From August, 27th till 31st we will make Squatting a topic again. Let’s exchange experiences together, lets discuss, roam the streets and start some action.
Reasons for squatting are numerous and various: To protest against unaffordable and rising rent, to prevent a building from being teared down, out of the need of new, self-organised and uncomercial spaces, for living, as ateliers, workshops, cultural centres and many many more.
The houses around us are empty.
Many people sleep on streets, in parks, under bridges, in their friend’s livingrooms, in gyms, in refugee accommodation or emergency shelters and in highly overpriced community rooms. Living prices are rising, urban districts are facing gentrification, alternative places are in danger or – inspite of resistance – unfortunately lost. There are enough reasons to move into abandoned houses or just not leave our flats.
To fill vacancies with life again, to acquire and use the rooms also offers the possibility of living life (more) selforganised. Squatted houses can be places for utopia, can be a place for self-created living, just as beeing a workplace for groups and initiatives, for a corperately try and error for still unknown problems and solutions…
Activists tend to understand their squattings as attacs on political situation, as symbols against capitalist housing policy and connect the fights for the houses with the fight for a better life. How can we increase the chances of succesfull squattings? Which are the troubles holding us back from just taking the houses? And how do we get to a praxis which leads our ideas to reality?
When we find common interests and learn of our experiences, we can avoid many mistakes, and support and inspire each other/one another. Together we can face our fears and conjointly stand together against criminalization and repression.
Start moving!
In all our differences and contradictions in our ways of fighting, living and discussing, the Squatting Days will be a chance to benefit from all this. There is lots to learn, to discuss, to question. And a lot to experience.
During browsing through conference reports of the past decades, while reading books or watching films, in conversations with activist from different contexts, the whole range of the squatting movement is present. We are looking forward to investigate squatting theoretically and practically with everyone interested. Abusive attitudes and behavior such as rasism, sexism, homophobia or anti-semitism in our understanding stand clearly contrairy to the constructive dialogue about social relations and will not find a place here. We want to solidaritly process strategies and concepts and put them into practice. Let’s get connected and start movements together.
Saturday, 30th of August 2014 will be the actionday, in Hamburg and everywhere you gonna start something.
Let’s go!
Hereby we encourage you to start the debate now. We are excited to recieve texts, reports, questions, ideas, contributions to discussions by you, your groups and projects. Put them to paper, record videos or radio shows, send them to us via squattingdays [at] riseup [dot] net (see website for encryption-key) and/or publish them on indymedia or through other channels. Use the time of the Squatting Days in Hamburg to present your own inputs, to offer workshops and to disseminate knowledge.
No matter if you live or lived in a squat, if you are experienced with occupying houses or not, if you like partying in abandoned buildings, if you are threatened by eviction or are campaigning for the right of living and housing, if you are searching a flat right now or just started being interested in vacancies and the possibilities of alternative use,
Come to Hamburg!
Squatting Days
27.-31.8.2014
squattingdays.noblogs.org
