Infoshops are places in which people can access anarchist or autonomist ideas. They are often stand-alone projects, or can form part of a larger radical bookshop, archive, self-managed social centre or community centre. Typically, infoshops offer flyers, posters, zines, pamphlets and books for sale or donation. Other items such as badges, locally produced artworks and T-shirts are also often available. Infoshops can also provide printing and copying facilities for people to produce their own literature or have a meeting space.
Infoshops can be found in many cities in North America and Western Europe, and also in other locations around the world such as Australia, Israel and New Zealand. They are oftentimes self-managed spaces run by volunteers which vary in size and function, depending on local context.
Radical spacesEdit
An infoshop (the word being a portmanteau of information and shop) is a physical space where people can access radical ideas through flyers, posters, zines, pamphlets and books. It also provides a space to meet other people and in some cases to organise events such as meetings or fundraisers.<ref name="AA40">Template:Cite book</ref> Some infoshops have computers, copy machines and printers so that pamphlets, position papers, articles, magazines, and newspapers can be created and then circulated between the network of spaces.<ref name="Katsiaficas">Template:Cite book</ref>
Academic Chris Atton describes the infoshop as a "forum for alternative cultural, economic, political and social activities."<ref name="AltMedia48">Template:Cite book</ref> For example, in a flyer announcing its planned activities, the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh (ACE) stated it would make available locally produced arts and crafts, records, T-shirts, badges, books, zines and information.<ref name="AltMedia48" /> When it opened the following year, ACE provided flyers, leaflets, newsletters, magazines and journals about causes such as antivivisectionism, anti-monarchism, hunt sabotage and jobseeker's allowance advice.<ref name="Lacey">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Like social centres, infoshops vary in size and function depending on local context.<ref name="Lacey" /> Many contemporary anarchists first come into contact with radical politics through an infoshop.<ref name="AA183">Template:Cite book</ref>
Infoshops tend to be run on a voluntary basis by a non-hierarchical collective. The spaces are non-profit and self-managed.<ref name="AltInfo">Template:Cite journal</ref>
AntecedentsEdit
In the United Kingdom, early antecedents of infoshops were the radical presses such as Giles Calvert's printshop (1600s) and John Doherty's coffee house (1830s).<ref name="AltMedia53">Template:Cite book</ref> More recently, infoshops were associated with squatted anarchist social centres such as the 121 Centre in Brixton, London<ref name="AltMedia47">Template:Cite book</ref> and the Free Information Network (FIN).<ref name="AltInfo" />
Writing in Maximumrocknroll in the 1990s, Chuck Munson placed North American infoshops in the lineage of peace and justice community centres and acknowledged the influence of European social centres.<ref name="Munson">Template:Cite news</ref> Munson also stated there were over 60 infoshops (infoladen) in Germany which were connected to the anarchist, autonomist, squatting and punk movements.<ref name="Munson" />
Around the worldEdit
Self-managed social centres in Italy, such as Forte Prenestino in Rome, often contain infoshops.<ref name="AltMedia53" />
Social centres in the United Kingdom often contain infoshops, such as for example the Cowley Club in Brighton and the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford. There is also the 56a Infoshop in London.<ref name="Firth56">Template:Cite journal</ref> In the mid-2000s, as well as these spaces, there were infoshops in Leeds, Manchester, Norwich and Nottingham.<ref name="Lacey" />
In the 1990s, there were the following infoshops in North America: 223 Center (Portland, Oregon); 404 Willis (Detroit); A-Space (Philadelphia); Arise! Bookstore & Resource Center (Minneapolis); Autonomous Zone (Chicago); Beehive Infoshop (Washington DC); Blackout Books (New York City); Crescent Wrench Infoshop (New Orleans); Croatan (Baltimore); Emma Center (Minneapolis); Epicenter (San Francisco); Long Haul (Berkeley); Lucy Parsons Center (Cambridge); Mayday Books (Minneapolis); Who's Emma (Toronto); Wooden Shoe Books (Philadelphia).<ref name="Munson" /><ref name="Dodge">Template:Cite news</ref>
Elsewhere in the world, projects include Jura Books in Australia, Salon Mazal in Israel and Freedom Shop in New Zealand.
Related projects include anarchist archives, bunkos in Japan and community libraries.<ref name="Dodge" />
Notable infoshopsEdit
| Name | Location | Established | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 in 12 Club | Bradford, UK | 1988 | Ongoing |
| 121 Centre | London, UK | 1989 | Former |
| 56a Infoshop | London, UK | 1991 | Ongoing |
| ABC No Rio | New York, US | 1980 | Ongoing |
| Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh | Edinburgh, UK | 1997 | Ongoing |
| BIT | London, UK | 1968 | Former |
| Boxcar Books | Bloomington, US | 2001 | Former |
| Brian MacKenzie Infoshop | Washington DC, US | 2003 | Former |
| Camas Bookstore and Infoshop | Victoria, Canada | 2007 | Ongoing |
| Catalyst Infoshop | Prescott, US | 2004 | Former |
| Civic Media Center | Gainesville, FL | 1993 | Ongoing |
| Cowley Club | Brighton, UK | 2002 | Ongoing |
| Firestorm Cafe & Books | Asheville, US | 2008 | Ongoing |
| Forte Prenestino | Rome, Italy | 1986 | Ongoing |
| Freedom Shop | New Zealand | 1995 | Ongoing |
| Grote Broek | Nijmegen, Netherlands | 1984 | Ongoing |
| Insoumise | Montreal, Canada | 2004 | Ongoing |
| Internationalist Books | Chapel Hill, US | 1981 | Former |
| Jura Books | Sydney, Australia | 1977 | Ongoing |
| Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse | Baltimore, US | 2004 | Ongoing |
| Salon Mazal | Tel Aviv, Israel | 1968 | Former |
| Spartacus Books | Vancouver, Canada | 1973 | Ongoing |
| Sumac Centre | Nottingham, UK | 1984 | Ongoing |
| Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg | Leiden, Netherlands | 1968 | Former |
| Warzone Centre | Belfast, UK | 1986–2003, 2011–2018 | Former |
| Lucy Parsons Center | Boston, US | 1969 | Ongoing |
See alsoEdit
Template:Portal Template:Sister project
- Arts centre
- Anarchist bookfair
- Cultural centre
- CrimethInc.
- Category:Infoshops, notable infoshops
- Zine library
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Slingshot contact list (updated 2019).
- Radar directory of infoshops (updated 2019).
- Directory of infoshops (last updated 1997).
- Infoshops in North America Template:Webarchive (last updated 2015).
- Infoshops by region (archived 2015).
- Living Room Documentary – A documentary film about infoshop culture (2006).
- The A-Zone & A Decade Of Anarchy In Chicago – A zine about the Autonomous Zone in Chicago (re-released 2015).