Self-managed social centres in Italy exist in many cities. They are part of different left-wing political networks including anarchist, communist, socialist, and autonomist. The centres (Italian : centri sociali) tend to be squatted and provide self-organised, self-financing spaces for alternative and noncommercial activities such as concerts, exhibitions, farmers' markets, infoshops, and migrant initiatives. Over time, some but not all projects have opted to legalize their status.
Self-managed social centres were first occupied in the mid-1970s in cities such as Milan by groups of young people, both students and unemployed. [1] The social centres in Milan were used for diverse activities such as concerts, films, yoga classes, discussion groups and counselling for drug addicts. [2]
They often affiliated themselves with Autonomia Operaia (Workers' Autonomy) and suffered when social movements were repressed following the Years of Lead. A second wave of social centres began in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with more than 100 projects spread across the country. [1] Two factors which helped the wave spread were the well-publicised eviction resistance (and subsequent resquat) of Leoncavallo in Milan and the Panther student movement. [3]
What linked these political and cultural projects was the fact that they were squatted, their focus on self-management and self-financing, and the use of the space as a social venue for the local community. The differences tended to stem from whether the project was primarily anarchist, autonomist, communist, or without ideology. This then resulted in a later debate about whether to legalize spaces or not. [1] Legalization denoted two things: firstly, the formation of an association so that the squatter collective could have a legal form; secondly, setting up a rental contract between the city and the project. [4]
From 1993 onwards, some squats began legalization processes and others did not. The social centres which did legalize successfully then changed their title from ‘CSOA’ (Italian: Centro Sociale Occupato Autogestito – Self-Managed Squatted Social Centre), to ‘CSA’ (Italian: Centro Sociale Autogestito – Self-Managed Social Centre). Owing to these changes, there is no longer just one network of social centres, but several disparate ones. The institutionalized centres such as Leoncavallo then became associated with the Tute Bianche (White Overalls) movement of the late 1990s. [1]
Legalization can create problems, since forming an association imposes hierarchy on a previously horizontally organized collective and also contracts tend to be for a fixed time period and can be hard to renew. Therefore, in the 2010s, some projects such as Teatro Valle Occupato (Rome), XM24 (Bologna), and Macao (Milan), have attempted to promote new, more flexible forms of legalization, with varying degrees of success. [4]
Social centres provide cheap DIY venues for many alternative forms of music, including punk and Italian hardcore. They have also provided a fertile breeding ground for homegrown Italian hip hop. In the 1990s, the rap group Assalti Frontali built a recording studio at Forte Prenestino and 99 Posse were associated with Officina 99 in Naples. [5] The presence of a local university tends to be a factor in the creation of a social centre. [6]
From small numbers of social centres in the 1980s, in the 1990s there were around 120. By 2006, it was estimated there were 150 across the entire country, with many clustered in Milan, Rome, and Turin. [3]
Bologna has a reputation for being a centre of left-wing activism, but this has changed as the city gentrified. Atlantide was occupied in 1998 by Tute Bianche activists and was the last self-managed space in the centre of the city, used by many groups, including Antagonismo Gay (gay separatists), Quelle Che Non Ci Stanno (feminist and lesbian separatists), NullaOsta (punks), and from 2008, Laboratorio Smaschieramenti (trans*-feminist-queer). It was evicted on 9 October 2015 by the order of Mayor Virginio Merola. [7] Làbas was occupied in 2012. Young people worked as volunteers to create various projects, such as a vegetable garden, an organic pizzeria, a bike repair workshop, a microbrewery producing organic beer, a volunteer-run creche, and a dormitory for migrants, refugees, and homeless people. The project was evicted in 2017. [8]
XM24 is a social centre which has existed since 2002, although its roots come from an earlier squatted social centre. 'XM' means 'Ex Market' (Italian: Ex Mercato) and it is located at number 24 on Via Aristotile Fioravanti. Activities include the People's Kitchen (a vegan café), the Ampioraggio People's Bike Shop, and the People's Free Gym. It is run by a general assembly which meets every Tuesday. The three defining characteristics of the space are antifascist activism, support for migrant initiatives, and collective self-management. [9] Events such as 'Anti-MTVday,' a farmers' market, and meetings of the Critical Wine network have all been held at the centre. [9] Famous street artist Blu has been connected with the centre since its beginning and supported it in the fight against eviction by painting a huge mural on a neighbouring building which was scheduled to be demolished. The mural was later covered up by Blu in 2016, in order to protest the city council organising an exhibition called 'Street Art: Banksy & Co: L’Arte allo Stato Urbano,' which used Blu's works without permission. [10]
XM24 was evicted on 6 August 2019. The eviction was resisted, but the protest was called off when negotiations with the city for a new building were successful. The council undertook to provide a new building by 15 November. [11] When this did not happen, the XM24 collective occupied a derelict barracks. The council responded by announcing a plan to demolish the barracks and to build a park. [12]
Genoa's LSOA Buridda, first squatted in 2003, offered open space for exercise, sports, art workshops, and other cultural events. [13] It was raided and evicted on 30 July 2024. [14] [15]
The self-managed Leoncavallo social centre was first occupied in 1975. The still-extant centre defines itself as of 2019 as 'Leoncavallo Self-Managed Public Space' (Italian: Leoncavallo Spazio Pubblico Autogestito). [16] The Cox 18 social centre was born in 1988 in a building squatted in 1976. It is a three-storey complex located at Conchetta 18, in Porta Ticinese. Its influences were originally punk, trade unionism, and Calusca, the last being a local libertarian bookshop and library which then became based at the project. When the neighbours in the street made complaints about drug use and noise, the centre was evicted in 1989. It was resquatted, violently evicted, and then reoccupied again. Cox 18 concentrated efforts on making links with the neighbourhood and this ensured its survival. [17] The T28 social centre was squatted in 1975 and houses the Ambulatorio Medico Popolare, a free medical clinic that had treated over 5,000 people by 2018. [18]
A group called 'The Art Workers' (Italian: Lavoratori dell’arte) first occupied the Galfa Tower for 10 days under the name Macao. Next, they squatted the Palazzo Cittiero in the Brera district before being evicted, and afterwards they squatted a former slaughterhouse in Calvairate in June 2012. [19] Over five years until 2017, Macao hosted 2,000 artists making exhibitions, talks, workshops, and musical events. They also held assemblies and ran seminars on the theme of the fair treatment of cultural workers. In 2017, the city council decided it wanted to sell the complex of buildings known as Ortomercato (which includes the Macao site) for redevelopment. Macao asked to be able to buy the building for themselves. [19] The group submitted a proposal endorsed by the German Mietshäuser Syndikat. [20]
CSOA Officina 99 in Gianturco, Naples, was first occupied in December 1990, but quickly evicted. It was then reoccupied in May 1991 by 500 people. [21] The people were from different groups such as homeless and migrant, of all ages. The occupation built upon a previous occupation in 1986, which had lasted six months. Officina refuses any form of legalization and is critical of centres such as Leoncavallo, which have chosen to legalize. [22]
As of 1999, other social centres in Naples included Lo Ska (Laboratorio Occupato di Sperimentazione e Kultura Antagonista) and DAMM (Diego Armando Maradona Montesanto). [22] Around 2012, a social centre called Mezzocannone Occupato was formed. [23] The Power to the People political party formed in 2017 as a left-wing coalition that included some social centres, such as the Neapolitan "Je so' pazzo" Ex OPG ("I am crazy" Ex Asylum) social centre. [24]
The first social centre in Rome was Hai Visto Quinto, created in 1985. Others in this time were Alice nella città, Blitz, Break Out, Ricomincio dal Faro, Intifada, and Zona Rischio. [6] As of 2014, Rome had many social centre projects, including Acrobax, Angelomai Altrove, Cinema America Occupato, Nuovo Cinema Palazzo, and Teatro Valle Occupato. [25] Metropoliz is a refugee squat occupied in 2009 that took the unusual step of opening a contemporary art gallery in 2012 as a means for the artists to support the squatters. [26] CSOA Forte Prenestino is an old fort in Rome which was squatted on 1 May 1986. It is a huge site which hosts a range of projects. [27]
CSOA Corto Circuito was a long-running social centre. It was squatted in 1990 and evicted in 2016. Over its lifetime, it experienced two fires, one in 1991 in which a 21-year-old activist, Auro Bruni, lost his life, and one in 2012 which destroyed one of the buildings of the centre. The squatters therefore rebuilt the structure, using permaculture principles. They did not get the correct permits and the authorities used this as a reason to evict. The eviction operation sealed off the neighbourhood and featured 200 police agents and carabinieri, 50 municipal police, and 3 fire brigade teams. [28]
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were one billion slum residents and squatters globally. Squatting occurs worldwide and tends to occur when people find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing. It has a long history, broken down by country below.
Tute Bianche was a militant Italian social movement active from 1994 to 2001. Activists were notable for covering their bodies with white padding so as to resist the blows of police, pushing through police lines, and marching together in large blocks for mutual protection during political demonstrations.
Self-managed social centres in the United Kingdom can be found in squatted, rented, mortgaged and fully owned buildings. These self-managed social centres differ from community centres in that they are self-organised under anti-authoritarian principles and volunteer-run, without any assistance from the state. The largest number have occurred in London from the 1980s onwards, although projects exist in most cities across the UK, linked in a network. Squatted social centres tend to be quickly evicted and therefore some projects deliberately choose a short-term existence, such as A-Spire in Leeds or the Okasional Café in Manchester. Longer term social centres include the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford, the Cowley Club in Brighton and the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, which are co-operatively owned.
Blu is the pseudonym of an Italian artist who conceals his real identity. It is known that he was born in Senigallia. He lives in Bologna and has been active in street art since 1999.
In England and Wales, squatting – taking possession of land or an empty house the squatter does not own – is a criminal or civil offence, depending on circumstances. People squat for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty, and recreation. Many squats are residential; some are also opened as social centres. Land may be occupied by New Age travellers or treesitters.
Cascina Torchiera is a historic cascina a corte (farmhouse) of Milan, Italy, dating back to the first half of the 14th century. It is located in zone 8 of Milan, adjacent to the Maggiore cemetery, in the Musocco/Garegnano district, and is one of the oldest surviving cascine within the city boundaries. The cascina is formally the property of the Comune di Milano city administration and has been a squatted self-managed social centre since the 1992. It is known as Cascina Autogestita Torchiera SenzAcqua.
Luigi Berzano is an Italian sociologist and Catholic priest.
A far-right social centre is a space inspired by neo-fascist and Third Position ideas, typically in the 21st century.
A self-managed social center, also known as an autonomous social center, is a self-organized community center in which anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venues affiliated with anarchism, can include bicycle workshops, infoshops, libraries, free schools, meeting spaces, free stores and concert venues. They often become political actors in their own right.
Athens refugee squats exist since the 2015 spike in the European migrant crisis. Greece has been a destination for migrants seeking refuge on the European continent via the "Balkan Route." Coalitions of solidarity groups and migrants have established squats throughout Athens to house refugees, demonstrating an alternative to solutions offered by the European Union and NGOs. The squats are grouped together in the Coordination of Refugee Squats. Notable projects included 5th School and City Plaza. In late 2019, the New Democracy party declared it would evict all the squats.
CSOA Forte Prenestino is a large self-managed social centre based in a squatted fort in Centocelle, Rome. It was occupied on May Day 1986. Forte Prenestino is an "important node of production of cultural and political events" and hosts many groups and events across its 13 hectares.
Centro Sociale Leoncavallo is a self-managed social centre in Milan, Italy, which has existed since a former factory on via Leoncavallo was squatted in 1975. It was evicted and partially demolished in 1989, then quickly reoccupied and rebuilt. It was evicted again in 1994 and briefly moved to a warehouse for six months before occupying its still extant location on via Antoine Watteau. Activities include concerts, theatre, debates, exhibitions and a radio station. The social centre describes itself as Leoncavallo Self-Managed Public Space.
Buridda, officially known as LSOA Buridda, was a squatted self-managed social centre in the Italian city of Genoa. It was established in 2003 and changed location several times since inception, due to its uncertain legal status. The centre was wholly run and organized by volunteers and funded through donations and fundraising. It offered various services and activities to the community, including open space for exercise, circus-related facilities and skills training, art spaces and workshops, wood- and metalworking shops with tools and machinery, 3D printers, a communal kitchen, and an amateur radio station. On 30 July 2024, Buridda was raided and evicted by the police.
Squatting became a political phenomenon in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Squats in Prague included Sochora, Stary Střešovice and Ladronka. Milada was occupied in 1998 and following its final eviction in 2009, there was a lull in squatting actions. In the 2010s a new social movement squatted houses to highlight the number of derelict properties in Prague and the social centre Klinika was founded in 2014.
Squatting in Spain refers to the occupation of unused or derelict buildings or land without the permission of the owner. In Francoist Spain migrant workers lived in slums on the periphery of cities. During the Spanish transition to democracy, residential squatting occurred in Spanish cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza. From the 1980s onwards a new generation of squatters set up self-managed social centres which hosted events and campaigns. The 1995 Criminal Code among other things criminalised squatting, but failed to stop it. Social centres exist across the country and in Barcelona and Madrid in particular. In the Basque Country they are known as gaztetxes.
Squatting in Norway is taking possession of land or an empty house without the permission of the owner. The first public occupation was Hjelmsgate 3 in 1969 and self-managed social centres which were first squatted and then legalized include the Blitz House, Hausmania and UFFA. Brakkebygrenda was a land squat which has twice been evicted.
Chanti Ollin was a self-managed social centre in Mexico City, Mexico, between 2003 and 2017. It was occupied in 2003 by students from the 1999–2000 UNAM strike and participants in Okupa Che. It was a derelict five storey building at Calle Melchor Ocampo 424 in Cuauhtémoc. The name means "house in motion" in the Nahuatl language.
The modern political squatting movement began in Hamburg, Germany, when Neue Große Bergstraße 226 was occupied in 1970. Squatters wanted to provide housing for themselves amongst other demands such as preventing buildings from being demolished and finding space for cultural activities. The Hafenstraße buildings were first occupied in 1981 and were finally legalized after a long political struggle in 1995. The still extant Rote Flora self-managed social centre was occupied in 1989. Squatting actions continue into the present; more recent attempts are quickly evicted, although the Gängeviertel buildings were squatted and legalized in the 2010s.
Cox 18 is a self-managed social centre in Milan, Italy. It was first squatted in 1976 and after being evicted in 1989 was quickly re-squatted. It houses the Calusca bookshop and the Primo Moroni archive.
"L'assessore Matteo Lepore – recita l'accordo siglato – , in rappresentanza dell'Amministrazione, riconosce l'importanza della progettualità politica, sociale e culturale dello spazio pubblico autogestito XM24 e si impegna a trovare una sede adeguata entro e non oltre il 15 novembre, a partire dalla valutazione degli immobili proposti da XM24".
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