Skip Navigation | Sheffield IMC | UK IMC | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

UK Indymedia UK Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia Sheffield Indymedia

Sheffield Social Forum Launch

IMC-Sheffield & Sheffield Social Forum | 31.03.2004 20:20 | Sheffield

The Sheffield Social Forum opened to the global resistance sounds of Manu Chao. Sheffield Indymedia had a number of computers set up on the main stage complete with a wireless Internet node and help on hand for anyone who needed it - yet the basic human skill of putting pen to to paper was also encouraged by the copious amounts of sheets around the hall where you could write a poem, highlight a campaign, or just doodle! People were encouraged to brainstorm creative direct action, upload reports to indymedia, or even something as simple as putting graffiti on the rolls of paper on the walls. In the same way that the preperations for the launch were documented on the wiki the Sheffield Social Forum is documenting a report of the launch on their wiki site.

Reports: On SSF Launch | On article "Struggle NOT submission" | Social Forum Launch - a view from London

Photos: Sheffield Social Forum Launch [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] | [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ]

Pre-launch feature

Listening to speakers
Listening to speakers


The room was arranged not in the usual rows of regimented lines, but in clusters of chairs so as to facilate the smooth running of the workshops.

About one hundred people attended throughout the day, including many school students, some cool folk from WDM in London, SF folk from Manchester and Nottingham, Leeds ARC and others who had come to politics and social change through the anti-war movement. Others turned up from long ago struggles and campaigns but who had stopped for various reasons being 'active' as it were...

The day was definitely more than the sum of its parts: occasionally chaotic, sometimes amazing and sometimes completely stupid - something good happened. Whether good things continue to happen depends on us...

New ideas and new ways of working together are emerging, slowly. The workshops and networking spilled over into the pub as the sun set on the last dark evening of winter. This was just the beginning...

This article was originally part of a racical weekend article.

IMC-Sheffield & Sheffield Social Forum

Comments

Hide the following comment

Tired of waiting for the end of all authorities, alienations, ideologies and mo

01.04.2004 10:33

urbanparanoia do not exist (have they ever?) it was
just a front to publish collectableanorak. what was
collectableanorak? ..it was a punk anarchist
surrealist zine. that worked like this. we started out
using apple macs at sheffield uni. we came across this
free-access when former tenants of the now demolished
kelvin flats used the same computers to write and
publish life is wonderful on kelvin flats - a book of
poems self written, printed and published by three
former residents of what was the largest europe
housing estate of its kind: 4 decks covering over 3
miles from end to end. from there grew
collectableanorak which we used the apple macs for the
words. then we photocopied the words, changed them
about a little. then with pritt stick / tearing effect
and nicked images from other publications..
collectableanorak was born. we come to end in 2000
with the re publishing of
 http://www.access.lowtech.org/vulgusartsociety/meme-trip/self-theory.htm
well we hope you get some idea of where we are coming
from and we do not organise. there are no meetings no
membership because urbanparanoia like image does not
exist.

we only exist for the moment and this is how i feel
about the events of the weekend was there a point to
it all? people have said we have found new paths of
working toghther. lets ask the question here shall we?
i watched the events on saturday and the dialectics of
the power amongst the people there. the sad truth we
might like to delude ourselves all is well. there has
been born a new resistance.

in one of the workshops it was asked who has the real
power. the person with no name said drug dealers. it
is drug dealers who hold the real power in this city.
the drug delers who i visted on the sunday of the
lantern parade in their rented council home on the
arbourthorne estate, gun in lap. they admitted to me
thay sell upto 3 grand of smack a day. the drug
dealers who openly took over claywood
 http://image.lowtech.org/flats.10.03.04 sat there on
the 12th floor of the blue block while we was
squatting the 4th floor. the drug dealers who placed
the last of the tenants in fear. meanwhile the
authorities just left them to it. it was only the
direct action of the squatters that got extra security
on the estate. of which has done those involved no
favours with sheffield city council. two years on
theyre hassled, still homeless. we like like to delude
ourself the weekend was a new start. a new start for
whome. i'll end with this

Tired of waiting for authentic community, love and
adventure...
Tired of waiting for the end of money and forced
work...
Tired of looking for new pastimes to pass the time...
Tired of waiting for a lush, rich existence... Tired
of waiting for a situation in which you can realise
all your desires...
Tired of waiting for the end of all authorities,
alienations, ideologies and moralities...

freak peace
for image

freak peace


Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Sheffield Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Sheffield [navigation.actions2016]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2015]

Sheffield [navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

Sheffield Actions 2013

G8 2013

Sheffield Actions 2012

Workfare

Sheffield Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

Sheffield Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

Sheffield Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

Sheffield Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

Sheffield Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

Sheffield Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

Sheffield Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

Sheffield Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

Sheffield Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech