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London Action Resource Centre

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Coordinates: 51°31′01″N 0°03′50″W / 51.5170°N 0.0640°W / 51.5170; -0.0640
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The London Action Resource Centre (LARC) is an anarchist infoshop and self-managed social centre situated in Whitechapel, in the East End of London. Previously a school and a synagogue, it was purchased in 1999. It hosts meetings and events from various groups and is part of the UK Social Centre Network.

History

The building was constructed 1866–7 as a mission house and infants’ school, keeping this usage until around 1918.[1] It then housed the Louise Michel International Modern School, organised by Jewish anarchists. It also hosted the New Worker's Friend (Arbeter Fraynd) Club and the East London Anarchist Group. It was then converted into a synagogue in 1925.[2] After World War II, the building was used in the rag trade before falling into dereliction.

Project

LARC was purchased in the autumn of 1999 by people active in Reclaim the Streets, just after the Carnival against Capitalism which occurred on 18 June 1999. It was rebuilt over three years.[3] The Guardian described it in 2005 as "a hub of the new anarchist movement."[4]

It has been used for events and as a meeting place by various groups, including the Radical Librarians Collective, Queeruption and Indymedia in London.[5][6] It was originally known as the Fieldgate Action Resource Centre. LARC is part of the UK Social Centre Network, alongside other projects which were set up around the same time, like the Cowley Club in Brighton and the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, and also the 1 in 12 Club in Bradford.[5][7]

On its own website, the project states it is "a cooperatively owned and run building dedicated to the furthering of social justice and environmental issues, locally, nationally and globally. We believe this is done through direct action, refusing to be a spectator or waiting for someone else to do it for us. It is about taking back power and realising our potential to bring about change. This is an anti-capitalist, non-hierarchical space."[8]

Despite this there have been various issues around hierarchical structure of the organisation. The library was set up to run on the principles of the Antisystemic Library on 18 June 2003. A split in the User Group over claims of institutional racism and of fascist infiltration of Peoples' Global Action.[9] of which LARC is one of the founding info-points, led to the expulsion of the No Platform group West Essex Zapatista at the December 2004 AGM of the company. This led to the forced departure of the Voice Refugee Forum and eventually the relocation of the Antisystemic Library.[10]

State funding

LARC successfully secured state funding of £10,000 in the period 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020. This grant came from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets from funding aimed specifically at small businesses and organisations facing difficulties as a result of the COVID pandemic. It constituted over 70% of their annual income for that period and was recognised by the organisation as being their most signifiant contribution that year.[11] This boosted their income from a total of £5,148.14 in their previous financial year[12] to £13,860.65, allowing them to retain £9,545.07 in excess of their expenditure for that financial year.[11]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ "Two curiosities on the London Hospital estate in Whitechapel". Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  2. ^ "62 Fieldgate Street: yesterday, today and tomorrow". Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  3. ^ "London Action Resource Centre". What's This Place? Stories from Radical Social Centres in the UK and Ireland. LARC. 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ^ Sebestyen, Anna (19 November 2005), "Tony Mahoney", Guardian, retrieved 7 November 2015
  5. ^ a b Katzeff,Steen & Hoogenhuijze, (eds) (2014). The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present. PM PRESS. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-60486-683-4. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ Quinn, Katherine; Bates, Jo (28 August 2019). "Everyday activism: Challenging neoliberalism for radical library workers in English higher education". In Lyn, Tett; Mary, Hamilton (eds.). Resisting Neoliberalism in Education: Local, National and Transnational Perspectives. Bristol: Policy Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-4473-5006-4.
  7. ^ Chatterton, Paul (March 2006). ""Give up Activism" and Change the World in Unknown Ways: Or, Learning to Walk with Others on Uncommon Ground". Antipode. 38 (2): 259–281. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8330.2006.00579.x.
  8. ^ "About Us". LARC. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  9. ^ On New Right infiltration in PGA, Savin's website, What really happened at the PGA Europe Wintermeeting
  10. ^ Institutional Racism in the Left, Alytusbiennial
  11. ^ a b Hartell, Victoria. "02 Jul 2021 Total exemption full accounts made up to 30 September 2020". company-information.service.gov.uk. London Action Resource Centre. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  12. ^ Hartell, Victoria. "05 Jun 2020 Total exemption full accounts made up to 30 September 2019". company-information.service.gov.uk. London Action Resource Centre. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
Bibliography

51°31′01″N 0°03′50″W / 51.5170°N 0.0640°W / 51.5170; -0.0640

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