Bastards of Utopia

A remixable Documentary

SQUATTING LIFE

For anarchists like Jelena, Fistra, and Dado, being politically engaged is about more than attending protest marches and chanting in unison. From squatting abandoned buildings to organizing anarchist punk concerts, militant activists seek alternative routes to create community and live their politics. Read More

In many ways, the Zagreb activists live their politics as part of daily practice because they understand the political as permeating every aspect of social life.  Perhaps no where is this living of politics more apparent than in the daily process of finding food and securing shelter.  This track also gives a glimpse of everyday life more broadly as we explore daily activities such as Dado’s meditation practices and Jelena’s family history.

Squatting, the illegal occupation of empty structures and land, is one such practice Jelena and others invoke both to live outside the system of private property and as a means of assuring they have adequate time and resources for political activism.  For these activists, squatting is a way to reappropriate empty structures for productive social purposes and, as such, is understood in fundamentally political terms.  The Network of Social Solidarity, a collective Maple worked with throughout his time in Croatia, also utilized squatting as the basis for opening a Take It of Leave It free store based on voluntary exchange as mutual assistance.  The Free Store, located in an abandoned printing press, was an interesting squatting experiment because it was located in a very public area near the parking lot for a Billa supermarket.  In fact, shortly after occupying the building, activists learned that it was to be demolished to make additional parking for the international grocery chain.  To learn more about the Free Store, read the track context.

The act of squatting can also be a revealing process through which to assess the changing urban landscape in Croatia.  It can be an intervention in the real estate market, where buildings are frequently left empty for speculative reasons, awaiting the day when their market value has risen enough to allow for profit taking.  In other cases, buildings are left empty and in disrepair so that they will deteriorate sufficiently to be deemed irrecoverable and therefore free of zoning and historic protection restrictions.  To learn about Jelena’s squat in Zagreb and the history behind it, watch Jelena’s Mess.

Compensation laws restoring property rights in the mid-1990s sought to privatize real estate and push Croatia into the era of neoliberalism.  Yet the restoration of private property, via a process of denationalization, was more than just a precondition for Croatia’s market economy.  It was also perceived as an economics means of attacking lingering Serbian influence on the national economy and favoring Croat interests, thereby giving it a strong nationalist dimension.  This forces us to question the claim that neoliberalism is implicitly for the freedom of the market and against the state.  The nationalist ideology of Croatian state-formation has in fact been absolutely critical to the marketization of Croatian society.

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Wipeout

Wipeout
Anarchist punks in Sibenik repurpose an empty swimming pool as a skate park.

The Cursed Chapel

The Cursed Chapel
Jelena’s grandmother tells the story of the cursed chapel on Ugljan.

Jelena’s Mess

Jelena’s Mess
Jelena takes Maple on a tour of her squat.

Asbestos Toss

Asbestos Toss
Jelena, Maple, and friends clear refuse off the roof at Jelena’s squat.

A Tree Far From the Boys

A Tree Far From the Boys
Jelena pays a visit to her grandmother on Ugljan Island. Maple and Jelena swim in the sea and the grandmother tells of her childhood on Ugljan Island.

Perfectly Good Cheese

Perfectly Good Cheese
Jelena salvages food and other goods from the dumpsters at Billa, a large chain supermarket.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.
Dado and Maple visit Hrelic market.  Dado shops for records by Skid Row, Bruce Springsteen, and a Yugoslavian choir.

Drunk Punker

Drunk Punker
Dado and Maple visit Zazen, a Buddhist meditation center.  Dado tells Maple about his difficulties with aspects of the punk lifestyle.

AK47

AK47
Fistra’s anti-fascist punk band, AK47, plays a concert.  Fistra sells his screen-printed t-shirts, posters, and patches along with cassette tapes of the band to help finance his activism.