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 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 23 November 2011 |
| Closed | 22 December 2011 |
| Architect | Charles Holden |
| Tenants | |
| School of Oriental and African Studies | |
| Website | |
| bloomsburysocialcentre | |
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]
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 fees in England and Wales, the wars in the Middle East, and, more generally, Free Market Capitalism, the political Right-wing, and neo-liberalism.[citation needed]
Activities[edit]
The occupiers aimed to make the Bloomsbury Social Centre into an open-access public space for the local community. It was possible to book online one of the spare rooms inside the building 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] The centre also routinely organized film nights, 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 in the library.[4]
Eviction[edit]
The building was leased by[clarification needed] School of Oriental and African Studies, who responded to the occupation of the building by acquiring a Notice of Eviction. The occupiers were evicted by bailiffs at 6 A.M. on Thursday, 22 December 2011.[5]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Eviction". Bloomsbury Social Centre. Wordpress. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ "Bloomsbury Social Centre evicted". Freedom Press. 22 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ "Bloomsbury Social Centre". Wordpress. 9 January 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
- ^ Finchett-Maddock, Lucy (12 October 2017). Protest, Property and the Commons: Performances of Law and Resistance. Routledge. ISBN 9781138570450.
- ^ 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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