Space to organise

An event later this month is exploring ways to rebuild collective spaces in the 21st Century.

Nick Troy, Chair of Unite Hospitality, Glasgow will join Ros Wynne-Jones from the Daily Mirror and Luke Hurst from Mainstream for a discussion about the benefits of social clubs and what the future might hold for these, once common, institutions.

For centuries, working people occupied or created a vast range of collective spaces – from chapels to union halls to working men’s clubs – that supported mutual improvement, political organisation, and popular culture. 

From the Chartists to the trade unions, to political parties and civic membership bodies, there was an implicit understanding that associational spaces were fundamental to democratic life: not just sites of social interaction, but institutions where people learned to organise, deliberate, govern, and exercise collective power

There was a post-war collapse of these physical institutions across Britain, and the panel will explore how re-establishing collective spaces might lay the foundation for a revival of the worker’s movement.

They will also look at whether a national network of collective spaces – from social clubs to union halls – could re-embed political organisations in the places where people regularly meet in their communities. And what can trade unions – and other parts of the labour movement – do today to politically and financially support a new generation of collective spaces.

Nick wrote recently that, “Unions should be investing their significant resources into re-establishing working men’s and labour clubs, to undercut the faux concern of Reform UK and put our movement back at the heart of communities. 

“Such a plan would provide our movement with the organising spaces we so desperately need. Logistically, financially, and politically, this task may prove a headache – but it is far preferable to the continued decline we have seen in the past 40 years.” 

This event is hosted by 21st Century Social Clubs and STIR magazine as part of Stir to Action’s national initiative that aims to mobilise thousands of social club members to strengthen local economies, build social cohesion, and safeguard these vital cultural spaces for future generations.

Jonny Gordon-Farleigh, founder of Stir to Action and programme director of 21st Century Social Clubs, said: “It’s about time that these member-owned institutions are recognised as vital local spaces where people can come together to work on issues they are affected by everyday.”

A recent article in the Daily Mirror reported on the project and the potential benefits to local communities.

“The space for politics: how the decline of collective spaces drives our democratic crisis” takes place online on Tuesday 14 July from 6:30 – 7:30pm 

To book a free place and to find out more go to the link here.

By Keith Hatch

Photo from Stir to Action / Ian Howarth