infoshop

Interior of Left Bank Books, Seattle, Washington in 2006.

An infoshop is a storefront or social center that serves as a node for the distribution of anarchist information, typically in the form of books, zines, stickers and posters. Infoshops often serve as a meeting space and resource hub for local activist groups.

Infoshops are particularly prevalent in Western Europe and North America, but can be found around the world. According to an Utne Reader article, author Chris Atton describes British infoshops as having grown "out of the squatted anarchist centres of the 1980s, such as the 121 Centre in Brixton, London." Another big influence was the regular European-wide International Infoshop Meetings of the 1990s.

Writing in Maximum RocknRoll, anarchist librarian Chuck Munson places North American infoshops in the lineage of Vietnam War era peace and justice centers.

In June 2006, the Infoshop Network, a network spanning Canada and the United States, was formed at the Infoshop Gathering in Baltimore, Maryland.

Other notable references

The World Bank InfoShop, located in Washington, D.C.

The InfoShop, located in Washington, D.C., is the Public Information Center (PIC) of the World Bank Group and operates as a bookstore and public forum for debate on international development. The InfoShop serves the Bank Group's transparency mandates by providing access to operational and project information to the public, in partnership with a network of PICs in World Bank country offices around the world. It carries a books published by the World Bank, other international organizations, universities and commercial publishers on development and related issues. Through its events program, the InfoShop hosts book launches, panel discussions, film screenings and cultural events. Past speakers include Francis Fukuyama, Jeffrey Sachs, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Friedman, U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, and Carly Fiorina. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org/infoshop

Noteworthy infoshops

• Barricade Books, Melbourne, Australia
• Bluestockings, New York City
• Brian MacKenzie Infoshop, Washington, DC
• Camas Infoshop, Victoria, BC
• Catalyst Infoshop, Prescott, Arizona
• Civic Media Center, Gainesville, Florida
• Documentations, Informations, Références et Archives (DIRA), Montreal, Quebec
• Freedom Shop, Wellington New Zealand
• Internationalist Books, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Iron Rail Book Collective, New Orleans
• Jura Books, Sydney Australia
• Lucy Parsons Center, Boston, Massachusetts
• The Old Market Autonomous Zone, Winnipeg, Canada
• Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse, Baltimore, Maryland
• Wooden Shoe Books, Philadelphia

References

Boston, Massachusetts' Lucy Parsons Center.

External links

• Street Libraries: Infoshops and Alternative Reading Rooms
• The Infoshop Network (US & Canada)
• Comprehensive list of infoshops worldwide, via the Anarchist Yellow Pages.
• French speaking Infoshops
• The Living Room documentary, a film about infoshop culture

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