Using Space Four

mujinga.net

Squatting is something I find really neat, and it’s something I’d be interested in experiencing more at some point. Using Space talks about squatting in a bunch of different ways, and is worth checking out if you are interested in the idea.

First up is an interview with squatters in The Netherlands. In this case they’re not squatters in the usual fashion, as they’re just occupying land instead of a building, but it’s still an informative read to see how they deal with people that live in the neighbourhood, police and the law, and every day problems that come from living in a house apparently made of straw.

Next there is an account of a squat meetup in Bristol, and the problems faced in trying to use consensus based decision making to create plans and organize things. This is followed by copies of articles in papers talking about the squat event. Neat.

There’s a report from Sweden about a squatting festival, which mostly seemed to be about going on marches and getting arrested by the police. I wonder if it actually had any affect on how people viewed squatting there.

Finally there are a couple of pieces about squatting reprinted from newspapers. While these are interesting, I don’t really agree with the creator of this zine’s decision to leave off the original writers’ names. I’d be kind of pissed if I was one of the writers.

You can also download a copy from zinelibrary.info, which seems like a neat resource.