Avtonomni prostori na udaru: Za skupnostno nepokorščino in proti pasivnosti

(eng below)

Avtonomni prostori na udaru: za skupnostno nepokorščino in proti pasivnosti

Avtonomni prostori v regiji so zadnje leto preživeli v napetem ozračju stalnih groženj in nekaterih resnih napadov. Poleti 2016 je ljubljanski župan Zoran Jankovič odredil napad privatne varnostne tolpe Valina z neonacisti v svojih vrstah na Avtonomno tovarno Rog v Ljubljani. Začetni napad je skupnost uspešno odvrnila, sledilo pa je izčrpavanje v obliki še vedno trajajočih sodnih postopkov, v okviru katerega posameznikom in posameznicam grozijo nemogoče denarne in druge kazni. V Izoli se je komaj dobro vzpostavljeni skvot Argo pozimi 2016/17 soočil z mašinerijo “slabe banke” DUTB. Ta je s silo in ob pomoči plačane varnostne tolpe skvot kmalu po novem letu izpraznila. Sosednji Inde v Kopru je v stanju srditega obleganja že od zadnje zime - tudi tam najprej po ukazih DUTB, sedaj nadobudnih lokalnih podjetnikov - in žal vse kaže, da je bitka za Inde končana. Sokolski dom v Novem mestu se že celo leto sooča s pozivi mestnih veljakov, da naj preneha z delovanjem ter sodnimi procesi proti uporabnikom.

Tudi Avtonomni kulturni center Metelkova mesto v Ljubljani, ki se navidez dobro drži, je vedno le korak stran od nove policijske intervencije. Takšni sta bili denimo tisti 5. marca in 14. aprila 2017, ko so posebne policijske enote v notranje prostore vdrle v polni bojni opremi, vključno s ščiti, in nadlegovale ljudi tudi z očitno uporabo rasnega profiliranja. Hkrati se Metelkova sooča z železnim pritiskom različnih inšpekcij, ki terorizirajo obiskovalke in obiskovalce ter silijo prostore v delovanje po načelih običajnih komercialnih glasbeno-gostinskih obratov. Pod krinko logike »zakon in red« pa policisti dnevno nadlegujejo uporabnike zaradi nepomembnih prekrškov ter tako ustvarjajo vzdušje nasilnega obleganja in nesvobode.

Če potegnemo črto: avtonomni prostori v regiji se v obdobju, ko je država razglasila konec krize in vrnitev v blaginjo socialne države (za izbrano peščico), soočajo s tako direktno represivnimi kot bolj posrednimi pritiski. Oboji imajo enak cilj: nevtralizacijo subverzivnega potenciala avtonomnih prostorov. Navkljub vsemu ti namreč še vedno ostajajo prostor gradnje skupnosti, v katerem se najdemo številni, ki nas družba odriva na margino. Še vedno ostajajo prostor nepokornosti dominantni politiki in še vedno ostajajo vozlišča drugačne in vključujoče družbenosti.

Vse to nas, aktivne uporabnice in uporabnike avtonomnih prostorov, ki slednje razumemo hkrati kot izraze naših potreb onkraj mezdnega dela oziroma golega preživetja ter hkrati kot orodja njihove realizacije, sili k tehtnemu premisleku o stanju stvari in o tem, kako in s kom naprej. Ta izjava je iskren prispevek k temu premisleku. Prihaja od tovarišic in tovarišev, ki delujejo znotraj avtonomnih prostorov in je hkrati artikulacija trenutne situacije ter poziv k diskusiji in organiziranju tako znotraj naših prostorov kot tudi v širšem antiavtoritarnem gibanju. Od nikogar ne terjamo, da se do tu zapisanih tez opredeli, bomo pa veseli slehernega konstruktivnega angažmaja v zvezi z njimi. Kar se nas tiče, smo tudi v prihodnje zavezani k temu, da naše besede sovpadajo z našimi dejanji. Pri tem ne želimo biti sami, toda hkrati se tega ne bojimo.

Avtonomni prostori in logika ekstremnega centra

Raznovrstni napadi in pritiski na avtonomne prostore so specifični izrazi politike izrednih razmer in strahu, s katero oblast med ljudi vnaša negotovost, razdor in sovraštvo, da bi medtem v ozadju pod pretvezo varčevanja in kriznega menedžmenta nadaljevala s plenjenjem družbenega bogastva. Domnevni konec krize za veliko ljudi pomeni zgolj konsolidacijo režima prekarnega kolobarjenja med različnimi pogodbenimi oblikami boja za golo preživetje. Ključni horizont vsakdanjega življenja ostaja nadaljevanje procesov opustošenja. Okno priložnosti za radikalne spremembe, ki ga je že dolgo tega odprla vstajniška eksplozija, je vladajoči eliti po dolgotrajnih manevrih in prerazporejanjih znotraj nje same končno uspelo zapreti. Spomnimo: v pogojih, ko je celotna obstoječa politična elita popolnoma izgubila sleherno legitimnost v očeh ljudi, je volilnemu projektu novi obrazi (iste elite) uspelo najprej oblast ohraniti, nato pa na krilih ekstremistične politike rezalne žice, umetno spodbujevanega ozračja izrednih razmer in militarizacije to oblast pod zastavo ekstremnega centra tudi konsolidirati. Trenutna vladna propaganda o domnevno ugodnih statističnih kazalcih o gospodarski rasti sporoča, da je vse nared za nov krog klasične slovenske zgodbe o uspehu, z njenimi smelimi projekti menedžerskih prevzemov in strateškimi tujimi naložbami, “ki bodo prinesle nova delovna mesta” vred.

Družba za upravljanje s terjatvami bank – DUTB, je mehanizem, preko katerega je kapital z naslonitvijo na represivno moč države ponovno prevzel kontrolo nad območji, ki jih je v prejšnjem ciklu opustošil, tudi nad nekaterimi, ki jim je v vmesnem času samoorganizirana dejavnost ljudi vdahnila nove skupnostne funkcije. Najbolj nazorna primera sta Argo in Inde, prej pa je identično usodo doživel tudi skupnostni vrt Čolnarska v Ljubljani. Veliki projekti uglednih ekonomistov in reševalcev narodnega gospodarstva preko lovk DUTB neposredno trčijo ob vsakdanja življenja skupnosti uporabnikov in uporabnic avtonomnih con. Pri napadu na Inde tako ne gre zgolj za avanturo lokalnih podjetnikov, temveč se skozi njo izraža tendenca kapitala, da celotno družbeno življenje podredi nenasitni logiki dobička in tekmovalnosti. Njena prevlada vsepovsod proizvaja ruševine, zatira življenje večine in gradi palače za peščico.

Za nas, torej za nepokorne v avtonomnih prostorih, le-ti niso nikakršni mladinski klubi, prisesani na državne razpise za izboljšanje zaposljivosti ranljivih skupin. Tudi niso centri kreativne ali barsko-zabaviščne industrije. Za nas predstavljajo zgodovinsko pomemben dosežek antiavtoritarnih gibanj, ki so vedno izhajala iz lokalne realnosti, se z njo prepletala in se vanjo vračala. Skvoti nikoli ne padejo z neba in nikoli ne obstajajo brez močne, ozaveščene in politizirane skupnosti. Vedno predstavljajo alternativen model družbenega organiziranja in zrcalijo tisto, kar v družbi na splošno manjka, je v njej prezrto ali celo zatirano. Spomnimo, Metelkova je sredi vojne, ki je razcefrala družbeno tkivo nekdanje Jugoslavije, vzniknila kot dedič antinacionalistične in antimilitaristične tradicije ljubljanske in jugoslovanske alternative. Rog je bil odprt na višku zlate dobe tajkunskih kreditov, gospodarske rasti in investicij kot praktična zavrnitev totalnosti kapitalistične udomačitve prostora v centru mesta. Inde in Argo pa sta kasneje v času krize nastala kot izraza potrebe mnogih na Obali po življenju, katerega horizont bi se končno iztrgal od tlake v luki in turistični industriji kot edinima meriloma uspeha.

Avtonomni prostori so tako realizacija potreb in želja po drugačni organizaciji družbenega življenja. V njih in skozi njih strast do svobode ostaja živa. Tudi danes še zdaleč ne zanemarljivemu delu družbe omogočajo prosto razvijanje odnosov, ki preizprašujejo dominantne vzorce moči, agresije, izključevanja, prilaščanja, seksizma in hierarhije. Tudi za tiste med nami, ki že dolgo nismo več mladi, niti nimamo svojega startup podjetja ali kariere, avtonomni prostori pomenijo tisto redko skupnost v naših mestih, ki nam pomaga ohranjati mentalno in fizično prisebnost ter moč tudi v času napredujočega družbenega opustošenja.

Avtonomni prostori so heterogeni in protislovni

Avtonomni prostori so neločljivo povezani s političnimi gibanji avtonomije, antifašizma, antikapitalizma, boja proti vsiljenim hierarhijam in državi, ki s svojimi številnimi lovkami duši življenje. So vozlišča imaginacije ter laboratoriji političnega mišljenja, prakse in organiziranja. Biti znotraj in hkrati zavračati te osnovne premise pomeni pozicioniranje izven avtonomnih prostorov, na stališče aktivne sabotaže pogojev njihove reprodukcije.

Format »kulturnih skvotov«, ki prevladuje pri nas, zaradi raznolikega značaja aktivnosti in načinov organiziranja znotraj njih omogoča izredno odprto skupnost, kjer se lahko realizirajo zelo različne iniciative. Tovrstna odprtost je po eni strani kvaliteta teh prostorov, hkrati pa jih na drugi strani dela za ranljive, ko gre za razvoj tiste tendence, preko katere kapital in država na mehak način vpeljuje v družbeno življenje načine dela, ki so servilni do njunih interesov oziroma postopkov. Ta tendenca imajo imajo več kot z antiavtoritarnimi gibanji in alternativnimi vizijami skupnega s podjetji, nevladnim sektorjem in podobnimi strukturami, katerih smoter je ohranjanje obstoječega družbenega reda. Komercializacija, institucionalizacija, prevlada mezdnega dela in razmah projektnosti so znotraj avtonomnih prostorov izrazi te tendence. Pogosto nastopijo kot učinek individualnih odgovorov na soočenje s temeljnim vprašanjem, ki se v pogojih opustošenja zastavlja povsod: »Kako preživeti?«. Ne glede na morda dobre namene samih akterjev, tovrstne prakse negativno delujejo na zmožnost avtonomnih prostorov, da se razvijajo. Za te prakse je značilno pomanjkanje afinitete in lojalnosti do gibanj, na dosežkih katerih gradijo. Manj odločno kot se prostori politično profilirajo, bolj uspešna je nevtraliziranja njihovih subverzivnih potencialov.

Živimo v času modernega totalitarizma, sistema, v katerem logika kapitala kolonizira vse družbene sfere in v katerem ni prostora za alternativne modele družbenih odnosov. V iskanju osebnega odgovora na to blaznenje je skvote je za svoje vzelo tudi mnoštvo posameznikov, ki sicer ideji politično dejavnega življenja morda niso namenili večje pozornosti ali pa jo celo odkrito zavračajo. V osnovi porojen iz nagnjenja k iskanju osebnega udobja, se tovrsten ambivalenten odnos do prostora, ki se izvorno konstituira ravno okoli ideje avtonomije, v praksi spontano izraža skozi zagovor inercije, diskreditacijo vsakršnih poskusov argumetirane intervencije in celo same ideje organiziranosti. Tudi v kontekstu avtonomnega prostora zagovor apolitičnosti pomeni zagovor obstoječega ravnovesja sil v družbi nasploh in nemožnosti sleherne alternative.

Apel tovarišicam in tovarišem

Naš predlog za vse tovarišice in tovariše znotraj avtonomnih prostorov je: potrebno je vztrajati na tem, da so ti prostori eksplicitno antifašistični in antikapitalistični, organizirani po načelih samoorganizacije, politični v vseh svojih vidikih, hkrati pa prostori spoštovanja in solidarnosti, kjer se od konfliktov, najsi bo tistih v nas samih, med sabo, ali s policijo in drugimi tolpami, ne beži, temveč se zanje ustrezno skupnostno organizira. Avtonomni prostori se lahko le politični ali pa jih ni. Vedno znova se pozablja, da so izborjeni in se bodo za svoj obstanek zmeraj morali boriti, občasnim navidezno mirnim obdobjem navkljub. Vsakršna legalizacija predstavlja uklonitev oblasti in odpoved ravno tistemu, kar avtonomne prostore dela za drugačne. Številne izkušnje potrjujejo, da je vsaka iluzija, da bodo pogajanja s takšnimi ali drugačnimi veljaki prinesla končno pozitivno (od)rešitev, nesmiselna. Avtonomija nekega prostora se gradi, razvija in obnavlja skozi stalni politični konflikt, ki občasno privzame tudi obliko fizične konfrontacije konkretnih ljudi s silami oblasti. Od tega ne moremo in ne smemo bežati.

Skladno s stanjem stvari v družbi kapitalističnega opustošenja postajajo tudi v avtonomnih prostorih vse bolj vidne združbe, ki se organizirajo okoli preprodaje drog in drobnih tatvin. Te združbe v svojih bolj in manj organiziranih različicah stremijo h vzpostavitvi določene stopnje kontrole nad teritorijem z namenom razvijanja točno določenega segmenta tržne ekonomije, od katerega imajo sodelujoči delež, ki je skladen z njihovim položajem v hierarhiji tolpe. Dejstvo, da so številni med nami v iskanju lastnega preživetja primorani delovati na takšnem prekernem terenu, je neposredno zvezano z osnovnimi premisami kapitalističnega reda, torej z egoizmom in brutalnim bojem za resurse. Nobeno presenečenje zato ne more biti, da najdejo te tolpe svoje rekrute pogosto ravno med tistimi, ki so zavoljo svojega pravnega statusa, jezika ali drugih vidikov osebne biografije potisnjeni na rob družbe. Tudi skozi položaj tistih med nami, ki se nahajajo med Scilo totalne revščine in Karibdo družbeno destruktivne ekonomske dejavnosti, lahko dobimo vpogled v specifično realnost življenja na družbeni margini.

Velik del družbe je danes vržen v pogoje socialnega kanibalizma, kjer se marsikomu zdi, da pot iz brezposelnosti, revščine, brezdomstva lahko pelje le preko tlačenja in izkoriščanja drugih, to pa je ravno ista vizija, ki nam jo, revnim, ljudem brez papirjev, brez prihodnosti, vsiljuje vladajoča neoliberalna paradigma. Ravno zato, ker je socialni kanibalizem sestavni del tako vsakdanje prakse vladajočega režima, kot tudi vladajoče ideologije, je hkrati temeljni teren, kjer moramo ljubitelji svobode in avtonomije zgraditi svojo alternativo. Primarno s samozaščitnim skupnostnim delovanjem in iskreno komunikacijo z vsemi akterji ter z apeliranjem k spoštovanju avtonomnega prostora, njegovih postopkov in uporabnic oziroma uporabnikov. Boj za avtonomijo od države in kapitala je hkrati boj za avtonomijo od dilersko-tatinskih združb in šovinističnih tolp.

Avtonomne skupnosti zahtevajo aktivne posameznike, pluralnost politične misli pa takšno skupnost še dodatno krepi. V skvotu naj bo prostor za različne kolektive, afinitetne skupine, delovne skupine, ki v dinamičnem procesu gradijo skupen prostor raznolikih, a med seboj prepletenih praks. Ključno je, da znotraj skvota obstaja podpora za samostojno delovanje manjših iniciativ drugih, dokler te ne zanikajo osnovnih preko skupščine oziroma foruma oblikovanih političnih in organizacijskih načel. Podpora razvoju mnogoterih ožjih iniciativ pa na noben način ne sme hkrati pomeniti razveljavitve osrednje vloge skupščine kot prostora srečevanja in odločanja v političnem procesu skvota kot celote. Skupščina oziroma forum ostaja temeljno orodje samoorganizacije, nepogrešljiva pri zagotavljanju kolektivnega značaja postopkov v zvezi s ključnimi vprašanji, ki zadevajo celotno skupnost.

Če želimo imeti avtonomne prostore, moramo zanje zastaviti tudi svoja telesa. Včasih bomo uspeli, včasih bodo sile proti nam premočne. A skozi ta boj se bodo rojevala nova zavezništva, tovarištva, ljubezen, inspiracija in moč. Nepokorščina nas združi, sile, ki ogrožajo naše prostore pa lahko ujame nepripravljene in jim spodmakne tla legitimnosti pod nogami. To odpira nov prostor, v katerem se lahko povezujemo z drugimi gibanji, posamezniki, kolektivi in populacijami. Kaj nam bo svoboden skvot v nesvobodnem mestu? V trenutku, ko se zazibamo v lagodnost svoje lastne iluzije avtonomije, smo ostali sami, za zidovi, odrezani, odtujeni. V trenutku, ko na nas pritiskajo gentrifikacija, turistifikacija in policija, rešitev ni (zgolj) v gradnji barikad, kaj šele v umiku in servilni pokoritvi. Ko nam pritiski na vseh ravneh jemljejo prostor in dušijo naša pljuča, mora biti naš krik glasnejši kot kdajkoli prej, naše želje pa morajo iti precej dlje od tega, v kar nas prepričujejo, da je edino mogoče.

Kaj nas druži...in kje se bomo srečali

Za ceno ponavljanja naj še enkrat navedemo nekatere osnovne principe in vrednote, ki so po naši analizi in izkušnjah nujen sestavni del slehernega skvota, ki svojo avtonomijo in političnost jemlje resno: avtonomija od sleherne javne ali druge samooklicane oblasti na vseh ravneh, tudi ko gre za odločanje o prostoru, dejavnosti in organizaciji. Nehierarhičnost, kar pomeni, da velja samoorganizacija po načelih svobodnega dogovora, kjer ni nobene moči izven ali nad močjo uporabnikov. Antikapitalizem, kar pomeni, da v vsakdanji ekonomski praksi raziskujemo možnosti skupnostne ekonomije in ohranjamo ogenj (ideje) brezrazredne družbe pri življenju. Nepokornost, tudi če to pomeni konflikt s policijo ali kakšno drugo tolpo. Heterogenost, kar pomeni, da ne delimo vsi istih stališč o vseh vprašanjih in spodbujamo razvoj v različnih smereh. Onkraj osnovnih antifašističnih oziroma na splošno libertarnih stališč leži celo polje ekperimentiranja, predlogov in rešitev. V tem okviru stojimo za principom spoštovanja – do sebe in do drugih ter njihov praks.

Tudi nominalno antiavtoritarni prostori lahko postanejo gojišča avtoritarne politike. Ta nevarnost je še posebej močna, ko napočijo krizni momenti in s tem nuja tvorjenja zahtevnejših skupnostnih samozaščitnih procesov. Takrat nam lahko zgoraj omenjeni principi služijo za kompas, tudi ko ne vemo več dobro, kje smo in kam pravzaprav gremo. Včeraj nam je bil dovolj avtonomni prostor. Danes hočem avtonomne soseske. Jutri mesta in pokrajine. Zavedamo se, da v tem boju nismo edinstveni in vemo, da nismo sami. Kje se bomo torej srečali?

Ob 24. obletnici AKC Metelkova mesto, Ljubljana, 10. september 2017
Anarhistična pobuda Ljubljana – APL // APL je članica Federacije za anarhistično organiziranje – FAO, ki je članica Internacionale anarhističnih federacij – IAF//

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Autonomous Spaces under Threat: for Communal Disobedience - Against Passivity

For the last year the autonomous spaces in the region were deeply marked by a tense athmosphere fueled by constant threats and some serious attacks. In the summer of 2016 the mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković ordered the attack of a private security company with neonazis in its ranks on the Autonomous Factory Rog. The community managed to successfully repel the initial attack only to be later confronted with an ongoing and attritive court procedures that threaten to leave individuals with heavy financial and other penalties. In the winter of 2016/17 a new squat Argo in Izola/Isola that had only started with activities was targeted by the machinery of »the bad bank« or BAMC. The latter hired a private security gang which soon after the turn of the year forcefully emptied the squat. Not far away in Koper/Capodistria Inde has been under intense siege since the winter, at first by the orders from BAMC and lately by some enthusiastic local entrepreneurs. Sadly it seems that the battle for Inde is over. Sokolski dom in Novo mesto has been for an entire year dealing with repeating calls from the local autorities to stop with activities and the court procedures are under way.

Even Autonomous cultural center Metelkova mesto in Ljubljana that seems to be in a good shape is always just a step away from a new police intervention. Two such incidents happened on 5th March and 14th April 2017 when police units in full battle gear with shields invaded the interior of the buildings and harrased people, clearly employing racial profiling in the process. At the same time different state regulatory institutions are tightening their grip on Metelkova by terrrorizing visitors and forcing the principles of regular commercial musical-food&drink establishments to its practice. Claiming the mantle of »law and order« the police daily harrases visitors, supposedly due to transgressions that are trivial at most and by this produce an athmosphere of violent siege and lack of freedom.

To summarize: at the time when the state has announced the end of crisis and a return to the comforts of the welfare state (for the select few) the autonomous spaces in the region face direct and repressive as well as more indirect pressures. All these have the same goal: to neutralize the subversive potential of the autonomous spaces. And yet, the latter remain spaces of community building, which many of us who are pushed to the margins of society, are calling our own. They remain spaces of disobedience to the dominant politics and they remain nodes of a different and inclusive sociality.

As active users of autonomous spaces, which we consider simultaneously as an expression of those of our needs that go beyond wage labour or bare survival, but also as tools through which these needs can be realizate, we are compelled to a serious reflection, including on how and with whom to proceed further. Coming from the comrades that are active in the autonomous spaces this communique is a sincere contribution to this effort. At the same time it is an articulation of the current situation as we understand it and a call for discussion and organizing both within our spaces and in the wider anti-authoritarian movement. We do not demand from anyone to position him- or herself in relation to what we had written down here. We will however be happy of any and all constructive engagements with it. As for us, we remain commited that our words will continue to correspond to our acts. While it is true that we do not wish to be alone in this, we also are not afraid of it.

Autonomous spaces and the logic of extreme centre

The many different forms of attack and pressure to which autonomous spaces are subjected are merely specific expressions of 'politics of state of emergency and fear'. Through it the authorities impose conditions of insecurity, discord and hate as conditions on people's lives, so that in the background and under disguise of austerity and crisis management they can continue to pillage social wealth. For many the presumed end of the crisis means just a consolidation of a regime under which as precarious workers we continuously move from one contractual arrangement of the struggle for bare survival to another. Key horizon of everyday life remains a continuation of processes of devastation. A window of opportunity for radical changes, that an insurgent explosion has opened now a long time ago, was closed by the ruling elite after long maneuvring and internal realigments. Let us remind ourselves: in conditions in which the existing political elite as a whole lost any trace of legitimacy in the eyes of the people, the electoral project new faces (of the same elite) succeeded first to keep the same elite in power and then to consolidate its grip under the banner of extreme centre. Central to this process was deployment of the combination of extremist politics of razor wire, intense propagation of the narrative of emergency situation and militarization. Appearance of positive statistical data on economic growth in current government propaganda efforts is a clear indication that the stage is set for a new round of the classical 'Slovenian success story', including the daring projects of managerial takeovers and strategic foreign investements that will bring »new working places«.

Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) is a mechanism through which capital, by leaning on the repressive power of the state, regained control over the areas that it left devastated after the previous cycle, including over some that have in the meantime, due to the self-organized activity of the people, aquired new communal functions. The most obvious cases are Argo, Inde and communal garden Čolnarska in Ljubljana, which was the first to experience the same fate. It is through the tentacles of BAMC that big projects of respected economists and saviours of national economy directly clash with everyday lives of communities of active users of autonomous zones. The attack on Inde is thus not only an adventure of some local entrepreneurs, it is a vehicle for capital's drive to subject all social life to the insatiable logic of profit and competition. Everywhere its dominance produces ruins, opresses lives of the majority and builds palaces for the few.

For us, for the disobedient in the autonomous spaces, they are not some kind of youth clubs, bottle-fed by the state through funds for improvement in employability of the vulnerable social groups. They are also not centres of creative and bar-entertainment industry. For us they represent a historically valuable achievement of the anti-authoritarian movements. They always grow out of the local reality, are intertwined with it and the latter is being shaped by them in turn. Squats don't fall from the sky and they don't exist without strong, conscious and politicized community. They represent an alternative model of social organizing and mirror what in society in general is found lacking, is overlooked or even opressed. Let's make a short reminder: as an heir to antinationalist and antimilitarist tradition of Ljubljana and Yugoslavia alternative Metelkova emerged during the war that hacked to pieces the social fabric of former Yugoslavia. Rog was opened at the height of the golden age of tycoon credit, economic growth and investments as a practical rejection of totality of capitalist domestication of space in the centre of the town. Later, already during the crisis years both Inde and Argo appeared as expressions of the need of many on the coast for life, whose only horizon would finally escape the labouring away at the port or in the tourist industry as being the only measures of success.

In autonomous spaces our needs and desires for a different organization of social life are being realized. In them and through them a passion for freedom is kept alive. Still today they make it possible for not insignificant many to engage in free development of relations built on questioning of the dominant patterns of power, agression, exclusion, appropriation, sexism and hierarchy. For those of us, that for a long time now are neither young, nor have our own start-up company or career, autonomous spaces are this rare community in our towns, that help us maintain our mental and physical well-being and power also in times of an ever progressing social devastation.

Autonomous spaces are heterogeneus and contradictory

Autonomous spaces are intrinsically linked with political movements of autonomy, antifascism, anticapitalism, struggle against imposed hierarchies and against the state which uses so many of its tentacles to stiffle life. They are nodes of imagination and laboratories of political thought, practise and organizing. To be inside while rejecting these basic premises is to position oneself on the outside of the autonomous spaces, to the position of active sabotage of factors of their reproduction.

When it comes to squatting the most prevalent, if not even the only, format in the region is »the cultural squat«. Due to the heterogeneus character of activities and ways of organising it enables the emergence of a very open community where many different initatives can be realized. This opennes is a positive characteristic of these spaces, yet at the same time it also makes them more vulnerable to the emergence and development of a specific tendency in their midst, of the one that is liable to become a vehicle for transformation of social life in accordance to interests and procedures of state and capital. This tendency has more in common with bussiness ventures, nongovernmental sector and similar structures, whose aim is to maintain existing social order, than with the anti-authoritarian movements and alternative visions. Within autonomous spaces the expressions of this tendency are commercialization, institutionalization, dominant role of wage labour and spread of project-oriented mindset. Often it arises as an effect of individual responses to the core question that in the age of devastation is being asked everywhere: »How to survive?« Despite quite probable claims of good intentions by the individuals involved their activity negatively affects the capacity of autonomous spaces to develop further. Characteristically they lack affinity and loyalty to the movements on whose achievement they are building. The less spaces themselves are politically defined, the more successful neutralization of their subversive potential.

Ours is an era of modern totalitarianism, a system in which logic of capital colonizes all social spheres and in which there is no space for alternative models of social relations. Searching for individual answers to this rampage many people recognized squats as theirs, even if they had never given a lot of thought to the idea of a politicaly engaged life or had even openly rejected it. Crucially arising from the individualistic search for personal comfort, this kind of ambivalent relation to the space, that originaly had been constituted precisely around the idea of autonomy, is in practice spontaneously expressed through defense of inertia, discreditacion of argumented intervention and of even the very idea of organization. To advocate in favour of being apolitical is to advocate for maintainance of the existing balance of forces in the society in general and in favour of impossibility of any alternative. This is no less true in the context of an autonomous space.

A call to comrades

Our proposal to all the comrades from the autonomous spaces is: it is necessary to insist that these spaces are explicitly antifascist and anticapitalis, that they are organized on the principles of self-organization, political in all its aspects, that in them respect and solidarity reign. We also should not run away from conflicts, neither from those within ourselves, between each other nor with the police and other gangs. We should rather organize for them in an appropriate and communal way. Autonomous spaces can only be political or there aren't any. It is being constantly forgotten that they are won through struggle and that in order to keep them it will be necessary to struggle some more, despite occasional periods that seem calm. Any legalization represents the subjection to the authority of the state and a loss of exactly that which makes autonomous spaces different. Many experiences confirm that any illusions that negotiations with this or that representative of powers-to-be will bring a positive final solution (and redemption) is senseless. Autonomy of a place is being built, developed and reproduced through a continuous political conflict which might occasionally take on the form of physical confrontation with forces of the authorities. We can not and should not run away from that.

Also in the autonomous spaces groups, that are organized around drug dealing and petty thievery are becoming more visible, which is in alignment with the general state of affairs in the society of capitalist devastation. These groups exist in more or less organized forms and their aim is to establish a degree of control over certain territory with a purpose to develop a very specific segment of market economy, from which the participants derive revenue according to their position in the hierarchy of the gang. The fact that many of us are in the search for our own survival forced to act on this precarious terrain is directly linked with basic premises of capitalist order, namely with egoism and brutal struggle for resources. It should come as no surprise thus that these gangs find ready recruits among those, whose legal status, language or other aspects of their personal biography, are used to push them to the margins of the society. By taking note of the position of those among us that find themselves between Scylla of total poverty and Carybdis of socially destructive economic activity, we can get some insight into the specific reality of life on the margins of the society.

Today a large part of the society is thrown into the condition of social cannibalism, where for many it seems that the way out from unemployment, poverty or homelessnes can only lead through domination over others and their exploitation. This is incidentally exactly the same vision that the ruling neoliberal paradigm is trying to convey to us, people without papers, people without future. Exactly the fact that social cannibalism is a part and parcel of everyday practice of the ruling regime, including of its ruling ideology, makes it a fundamental terrain on which we, as lovers of freedom and autonomy, must to build our alternative. Primarily with practice of community self-defence and sincere communication with all the individuals involved and then with a call to respect the autonomous spaces, its procedures, users and guests. The struggle for autonomy from the state and capital is at the same time a struggle for autonomy from thieving and drug-dealing as well as from chauvinist gangs.

Autonomous communities need active individuals while plurality of political thought additionaly strengthens them. In the squat there should be space for different collectives, affinity groups, working groups that in a dynamic process together build space of heterogenous and intertwined practices. Key is that inside the squat there is a support for independent activity of smaller initiatives of others, until the latter do not deny the core political and organizational principles that are set by the assembly of all. Support for the development of the numerous particular initiatives should not in any way mean devaluation of the central role that the assembly as a meeting space and decision-making body plays in the political process of the squat as a whole. An assembly or a forum remains a fundamental tool of self-organization that is paramount at making sure that procedures in relation to the key issues that affect the whole community have collective character.

If we want autonomous spaces we need to put our bodies on the line. Sometimes we will succeed, sometimes the forces against us will be too strong. But through this struggle new alliances, comradeships, love, inspiration and power will emerge. Disobedience brings us together and has the capacity to catch the forces that threaten our spaces off-guard and take away the floor of legitimacy from under them. This opens new space in which we can connect with other movements, individuals, collectives and populations. What do we do with a free squat in an unfree town? At the moment when we immerse ourselves in the comfort of our own illusion of autonomy, we become alone, behind the walls, cut off and alienated. Faced with the pressures of gentrification, turistification and police our solution is not (only) to build barricades, but also not in retreat and servile subjection. When pressures from all sides take our space and suffocate our lungs, our scream needs to be louder than ever, our desires need to go further than what we are being told is only possible.

What brings us together...and where we shall meet

According to our analyses and experiences any squat that takes seriously its autonomy and politics needs to take into account some basic principles and values that - at the risk of repeating ourselves – we summarize here: autonomy on all levels from any public or other self-appointed authority, including when it comes to decisions concerning space, activity and organization. Non-hierarchy which stands for self-organization according to the principles of free association, where there is no power outside or over the community concerned. Anticapitalism which means that in the everyday economic practice we explore possibilities of communal economy and keep the flame (of the idea) of classless society alive. Disobedience, even if it means conflict with the police or any other gang. Heterogeneity which means that we don't all hold the same positions on every issue and we encourage development in different directions. Beyond the fundamental antifascist and general libertarian positions there is still a whole field of experimentaiton, proposals and solutions. Within this framework we stand for respect – of ourselves and of others and of their practices.

Also nominally anti-authoritarian spaces can become breeding grounds for authoritarian politics. This danger is especially strong when moments of crisis arrive and with them the necessity to form more complex communal self-defense processes. Then the above mentioned principles can serve as a compass, also at the moments when we do not know exactly where we are and where it is, that we are actually heading. Yesterday an autonomous space was enough. Today we want autonomous neighbourhoods. Tomorrow towns and regions. We are conscious of the fact that in this struggle we are not unique and we know that we are not alone. Where shall we meet next?

For 24th anniversary of ACC Metelkova mesto, Ljubljana, 10th September 2017

Anarchist Initiative Ljubljana – AIL // AIL is a member of Federation for anarchist organisation – FAO which is a member of International of Anarchist Federations – IAF