Back to index of Nerve 22 - Summer 2013

Next to Nowhere is an autonomous social centre. No one is in charge and they make decisions collectively by consensus. Below some of the volunteers give their views on what this space means to them.

Nowhere else to go? Go to Liverpool Social Centre

ELLIE P

I have been involved with Next to Nowhere since it opened in 2007. The main volunteering I do down there is helping to run the Saturday cafe. When I started I had no experience of cooking for large numbers of people, but that didn't matter - all that was required of me was enthusiasm and a desire to get stuck in. I have now been volunteering for a good few years and have been able to pass my experience onto others. That's the great thing about Next to Nowhere. In the outside world we compete with each other for mindless repetitive jobs that create profit for other people. Down here we work together, doing things we like and learning new skills, in order to benefit all of us.

When I was asked to write about my thoughts on volunteering at Next to Nowhere, to be published in an edition of Nerve on alternatives to capitalism, I did have one concern. That is, that you can't have an alternative to capitalism while capitalism still exists. The only way to be completely free from capitalism and the negative effects it has on all of us is to destroy capitalism. Whilst this is undoubtedly true, I still think it is useful to talk about Next to Nowhere within the framework of alternatives to capitalism. On a political level, capitalism won't disappear overnight, and it certainly won't be replaced by a system kindly bestowed on us by benign magic pixies. We need to work together to figure out new ways of organising and achieving the things we need or want. And on a personal level, we need a space where we can come up for air and remind ourselves what it feels like to be in charge of our own lives.

CAROL L

I don't see the social centre in itself as an alternative to capitalism. It's more that it provides a rare space which is not owned and controlled by a capitalist property owner, where activists can freely meet and explore alternatives to capitalism. What's unique about it is that it is run in a non-hierarchical way. This method of organising is not just an alternative to capitalism, as it is not inextricably linked to the type of economy; all types of society can have problems with the use and misuse of power. But it is a more democratic method than formal organisation, where you have to be elected to a role before you can take it on, or where things can only be done by reference to a rulebook, where every proposal has to be formally proposed, seconded, and decided by majority vote. If you want to take part in running the social centre, you turn up and take part. If you want to do something, you propose it and if nobody objects, or enough people volunteer to help, it gets done. Disagreements over priorities get thrashed out by discussion. There is nobody "in charge"; everybody is. People who haven't experienced this might not believe that it works, but it does.

MARIA N

Being involved in sustaining and caring for the Next To Nowhere space is a very satisfying, but challenging, experience. I feel lucky to have been able to learn and practise hands-on collective, non-hierarchical organising. It doesn't come easily because it's not yet the norm of how to work together in wider society, but learning how to constructively resolve conflicts and handle failures is an integral part of the process. Working on a voluntary and non-profit basis is both liberating and stressful - money doesn't motivate you, but the lack of it still constrains you. Relying wholly on ourselves and each other to run the space is sometimes frustrating, when I haven't managed to do all the things I've taken on, or which I can see need doing, but worry that no one else will do. At the same time so often my trust in the idea that many people together each doing a bit will, eventually, get things done, often in unexpected, creative, rough and ready, good enough, ways is vindicated time and time again.

My favourite times in Next To Nowhere are when people come together and enjoy the vegan food we've made - a social centre is after all social as well as political! What's been most satisfying to me politically has been the chance to take practical and positive action against abusive behaviour and oppression by helping develop a safer spaces policy and procedures for Next To Nowhere.

KATY B

Little did I know, when I attended a meeting way back in 2006 for people interested in setting up a radical social centre in Liverpool, just how big a part of my life the place would become, nor how much the process would help me grow and develop as a person.

Highlights for me have been hosting people from all over the world to talk about their own struggles and resistance. From Belarus to Oaxaca, Mexico, or those who have reported back from the Zapatistas, Gaza and Afghanistan; our 4th birthday with people from 2 years old to 70-odd all celebrating together; being asked by young people for books on anarchism - and being able to pick things out for them from the library; the many, many, varied gigs and parties from the wild to the mellow; the fundraising dinners; excellent films I would otherwise have not seen, and just having a welcoming place to come back to for a cuppa after a demo in town, catching up with others down there of like-mind.

Best of all though is the chance it has given me to meet so many amazing people all committed to the ideals of Next To Nowhere, with a belief that humanity can do it better, and struggling in common for this, rather than fighting over the scraps currently on offer to us.

Being involved in Next To Nowhere and meeting different people, all with subtly different strongly held beliefs has really helped me develop my critical thinking and enhanced my understanding of the world, to strengthen and sharpen my political views. It has been great to see others who have come into the space grow both personally and politically and I am proud of all of us who set Next to Nowhere up that we have been able to facilitate that process.
I want to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU on a personal level to everyone else who has been part of the adventure - it's been hard work but in our own small way I feel we've shown that another world is truly possible.

Next to Nowhere is always looking for new people to be involved in the space, and everyone is welcome. It is located at 96 Bold Street, Liverpool City Centre, underneath News from Nowhere bookshop.
Next to Nowhere is available for use as a meeting/activity space, has a radical library, and hosts regular film and documentary nights as well as having a Saturday vegan cafe.

For full details visit www.liverpoolsocialcentre.org or pop down to the cafe on Saturdays between 12pm and 5pm. Please ring the white doorbell for entry.

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