra-Technic, arguing that theravers' non-stop ritual dancingreconnected mankind with theprimordial energy of the Earth'
- Simon Reynolds, 1997
1994
The Freedom Network
The Campaign Against the Criminal Justice Bill, co-ordinated by the Freedom Network, protested new proposals to criminalise travelling, squatting, and raves. While the first 2 marches in London ended with parties at Wanstead Common and Claremont Road, the third march in October 1994 saw violent clashes with police.
1994
Stop and Search Powers
Ravers sought solidarity with other groups, including Gypsy-Travellers (the bill removed council duties to provide space for sites); squatters and students (against stricter laws on trespass); and anti-racist campaigners (with increased police stop & search powers and impingements on right to remain silent).
1994
The Final Act
The final act brought in laws against trespassers with more than 6 vehicles and/or music 'characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats'.
Anti-Roads Movement
In 1989, the 'Roads for Prosperity' white paper sought a major expansion of the UK road network. In response, activists connected with local campaigners to stage occupations, aiming to protect natural habitats, raise awareness of pollution, and against encouraging more cars. By 1994, the government was starting to backtrack, and by 1997 most road-building plans had been cancelled.
March 1992
Twyford Down
While local protests against the completion of the M3 at Twyford Down had been on going since 1973, direct action (such as 'digger diving') began in March 1992 after it seemed that public inquiries were not going to stop construction. In December, police left a man strangled and unconscious on top of the Down for 30mins.
1993-1994
Claremont Road
As part of a protest against the M11 link road (1993-4) a row of houses due to be demolished was squatted at Claremont Road (Leyton). Activists created barricades, bunkers, cargo-net walkways, scaffold towers, tree houses,and a 'rat-run' through the terraces so they could move easily between buildings and evade the bailiffs. It took over 72 hours to evict the protest.
1994
Solsbury Hill tunnels
In 1994, a planned bypass near Bath was set to destroy the much loved natural beauty spot of Solsbury Hill. Facing violence from private security forces and workers, activists built a treehouse network and dug tunnels to prevent construction.
July 1995
'Twigloos' on Newbury Bypass
From July 1995, protesters (some of them Twyford Down veterans) occupied woods scheduled for clearing as part of the Newbury Bypass. Activists and locals alike were concerned about the destruction of trees (including mature oak, ash, and beech), and responded by building tunnels and treehouses (or 'Twigloos') in Snelsmore Wood.
January 1996
Protest Camps
By the time of the first eviction attempt in January 1996, there were more than 20 protest camps along the route of the bypass.
Reclaim the Streets
Originally formed by Earth First! in Brixton, 1991, Reclaim the Streets (RTS) emerged from anti-road protest camps at Claremont Road and Twyford Down, with the intention using street parties to reclaim the city from cars. Throughout the 1990s, the movement became international and its focus broadened as a criticism of capitalism's dominance over public city spaces.
'revolutionary protest...transforms a multitude of urban solitudes into a people,and reclaims the city streets for human life... a thesis asserted by urban people starting in 1789, all through the nineteenth century, and in the great revolutionary uprisings at the end of World War One: the streets belong to the people.'
- Marshall Berman 1981 (p166-7)
May 1995
Rainbow Centre
After rallying at the Rainbow Centre in Kentish Town, the first major RTS street party took over Camden High Street (14th May 1995).
July 1996
M41 Shepherd's Bush
On 13th July 1996, more than 6000 people shut down a section of the M41 in Shepherd's Bush. Using giant carnival characters and the sound systems as cover, some activists drilled into the motorway and planted trees.
Report from Birmingham Global Street Party, Protesting G8 summit, 18th May 1998
'Then suddenly at 4.30 the crowd (by now about 8,000) felt a tug towards the waiting road, and the reclamatory hordes poured onto the Bull Ring roundabout, the waiting police looking on powerlessly. A huge circle of tarmac surrounding a sunken market place was brought to a standstill as the party goers revelled in their new freedom of the open road'.
'A bangin' techno sound system encased this time inside a private car provided the bulk of the entertainment while at the fringes fire was eaten and odd passages of unamplified music were heard occasionally. A second system and various other props couldn't make it through the police lines'.
Global Justice Movement
Drawing inspiration from indigenous movements (such as the Zapatistas, Mexico) and attempts to build an alternative to global capitalism (such as the first World Social Forum in Brazil); the 'alter-' (or 'anti-') globalisation movement built up international momentum in the late nineties, with large and sometimes violent protests at international economic conferences.
1999
Carnival Against Capital
One of the early alter-globalisation actions at an international economic conference was the Carnival Against Capital (J18) (1999). Inspired by Reclaim the Streets, the action saw street parties in 40 countries to coincide with the G8 summit in Cologne.
2000's
The Movement
After the notorious Battle of Seattle (N30) (1999) - where protesters managed to shut down the World Trade Organisation conference - the alter-globalisation movement attracted activists from all over the globe to conferences in Prague (S26) for the World Bank/IMF in 2000; as well as G8 protests in Genoa (2001) and Gleneagles (2005).
2000's
The Global Movmement
The wider global justice movement took aim at corporate greed and consumer capitalism (e.g. sweatshop production and cultural standardisation). This included the famous McLibel case (where London activists were sued by McDonalds for distributing a critical fact sheet) as well as culture jamming (which subverted brands such as Nike, Coca Cola, and BP). A line can be traced from Reclaim the Streets and right up to post-crash protests (e.g. the London G20 protest April 2009).
Stop the War
Forming shortly after the attacks against the World Trade Centre (9/11), the Stop the War Coalition formed in anticipation of the 'war on terror' which followed. On 15th February 2003, along with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), the coalition organised the largest demonstration in British history against war in Iraq.
Post 9/11
'Weapons of Mass Destruction'
The march against war in Iraq is estimated to have drawn 6-8 million people to 600 cities around the world in protest of a US UK unilateral invasion. Critics saw the war as based on flimsy evidence (Saddam Hussein's supposed 'weapons of mass destruction' which were never found) and as taking advantage of post-9/11 terrorist hype in order to secure lucrative oil supplies in the region.
2009
COP15 Protest
Responding to a call for global people's assemblies at the 2009 COP15 protest (Copenhagen Climate Summit); Democracy Village occupied parliament square in 2010, protesting military action in Afghanistan and Iraq and introducing the term 'illegal war' to describe the invasions into public discourse. The activists were also inspired by protestor Brian Haw, who camped on the square from 2001 until his death in 2011.
1970's
Defence & Security Equipment Int
Every two years, the world's largest arms fair -DSEI (Defence & Security Equipment International) - is held in London (ExCel centre, Docklands). As well as trading internationally banned weapons (including chemical weapons, mines, and torture equipment) and tools to quell protest (e.g. tear gas); the fair also invites delegates from countries which are on the UK government's own human rights watchlist (including Colombia, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia).
2011
Stop the Arms Fair
After a protest camp at the first arms fair in 1999; activists from Stop the Arms Fair (a coalition group formed in 2011) have continued to protest the event by blockading the entrance with arm tube lock-ons, lorry-diving, and using creative direct action (such as bike blocs).
Extract from 'Occupying London' (Burgum 2018). OCCUPY THE ARMS FAIR, DOCKLANDS, SEPTEMBER 2013
Suddenly, there was a shout for everyone to follow and we moved quickly around the corner to the entrance of the ExCeL centre. The plan had been agreed in advance but kept to a small group so that the police couldn't anticipate the activists' movements. Green pop-up tents adorned with anti-war slogans sprang up on the roundabout leading to the entrance, although there was no sign of other resources needed for along-term occupation (e.g. sleeping bags) which suggested these were a symbolic gesture.
The drums started up. One protester, who had created a fantastic costume of the grim reaper, was dancing on stilts just as the 'bike bloc' arrived and everyone cheered as they did a lap of the roundabout. Other activists lay down in front of the trucks as they arrived and chained themselves together in front of the entrance gates.
