Riots and repression have rocked Copenhagen for three days and nights. In what's been billed as the "final conflict" of the Scandanavian autonomous scene, the Danish state has moved to sell off and shut down Youth House, the last remaining political squat outside of Cristiana, Copenhagen's famed semi-autonomous zone in the center of the city. Over 600 people have been brutally arrested attempting to block the transfer of Youth House to a Christian sect that has slated this vibrant social center for demolition. Supporters from around Scandanavia and Germany traveled to assist the Danes, with the government responding by raiding anti-authoritarian offices and movement centers in round-ups. UK Indymedia has an update page with timelines, pictures and tons of information.
David Rovics wrote a short report on some of the back story:
The 1980’s was the heyday of the autonomous movement in Denmark,
Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Thousands of mostly young people
squatted hundreds of abandoned buildings in dozens of urban centers,
creating alternative societies that embraced community, art, music, and
a culture of resistance that rejected consumerism and empire. A
community was formed that rejected the domination of the world by
multinational corporations and the governments that supported them,
whether they be outright militarist states like the US or more
watered-down NATO members like Denmark. They defended their squats in
pitched battles with police, and at the same time debated sexism within
their movement and organized protests in support of refugees and
against nuclear power. The movement existed in a near-constant state of
siege. Many squats were ultimately taken by force by the police, and
others were legalized.
With that in mind: Either we fight for the world, or fight for our own turf. They are not the same thing. There is no as autonomy in this world and there never will be. The retreat into socio-political ghettos in Europe was a surrender to the permanence of the capitalist (welfare) state while playing at war against it. It is people in their millions who will take down European capitalism. In the difference between the suburban riots in France last year and the subcultural resistance of the long-waned autonomous scene – we can see the outlines of new European left that no longer sees itself flowering in the cracks and margins – but which pushes to the very centers of power through the rebellion of working people and their allies, both native born and immigrant.
These social centers are exciting places, particularly for Americans with little experience in strong, radical institutions (as Rovics ably reports). Understood in context, the squats and social centers were a retreat by movements past, not simply something to defend. When radicals gave up on a better world, they settled for a better apartment.
What sees itself as autonomy could be seen through another lens as containment.
That said, they take their autonomy seriously – and they fight for it. You have to respect people who refuse to be governed. In Texas, the fetish of private property means you legally get shot for walking on somebody's lawn. In Copenhagen for these days, what people were willing to wage a violent defense of is their right to a social existence outside of capitalism, with mutual aid and solidarity outside of the exploitative hierarchies of capitalism.
In the ferocity of their battle is the measure of their hope.
