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5. SC Làbas and the ‘Commoning of Urban Space’

5.1 Internal Praxis and Operationalization

(RQ1): How does Làbas organize itself internally through autonomy and self-organization?

5.1.1 Autonomy and Self-Management

Làbas, like various other liberated and squatted spaces, follows the principle of autonomia (autonomy) and self-management. In this context, autonomy refers to the ability to engage in direct democratic forms of decision-making, self-managed consensus, and forms of militant resistance (Katsiaficas 2006). In addition to this, I would argue that the autonomy observed at the centre refers more to what is commonly called ‘social autonomy’, which refers to the ability to work efficiently in a group context and setting.

Although autonomy represents a key characteristic at the centre, as it represents the freedom and flexibility to self-manage Làbas’ projects and space the way the activists think is the most suitable, the militants decline the issue of autonomy in a collective and common way. For this reason, a parallel can be drawn to what is called ‘social anarchism’, which refers to the interrelation between personal autonomy and freedom with social equity and collective rights. This approach to manage collective life seeks to set up an anti-capitalist and subversive community of equals (Graeber 2004), a process that I observed at the centre. To this regard, as discussed by SI2, the

3 All the interviews were conducted in Italian, the main language of the participants. Eventual quotes or sentences used in this study have been personally translated to English.

40 collective is seeking to propose “a different way to do politics” which follows the principle of what the militants call “collective intelligence”.4 This term refers to the cooperation between each activist and volunteers at the centre in order to overcome common issues, instead of addressing these problems individually. During the interviews, some militants highlighted the possibility of disagreement among the collective on how to approach current socio-political issues and how to run the internal activities at the centre, underlining however the collective effort to find common ground during the assemblies.5

I found that cooperation, collectivity, and autonomy are essential characteristics that define Làbas, as it is seeking to offer a horizontal approach in problem solving and decision-making processes. To this regard, the centre relies on the principle of democracy to make decisions in a collective and fair way. In practice, I observed how this is achieved by organizing bi-weekly assemblies open to discuss various challenges and issues arisen during the previous weeks.

During these autonomous assemblies, an emphasis is put on horizontalism as a way to allow everyone to participate equally to the discussion. There is no leader in charge of guiding the collective, or a general secretary who decides who can talk and when, but decisions are made, discussed, and resolved in a collective way. This method allows the people involved at Làbas to be the central characters of change who have the freedom to manage their own projects, space, and lives within the centre collectively and in the way they think is more suitable. To this regard, GI8 highlights:

“We made a decision… which is to live this oppressing condition in a collective way. We decided to get out of this nightmare that oppresses us. I am talking about a neoliberal capitalist system that is suffocating and squeezing us every day… but the joy of fighting this together makes you move forward. Our choice is not like what most people decide to do: to individually face this condition. But our choice is to experience and live this in a collective manner”.6

Although the political collective is composed by different individuals who are somehow similar in age but have various political beliefs and ideological affiliations, I noticed how during the collective assemblies the militants manage to engage in decision making processes in a democratic way and in respect to each other’s opinions, ideas, and beliefs. This is accomplished by how the assemblies are organized, during which people are stimulated to participate equally,

4 SI2.

5 SI1, SI2, SI4, GI6.

6 GI8.

41 sharing their personal opinions on how direct actions, projects, and protests at Làbas should take place. In addition, the participation to each assembly is voluntary, therefore allowing the activists the freedom and flexibility to be able to decide if and when to participate to the activity, depending on each person’s passion, time, and engagement with the centre or with a given topic of discussion.

The aim of the assemblies is to guarantee the right management of common spaces and projects, whilst ensuring everyone’s approval on how the space is being run and organized. At this stage, SI1 highlights the need to develop mutual trust among the people involved in the collective. She argues that to find common solutions to common problems might require to put aside one’s uncertainty and doubts on how the activities should be managed. She adds:

“There are certain things I do not agree with here. I have discussed about this many times with the collective. But I need to put trust in them. I need to put aside my doubts when I realize I am the only one who think differently. Maybe I am wrong (…). For certain things I think it’s necessary to put trust in other people or it is difficult to accomplish something positive.” 7

This affirmation shows a certain level of awareness of the possible negative sides and pitfall of autonomy and the coming together of various individuals that do not share the same background and political affiliations. At the same time, she stresses the importance to focus on the mutual and collective aims and goals rather than on the disagreements on how to achieve these. During my stay, I noticed that if a problem arises within the collective due to a disagreement on how the projects should be approached, there is a mutual effort to solve these issues in a collective way.

Several activists also highlighted the need to keep an open dialogue with the other members of the collective to ensure the projects are run the most appropriate way according to the group.8 For example, during an assembly on how to approach the new semester at the Italian school for migrants, the activists were debating how to best incorporate societal topics into the various class-levels in a way that could benefit the participants of the project.9 In this case, I discovered how different strategies and approaches were taken into consideration by the militants involved in the project, as well as considering cooperation and knowledge exchange among other liberated

7 SI1.

8 SI1, SI2, SI3, GI8, GI10.

9 More information about the Italian School for Migrants can be found in Chapter 6: The ‘Space of the Expelled’: Mutualism and Self-Emancipation. In general terms, Làbas offers three different classes according to each participants knowledge of the Italian language: literacy, basic, and medium-advanced class.

42 spaces in Bologna. To this regard, I noticed how Làbas takes inspiration from various grassroot groups across the world, who have more experience on how to ensure a good organizational praxis inside the liberated space. Among others, some ideological inspirations are the Zapatista Movement in Chiapas and their ideas of the ‘Municipios Autónomos Rebeldes’ and the conflict occurring in Rojava. The militants reported that with the possibility to join these groups in order to ‘form themselves’, they had the chance to bring back to the SC valuable knowledge on how to manage internal conflict and disagreements.10

I found the principle of autonomy and self-management to be crucial to understand how common space within the centre is managed by the collective. First, it is important to highlight that Làbas represents a unique case study compared to more traditional SCs. As I briefly discussed in chapter four, the centre presents itself as an ‘Autonomous Social Municipality’ due to its change in the management of its internal activities and common space. The collective embraced the change in name following the COVID-19 pandemic, as they realised that Làbas was undertaking an alternative direction compared to other liberated spaces. All the activists interviewed showed acceptance of this change, considering it as a necessary ‘evolution’ of the space to be aligned with what the local civil society needs and wants. Indeed, during and after the pandemic, the activists realised that a serious governmental mismanagement on welfare, job security, and basic health assistance was depriving Bologna’s society from their rights, resulting in the need of additional help and support from grassroots organizations instead of institutions. For this reason, Làbas began to emphasize on concepts of mutual help and aid, mutualism, and subsidiarity. As discussed during his interview, SI7 stated:

“Since the transition to the Social Municipality, we were able to discuss themes we were not able to approach before. I see this as an evolution. Social centres used to have a gate opened for an event and then closed, but here the space is always open… There is an autonomous reception opened from Monday to Friday and we share the space with many other realities. It is different compared to before… it is no longer an occupied space you need to protect from the outside, but it is always open to anyone”.11

Indeed, during this time, new themes began to be explored due to the development of new projects, such as the psychological support and the housing rights help desks. These projects were established in an autonomous and independent way, with the help of activists who are also

10 SI2, SI7.

11 SI7.

43 professionals in the field of mental health and psychology. The willingness of the centre to start new initiatives because of the lack of institutional support shows how Làbas seeks to create an open dialogue with the local population to address common and popular issue within the city organism. To this regard, Làbas managed to create a social network of solidarity and cooperation among civil society and the militants, whilst enhancing the perception of public safety and the (co)production of social capital in the neighbourhood (Giannini & Pirone 2019; Castrignanò 2012).

At the same time, most of the militants interviewed stressed the importance to avoid framing the centre as a ‘provider’ of services, but as a political subject that seeks for change. To this regard, an important strength of Làbas is its ability to enhance the participants’ desire and will to engage in political and social activities (Martìnez Lopez 2012; Giannini & Pirone 2019) due to the context in which they are situated. I found that the practices of autonomy allowed the political involvement and internal participation of diverse subjects. These range from the systematic participation to the collective political assemblies and life for the activists, the participation to the projects and activities occurring at the centre for the volunteers, and the sporadic involvement for those external people who sympathize with the goals and aims of Làbas.12 The involvement of a wide range of people have allowed the participants of the project to find a direct access to not only new skills and knowledge, but also direct access to decent housing, psychological support, and language classes to enhance one’s emancipation through the learning of a new skill (Giannini

& Pirone 2019; Pruijt 2012).