Synopsis

A four-part video highlighting how the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 affected the activities of protestors, ravers, travellers and squatters. In the first part, we see both contemporary and archival footage of historic protests which advocate for the right to take to the streets, with scenes from the Women’s Rights Movement in 1918, to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. All of our rights were fought for, not given.

The video highlights how the Bill has a butterfly effect which would effectively limit public space and dispossess local grassroots communities. In the second part, we see the perspectives of squatters and a movement by the Green Committee to occupy Artillery Mansions to provide free accommodation for the homeless. Then, we see young people advocating for the right to raves and festivals, as a way to occupy land and unite communities across all intersections. Finally, the video follows the perspective of travellers – both New Age and Roma and Irish – who live in caravans on private and council land. The bill could completely dispossess families and create another housing crisis as these communities have traditionally existed outside of the traditional housing system. In effect, the bill would efface the use of public space for radical action and community grassroots organising, while also limiting the possibility of living outside of the capitalist, nuclear-family structure.