Infoshop

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This article is about anarchist social centers. For the anarchist website of the same name, see Infoshop.org.
Interior of Left Bank Books, Seattle, Washington in 2006.
Interior of Left Bank Books, Seattle, Washington in 2006.

An infoshop is a storefront or social center that serves as a node for the distribution of anarchist information, typically in the form of books, zines, stickers and posters. Infoshops often serve as a meeting space and resource hub for local activist groups.

Infoshops are particularly prevalent in Western Europe and North America, but can be found around the world. According to an Utne Reader article, author Chris Atton describes British infoshops as having grown "out of the squatted anarchist centres of the 1980s, such as the 121 Centre in Brixton, London." [1] Another big influence was the regular European-wide International Infoshop Meetings of the 1990s.

Writing in Maximum RocknRoll, anarchist librarian Chuck Munson places North American infoshops in the lineage of Vietnam War era peace and justice centers.[2]

In June of 2006, the Infoshop Network, a network spanning Canada and the United States, was formed at the Infoshop Gathering in Baltimore, Maryland.[3]

Contents

[edit] Other uses of the term

DIRA/L'Insoumise, Montreal's anarchist infoshop/bookstore, boulevard St Laurent, March 2007
DIRA/L'Insoumise, Montreal's anarchist infoshop/bookstore, boulevard St Laurent, March 2007

Ironically, the World Bank, an institution whose meetings have been targeted by leftist and anarchist demonstrators, also operates a bookstore called "The InfoShop". The World Bank describes its Washington DC based store as "a one-stop shop for economic development literature and for information on World Bank project activities." [4]

[edit] Noteworthy infoshops

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Boston, Massachusetts' Lucy Parsons Center.
Boston, Massachusetts' Lucy Parsons Center.
  1. ^ Street Libraries: Infoshops and Alternative Reading Rooms
  2. ^ Maximumrocknroll article on infoshops
  3. ^ The Infoshop Network
  4. ^ The InfoShop at worldbank.org

[edit] External links