The Camas Bookstore and Infoshop is a not-for-profit

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 ...

located at 2620 Quadra Street in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Canada.

History

A collective which included

Allan Antliff __NOTOC__ Allan W. Antliff is an anarchist activist, art critic, author and founding member of the Toronto Anarchist Free School (now Anarchist U) who has written extensively on the topics of anarchism and art in North America since the 1980s. C ...

started off renting shelf space at Dark Horse Books in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. Camas was then established at 2590 Quadra Street on the corner of Kings Road, in September 2007. The

is named after the camas plant (camassia quamash), which was grown by the local

Lekwungen The Lekwungen or Lekungen nation (lək̓ʷəŋən often called the Songhees or Songish by non-Lekwungens) are an Indigenous North American Coast Salish people who reside on southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the Greater Victoria a ...

nation. The project aimed to publicise social justice perspectives and to make solidarity links to social movements worldwide. The space was intended to be as accessible as possible. Camas sells books and zines on the themes of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as s ...

and

anti-colonialism Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

. It is non-profit and supporting itself through book sales and events, such as exhibitions, readings and films. Camas was raided by the

Victoria Police Department The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is the municipal police force for the City of Victoria and the Township of Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest municipal police department in Canada west of the Great Lakes, the first Can ...

in 2010. Four volunteers were detained whilst the police searched, taking away two computers. The police were searching for evidence concerning vandalism of the mayor's house. In October 2012 Camas Books moved to a new location at 2620 Quadra, less than half a block away from the original location. The store hosted a book launch for

Ann Hansen Ann Hansen is a Canadian anarchist and former member of Squamish Five, Direct Action, a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla organization known for the Litton Industries bombing, 1982 bombing of a Litton Industries plant, which made components for Ameri ...

's ''Taking the Rap: Women Doing Time for Society's Crimes'' in 2018.

External links

Website

References

{{coord, 48, 26, 14.91, N, 123, 21, 31.7, W, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Infoshops Independent bookstores of Canada Anarchist bookstores Shops in Victoria, British Columbia Anarchism in Canada

History

External links

See also

References