Abstract
This chapter suggests an interpretation of the contexts, cycles and institutionalisation of the squatters’ movement in Brighton since the 1970s. First, squatting for living is explored as it becomes politicised. Second, the author determines how squatted and non-squatted autonomous social centres were rooted in Brighton. The criminalisation of squatting, the occasional legalisation and the gentrification processes are analysed according to specific local patterns. The chapter also shows how squatters were associated with other urban struggles and affected social and urban policy in various ways.
Note: This chapter was published in 2014 in the journal Sociological Research Online (Dee 2014a). It is reproduced here in slightly revised form.
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Notes
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The adjacent towns of Brighton and Hove merged to become a city in 2000 (henceforth referred to as Brighton). Together they form the United Kingdom’s most populous seaside resort, located on the south coast of England, 60 miles to the south of London. Brighton has a population of around 270,000, based on the 2011 census, and also forms part of a larger conurbation, which contains almost 500,000 people. http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html
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http://network23.org/snob SNOB(AHA) was set up in 2011 and is now defunct.
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Specific sources were: Another Space (http://issuu.com/photoworks_uk/docs/another_space_bpb12), Brighton Argus (http://www.theargus.co.uk), Brighton Bomber (ten issues between 1984 and 1987), Brighton Voice (Copies in Brighton Museum), SchNews (http://www.schnews.org.uk), SNOB(AHA) Brief and Incomplete History of Squatting in Brighton (and Hove) (https://network23.org/snob/history/), SPORZINE (1, 3, 5), Squat!Net (https://brighton.squat.net & https://en.squat.net), UK Squatting Archive (http://www.wussu.com/squatting/)
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References
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Dee, E.T.C. (2018). The Ebb and Flow of Resistance: The Squatters’ Movement and Squatted Social Centres in Brighton. In: Martínez López, M. (eds) The Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements. The Contemporary City. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95314-1_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95314-1_10
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