Space Hijackers

[MilitantAnarchist]

I've heard of this group in the past, and seen what they've done on the news before... But i've only recently looked into them in detail...
For those who haven't heard of them, they are anti-globalists who make Trouble (with an anti-capital T) for the corporations, including games such as Starbucks Musical Chairs and Starbucks Fighting.

You may of seen them on tv when they held a party in a london underground train carriage... The idea is to break down the boundaries put in place by architects and corporations, using 'space' for its unintended purpose. Doing this, it opens up the doors for others to do it, once it has been done once, it can be done again and again.

They openly say they are not a revolutionary group, but what they do is revolutionary, they destroy barriers put in place and make our lives shit.
If your interested in the 'anarchitects' or even becoming one, check out the website...

This movement should become more active, and deserves our support and participation...

http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/

[Invincible Summer]

I don't see the point of any of this. It just seems like lifestylist-Anarchist-hooliganism mixed with Adbusters "culture jamming"

[rebelmouse]

Doing this, it opens up the doors for others to do it, once it has been done once, it can be done again and again.people don't follow someone in risky actions, and beside it, anarchist idea is that people get consciousness and not to make sabotage without consciousness why they do it. so it is without sense that non-revolutionary persons follow their acts of sabotage. sabotage should be result of anarchist consciousness, in other case it will be hooliganism.
of course, I am not agreed with pacifist (and their hegemonist methods of fight) who wait for revolution, so for me, there is no "anarchist hooliganism". only government (and hobby revolutionaries) has interest from pacifism.

my personal standpoint about people who make groups like this space hijackers: they are usually from rich families so they should start with giving of "their family money" back to the people. don't forget that educated artists are today children of riches (art academies are everywhere reserved for them), the same as in the past.

[yuon]

I don't see the point of any of this. It just seems like lifestylist-Anarchist-hooliganism mixed with Adbusters "culture jamming"

I guess you are a pretty boring sort of person. After all, you don't go to parties. You don't have any friends. You don't eat chocolate or drink booze.

Because, none of those things really have any point to them...

:rolleyes:


Our group is dedicated to battling the constant oppressive encroachment onto public spaces of institutions, corporations and urban planners. We oppose the way that public space is being eroded and replaced by corporate profit making space.

We oppose the way that users of space are being put under increasing scrutiny and control by those who own or run it. Be this via CCTV installed to monitor us, or architectural elements designed to control our moods.

We oppose the blanding out and destruction of local culture in the name of global economic progress. Newer and Bigger is not always better, it is usually both impersonal and imposing.

Through our various actions we attempt to raise awareness of issues within spaces and change how these spaces are used and percieved in the future. We intend to destroy heirarchies within spaces and claim back public ownership. Our projects act as another voice within space, and become engrained upon the places we Hijack.

Our aim is to change the way that ownership and usage of space is percieved, to put users of space in a more level position. We want to have a say in how we all exist within public space, on where and how we meet. We are fed up with being treated like criminal cattle by the institutions and corporations that decide on the shape and content of our environment.

The Space Hijackers in no way want to become leaders of some kind of resistance movement, our actions detailed on this site should act as a catalyst for others. If we can, you can. However we want to expand our membership in order to create a forum for discussion and development of these ideas. Our agents area is a space where interested parties can meet in a non heriarchical manner and help each other in their quests.
http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/html/history.html

So, that's the point.

---

What do I think? I think it's fucking funny. Really good stuff.

This sort of stuff is saying a big "fuck you" to corporate culture. I don't need your TV shows to have fun.

Oh, and it does about as much as going to the Israeli embassy and complaining about what the Israeli government is doing. Oh, actually, it may do more to make people think.

And if nothing else, getting people think is hardly a bad thing.

[revolution inaction]

I guess you are a pretty boring sort of person. After all, you don't go to parties. You don't have any friends. You don't eat chocolate or drink booze.

Because, none of those things really have any point to them...

:rolleyes:


are you claiming these things are revolutionary?

[An archist]

They seem pretty cool, it might not be The Great Revolution, but they do have a tank;).

[yuon]

are you claiming these things are revolutionary?

I don't know, am I? :rolleyes:

Come on, is protesting at the Israeli embassy revolutionary?

I would suggest that its the same answer.

(Oh, and I don't want to knock protesting Israeli war crimes. But it is hardly going to stop them is it?)

Oh, and they have a tank :thumbup1:.

When the revolution does come, they'll be some of the few people outside the government with their own.

So, who's side would you rather be on? (They are obviously on the side of the workers, even if you don't appreciate their antics.)

[MilitantAnarchist]

At least Space Hijackers are doing something... this forum is full of people who can go 'yea but they are probably rich kids blah blah blah blah' but thats all bullshit, you dont know that. You can sit in front of a computer screen and slate people off for doing stuff that YOU aint doing. When was the last time you hijacked a Starbucks, or held a party in the London Underground? And so what if they did come from middle class backgrounds, its not something that is irregular is it? George Orwell came from middle class backgrounds, as did Joe Strummer (i know he's not exactly the leftists dream but he wrote alot of great political songs), even Karl Marx's dad was a lawyer, and dont even get me started on Kropotkin... If you gonna slate all people who came from any wealth we gonna be over looking alot of revolutionaries.

It isnt exactly 'risky situations' people just want a bit of fun in their lives, not one person i know wants to sit and go on and on about anarchism for hours or discuss every aspect of marxism or whatever... how can playing 'musical chairs' be risky, its a big FUCK YOU to the corporate and its a laugh that gets people involved. I think its fucking great, being a prankster is underrated, whats the point of working for a better world if you aint laughing along the way?

[Invincible Summer]

I guess you are a pretty boring sort of person. After all, you don't go to parties. You don't have any friends. You don't eat chocolate or drink booze.

Because, none of those things really have any point to them...

:rolleyes:


An ad hominem attack? What the fuck? I'm just saying that I don't see how playing musical chairs or putting a cardboard cutout of a riot cop in the bus stop is going to help people understand "[Space Hijakers'] voice within space." I'm not saying that everything in existence is pointless.


(http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/html/history.html)http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk/html/history.html

So, that's the point.

Just sounds like something out of Adbusters... sort of pseudo-situationist stuff.

---


What do I think? I think it's fucking funny. Really good stuff.

This sort of stuff is saying a big "fuck you" to corporate culture. I don't need your TV shows to have fun.

Ironically, they're using corporate culture to "have fun."




And if nothing else, getting people think is hardly a bad thing.
That's the thing. For these "Space Hijackers," Adbusters, and other similar groups, do they actually get people to think? Or do people just think they're being rowdy in public/defacing stuff?



At least Space Hijackers are doing something... this forum is full of people who can go 'yea but they are probably rich kids blah blah blah blah' but thats all bullshit, you dont know that. You can sit in front of a computer screen and slate people off for doing stuff that YOU aint doing. When was the last time you hijacked a Starbucks, or held a party in the London Underground?
The problem is, IMO, that what Space Hijackers is doing may not really be helpful to the workers, if that's what they're really about.

"Hijacking" a Starbucks may seem like a "FUCK YOU STARBUCKS" to the people involved in the "hijack," but it's more of a pain in the ass for the workers in the Starbucks. They will have to clean up the mess and deal with anything else that ensues.

Will the boss lose money? Maybe a tiny bit. Will the workers gain from it? Probably not.

It's true that they're actually doing something, but not all actions are worthy ones - what if some group's main cause was spraypainting stencils of Marx everywhere? That's doing "something," but most people will dismiss it for graffiti. Same goes for a lot of what these types of groups do.




It isnt exactly 'risky situations' people just want a bit of fun in their lives, not one person i know wants to sit and go on and on about anarchism for hours or discuss every aspect of marxism or whatever... how can playing 'musical chairs' be risky, its a big FUCK YOU to the corporate and its a laugh that gets people involved. I think its fucking great, being a prankster is underrated, whats the point of working for a better world if you aint laughing along the way?
A better "FUCK YOU" to corporate Starbucks would be to place members at every busy Starbucks in town with pamphlets about terrible labour practices (at home and abroad) and build solidarity with the employees, get them to demand better from their bosses, not make their day shitty by causing a ruckus during their shift.


And so what if they did come from middle class backgrounds, its not something that is irregular is it? George Orwell came from middle class backgrounds, as did Joe Strummer (i know he's not exactly the leftists dream but he wrote alot of great political songs), even Karl Marx's dad was a lawyer, and dont even get me started on Kropotkin... If you gonna slate all people who came from any wealth we gonna be over looking alot of revolutionaries.

At least I agree with this.

[MilitantAnarchist]

A better "FUCK YOU" to corporate Starbucks would be to place members at every busy Starbucks in town with pamphlets about terrible labour practices (at home and abroad) and build solidarity with the employees, get them to demand better from their bosses, not make their day shitty by causing a ruckus during their shift.



Fair play, i agree with you with the fact they aren't exactly helping the employees of Starbucks, but i dont think they really do anything bad to them or make them clear up mess, they just fuck about in the store making all those 'look at me i'm in a coffee shop just like in Friends, im just like Chandler' people feel uneasy and wierd, and notice people moving from table to table...

Yeah they COULD be helping the employees through solidarity and what not, but, there are other groups that do that, and the employees COULD do that themselves to...

There are loads of groups that do different things, and Space Hijackers does its thing... So what they dont concern themselves with the deeper side of it... but what they do do, they do it pretty good.

[Искра]

I 100% agree with Rise like lions.
This people are stupid spoiled bourgeoisie brats which haven't work a day in their life. If they came to Starbucks while I was in shift I'll probably beat them up...
If you chose not to work don't make things harder for working class. Do you really think that boss will pay workers to clean the mess? Yeah, right.

[nuisance]

I 100% agree with Rise like lions.
This people are stupid spoiled bourgeoisie brats which haven't work a day in their life.
Surprisingly this unsubstainated character assaination isn't true- of all of them atleast! Critique their practice and not postulate the class background of the participants- meaning that working class people can behave in a way that doesn't necessarily further or escalate the class struggle.

[Искра]

Surprisingly this unsubstainated character assaination isn't true- of all of them atleast! Critique their practice and not postulate the class background of the participants- meaning that working class people can behave in a way that doesn't necessarily further or escalate the class struggle.
Ok, I agree with you, but I think that you can guess what I meant.

[nuisance]

Ok, I agree with you, but I think that you can guess what I meant.
Yeah, I did overreact- sorry.

[Искра]

Yeah, I did overreact- sorry.
No problem ;)

[Jethro Tull]

occupying public spaces such as chain-coffeeshops and transit systems is actually a good idea. however, these particular "occupations" dissipate almost instantly, possibly indicating the "space hijackers" lack of interest in committing to confronting capitalism.

the claim that it annoys the starbucks workers, however, is pretty spurious. they get paid either way -it'd be just as likely to amuse them. however, amusing random people is not the same thing as meaningful political practice.

fun and games have their place amongst serious revolutionary strategy. as far as fun and games go, organizing, say, an anarchist football league would probably bring more people together. playing musical chairs at starbucks seems like the sort of thing that would be fun once or twice until the sophomoric adrenaline rush wears out; then it just becomes boring and embarassing.

[yuon]

amusing random people is not the same thing as meaningful political practice.
1) You do know that they don't just piss of Starbucks managers? They also protest the against the DSEi arms fair (the reason the bought a tank), go to various mass protests (e.g. against G20) and lots of other stuff.
2) Out of interest, what would you suggest is a "meaningful political" activity? Is, for example, protesting outside the Israeli embassy "meaningful"?

The way I see it, you have to have fun activities to help prevent burn out in your activists. I suggest it's one of the reasons that many "socialist" parties have such a high turn over in membership (especially in younger members). Too much selling papers, and not enough organising midnight piss ups.

[rebelmouse]

ok, let's "like their fun, we must support every action".
I didn't watch their richness in the sense of abolishing of their action than in the sense of comment why they make such actions and not something different.
it is trend among activists with rich background to make such things, they are all the same. they make the same actions in different countries.
in the end, WHO can predict what are needs of other people and should we like need for laugh in the same level, at least when fight against system is in question?
but in any case, I will repeat:
for me, their first revolutionary action should be: start with giving of "their family money" back to the people. after it, we can make actions together. but problem is also: they make actions which are out of my needs. so they can do it together with rich activists.

[yuon]

...
So, err, how on earth do you know that these folks are rich or from rich backgrounds? I would have thought, looking at what they do, that they are from a variety of backgrounds, but very few would be bourgeois.

(Also, who said we had to support everything they did?)

[Invincible Summer]

Why are some of you still focusing on the possible class-backgrounds of the activists? We all know it doesn't matter. It's too easy to get caught up in the "Disagree with anything/anyone that has money" mentality

[KC]

I always enjoy stuff like this. I've come to the point where everyday actions and small symbolic gestures are just as satisfying to me as more conventional actions. No, they don't have concrete results, but that isn't the point of them.

[bcbm]

I'm just saying that I don't see how playing musical chairs or putting a cardboard cutout of a riot cop in the bus stop is going to help people understand "[Space Hijakers'] voice within space." I'm not saying that everything in existence is pointless.

i don't think their actions have the intention of pimping their group, but rather to subvert the dominant view of spaces like a starbucks or add a bit of critique to police advertisements.


Just sounds like something out of Adbusters... sort of pseudo-situationist stuff.

so?


Ironically, they're using corporate culture to "have fun."

i don't think you could've missed the point any harder, but no they're actually deconstructing corporate culture to "have fun."





That's the thing. For these "Space Hijackers," Adbusters, and other similar groups, do they actually get people to think? Or do people just think they're being rowdy in public/defacing stuff?

i don't see much evidence of rowdiness or defacing on their website, unless you consider a cardboard cutout or some plants to be "defacing?" and yes, i think that a lot of their activities make people think. even if only a couple people "get it," its worth it.


The problem is, IMO, that what Space Hijackers is doing may not really be helpful to the workers, if that's what they're really about.

i don't imagine that a communist society would resemble the drab, homogenized messes of cities we have today and some of their intent appears to be about reclaiming space and offering a small vision of how a city could look.


"Hijacking" a Starbucks may seem like a "FUCK YOU STARBUCKS" to the people involved in the "hijack," but it's more of a pain in the ass for the workers in the Starbucks. They will have to clean up the mess and deal with anything else that ensues.

if you haven't bothered to read about any of their actions, are you really in a position to critique the "damage" they do? they don't go in and smash up a starbucks. there's no "mess" for workers to clean up. hell, from the looks of it they don't even raise a commotion most of the time, at least not inside the store.


It's true that they're actually doing something, but not all actions are worthy ones - what if some group's main cause was spraypainting stencils of Marx everywhere? That's doing "something," but most people will dismiss it for graffiti. Same goes for a lot of what these types of groups do.

maybe people will dismiss it as silly, maybe it will stick in the back of their head and they'll investigate in the future. i mean what you're basically saying is "well people will probably just dismiss it, so it isn't worth bothering." that's true of a lot of what we do on the left, so might as well quit it all eh?


A better "FUCK YOU" to corporate Starbucks would be to place members at every busy Starbucks in town with pamphlets about terrible labour practices (at home and abroad) and build solidarity with the employees, get them to demand better from their bosses, not make their day shitty by causing a ruckus during their shift.

what ruckus? and have you ever worked in the service industry? if people came in to any place i've worked doing some ridiculous shit i'd be laughing my ass off, as would most of the other employees. workers aren't a bunch of joyless automatons who scowl at anything that distracts them from the superfun task of making lattes for assholes.

also, not mutually exclusive.


If they came to Starbucks while I was in shift I'll probably beat them up...

you'd beat people up for discreetly playing music chairs, or having a protest outside of a starbucks or putting a flier on the window? whose side are you on again?

[bcbm]

this article seemed relevant...



Germany: Unions use flash mobs for innovative industrial action


Flash mobs with a purpose are the newest form of political protest. Now one of Germany's biggest unions is using them to fight labor disputes, asking members to desert loaded shopping carts in supermarket aisles. Businesses want flash mobs outlawed and are taking the case to Germany's highest court.

They started off with pillow fights, water pistols and beach parties. But now German flash mobs are getting serious. The impromptu meetings of large groups of people usually organized online or via mobile phone, are now being used by a labor union as a tool in a dispute over wages and hours. As a result, the question of whether they are legal or not may soon become a case for Germany's highest court.

Flash mobs are generally defined as "a group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse." And in the most recent German example, the trade union Verdi, which represents almost two and a half million employees in the retail and public sectors, organized around 150 men and women to head to a shopping center in Aschersleben in the state of Saxony-Anhalt on Thursday.

The flash mob entered the shopping center and proceeded to load up shopping carts with an assortment of goods before simply leaving them standing in store aisles. Instead of paying for the goods, the flash mob passed over cards with slogans like "Fair Wages" and "Fair Means More." Business came to a stand still for about an hour and staff told reporters that it would take them all day to put the goods back on the shelves.
The protest had been organized as a result of disagreements over pay and conditions between Verdi and retail sector bosses in the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. "With this new form of strike we wanted to draw attention to our problems. But we also wanted to let our colleagues in other sales areas know about our problems," union secretary Doris Finke told local newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

Although police will press charges against some of the flash mobbers -- disturbing the peace, due to an altercation between one flash mobber and a member of the center's security personnel, as well as damaging property, because of damage done to frozen goods -- the protest was a peaceful one on the whole. And, as much as it may have interrupted business, it was also legal.

This flash mob came just two days after Germany's Federal Labor Court decided that flash mobs were a legitimate form of industrial action. The court had been addressing the issue of another flash mob organized by the Verdi union that took place in late 2007.
The court's judgment: "A union-organized action like this, undertaken in the course of industrial action, is not illegal." The court said such an action could be justified as part of a labor dispute and that employers could defend themselves against it by utilizing their proprietorial rights or by closing the business for a short time. A flash mob cannot be seen as "blockade of business," the court said.

continued (http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20091007000259744)

[Invincible Summer]

i don't think their actions have the intention of pimping their group, but rather to subvert the dominant view of spaces like a starbucks or add a bit of critique to police advertisements.


I didn't mean that they failed at "pimping" their group, but rather this: Groups like Space Hijackers obviously have a message they're trying to get across, but I'm just not sure if some of the actions they do will really get the message across. I'm just thinking that maybe to the casual observer, their actions paint them as "rowdy anarchists" or something.



so?
I don't like Adbusters. They seem to criticize consumer culture while not really getting at the root (capitalism). I have to give it to Space Hijackers that they at least have some sort of anti-capitalist blood in them, but overall, IMHO, their actions aren't lambasting capitalism as directly as they could be. If the point is to get people to think, it's easy to think they're just against Starbucks, war, etc because they're not making a stark link to capitalism as a cause of these problems.



i don't think you could've missed the point any harder, but no they're actually deconstructing corporate culture to "have fun."
I guess I am missing the point.



i don't see much evidence of rowdiness or defacing on their website, unless you consider a cardboard cutout or some plants to be "defacing?" and yes, i think that a lot of their activities make people think. even if only a couple people "get it," its worth it.

Well in terms of defacing, I was referring more to the "Culture jamming" that Adbusters promotes.

And in regards to the last part (even if a couple of people get it, it's worth it), fair enough.



i don't imagine that a communist society would resemble the drab, homogenized messes of cities we have today and some of their intent appears to be about reclaiming space and offering a small vision of how a city could look.
Fair enough




if you haven't bothered to read about any of their actions, are you really in a position to critique the "damage" they do? they don't go in and smash up a starbucks. there's no "mess" for workers to clean up. hell, from the looks of it they don't even raise a commotion most of the time, at least not inside the store.
I never said anything about smashing stuff up. My point though, is that I don't know if their actions are exactly worker-friendly.




maybe people will dismiss it as silly, maybe it will stick in the back of their head and they'll investigate in the future. i mean what you're basically saying is "well people will probably just dismiss it, so it isn't worth bothering." that's true of a lot of what we do on the left, so might as well quit it all eh?
Yeah, you have a point.


what ruckus? and have you ever worked in the service industry? if people came in to any place i've worked doing some ridiculous shit i'd be laughing my ass off, as would most of the other employees. workers aren't a bunch of joyless automatons who scowl at anything that distracts them from the superfun task of making lattes for assholes.

also, not mutually exclusive.
yes, I have worked in the service industry. I don't think that everyone would find it hilarious, however. While your statement that "workers aren't a bunch of joyless automatons" is true, I know that my numerous friends who work in the service industry find it irritating when people start being unruly for an extended period of time. It's not because it "distracts them from making ____ for assholes," but more because it just adds more stress to their work, not to mention the pressure they'd likely get from their boss later on as to why something like that happened on one's shift, etc.




you'd beat people up for discreetly playing music chairs, or having a protest outside of a starbucks or putting a flier on the window? whose side are you on again?

That wasn't me!

[bcbm]

I didn't mean that they failed at "pimping" their group, but rather this: Groups like Space Hijackers obviously have a message they're trying to get across, but I'm just not sure if some of the actions they do will really get the message across. I'm just thinking that maybe to the casual observer, their actions paint them as "rowdy anarchists" or something.

i think most of the actions they do that intend to generate some sort of community involvement do get the message across. for example, the protest against the olympics where people thanked them for coming and expressing a counter-point. certainly the source is biased, but i can't believe they'd tell a total lie. others it may be more difficult to say, but i think when they intend to be public they generate interest.




I don't like Adbusters. They seem to criticize consumer culture while not really getting at the root (capitalism). I have to give it to Space Hijackers that they at least have some sort of anti-capitalist blood in them, but overall, IMHO, their actions aren't lambasting capitalism as directly as they could be. If the point is to get people to think, it's easy to think they're just against Starbucks, war, etc because they're not making a stark link to capitalism as a cause of these problems.

i think their point is to direct people towards anti-capitalism from less "traditional" points, and to have a bit of fun in the process. a lot of their work seems very strictly anti-capitalist and what doesn't seems to be in the vein i'm suggesting. i don't think there is anything wrong with trying a different approach and i would doubt that those involved aren't also working on other struggles.


I guess I am missing the point.

deconstructing corporate culture and lifestyles for alternative forms of fun. not everything they do is strictly political and shouldn't be interpreted as such.


Well in terms of defacing, I was referring more to the "Culture jamming" that Adbusters promotes.

well since this discussion appears to be primarily about the space hijackers and that the examples specifically reference starbucks (which adbusters may oppose but don't destroy, whereas space hijackers do hold events there, but don't destroy either) what is the relevance of these comments?


I never said anything about smashing stuff up. My point though, is that I don't know if their actions are exactly worker-friendly.

well i don't think generally opposing imperialism and war profiteering is harmful to workers, nor is opposing the opening of a new starbucks or playing games in said starbucks.


I know that my numerous friends who work in the service industry find it irritating when people start being unruly for an extended period of time. It's not because it "distracts them from making ____ for assholes," but more because it just adds more stress to their work, not to mention the pressure they'd likely get from their boss later on as to why something like that happened on one's shift, etc.

and i don't think any of their actions within a starbucks add unneccesary stress. their actions outside don't add any stress more than, say, a union protest. perhaps they aren't to the exact same effect but they're part of the same struggle without a doubt and not to any real worker detriment.



That wasn't me!

i know! sorry if it came off as accusing you