The London Action Resource Centre (LARC) is an anarchist

infoshop 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 ...

and self-managed social centre situated in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, in the East End of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. 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 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 pr ...

History

The building was constructed 1866–7 as a mission house and infants’ school, keeping this usage until around 1918. It then housed the

Louise Michel Louise Michel (; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and important figure in the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she embraced anarchism. When returning to France she emerged as an important French a ...

International Modern School, organised by Jewish anarchists. It also hosted the New Worker's Friend (

Arbeter Fraynd The Worker's Friend Group was a Jewish anarchist group active in London's East End in the early 1900s. Associated with the Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper ''Arbeter Fraint'' ("Worker's Friend") and centered around the German emigre anarchi ...

) Club and the East London Anarchist Group. It was then converted into a synagogue in 1925. After World War II, the building was used in the

rag trade The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

before falling into dereliction.

Project

LARC was purchased in the autumn of 1999 by people active in

Reclaim the Streets Reclaim the Streets also known as RTS, are a collective with a shared ideal of community ownership of public spaces. Participants characterise the collective as a resistance movement opposed to the dominance of corporate forces in globalisa ...

, just after the

Carnival against Capitalism The Carnival Against Capital took place on Friday 18 June 1999. It was an international day of protest (also known as J18) timed to coincide with the 25th G8 summit in Cologne, Germany. The carnival was inspired by the 1980s Stop the City protest ...

which occurred on 18 June 1999. It was rebuilt over three years. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described it in 2005 as "a hub of the new anarchist movement." It has been used for events and as a meeting place by various groups, including the Radical Librarians Collective, Queeruption and

Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seattl ...

in London. It was originally known as the ''Fieldgate Action Resource Centre''. LARC is part of the

, alongside other projects which were set up around the same time, like the

Cowley Club The Cowley Club is a libertarian self-managed social centre in Brighton, England. It opened in 2003, providing resources and meeting spaces for groups and individuals active in areas such as workplace and unemployed struggles, international soli ...

in Brighton and the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, and also the

1 in 12 Club The 1 in 12 Club refers to both a members' club and the building in which it is based, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Owned and run by its membership as a collective based upon anarchist principles, its activities include social and pol ...

in Bradford. 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."

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *

External links

LARC website

(historical interest, not updated)

{{Infoshops Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets DIY culture Infoshops Social centres in the United Kingdom Whitechapel

History

Project

See also

References

External links