An anarchist, non-marxist communist and queer environmentalist walk into a room. That’s not the beginning of a joke or stage directions for a The Young Ones scene, but a regular Thursday at Walworth’s radical bookstore.
Bookmarked by a co-operative food store and community bicycle project in a corner of the Pullens Estate, the 56a Infoshop is an archive of radical political literature. Its founders set up shop in 1991 when it was just a disused building.
The founder, who wished to remain anonymous said: “If you think about London now it’s amazing that we’ve survived because of the changing nature of London which is due to the gentrification and development which there is a lot of in Elephant and Castle. It’s a labour of love – nobody gets paid to be here. I think it’s an amazing place.”
Those who step through its doors are confronted with floor to ceiling shelves of leaflets, pamphlets, books and treatises – each with its own political message. The founder estimates that the towering bookshelves teeter with over 75,000 different documents.
People come here for different reasons. One visitor was using the archive to research the Pullens Estate. Another said they came to be involved with “semi-underground” movements.
One man, who has been coming for twenty years, said it was a good place to meet different kinds of people. “You get all sort of people come in from all walks of live. One man came in immaculately dressed in a suit with a handkerchief in his pocket and wanted to buy a book on anarchism”, he explained.
But the common thread between them all is a sense of disenfranchisement – a feeling that the political system isn’t serving people.
“We are more immiserated and the government is more kleptocratic and it’s very clear that something will change”, said the founder.
Nodding, a man wearing glasses and sweatband said: “The underlying dynamic of capitalism is still there with wage labour and it’s coming to the surface with the cost of living crisis.”
Visitors to the store are invited to enjoy a cup of tea, browse the literature, or buy a book. The literature, sourced via donations, eBay and charity shops, are sold well below cover price and all funds are diverted straight back into the bookstore, the food co-op or the bike project.
They are also likely to be told about upcoming movements such as ‘Don’t Pay UK’. It’s a movement with over 100,000 signatories, each pledging not to pay their energy bills on October 1 – a ‘strike’ against rising energy costs.
But after over thirty years of book browsing and intellectual discussion, for all the thumbed pages and anarchic stickers, the UK still hasn’t had a revolution. Is radical political change really on the horizon or are these people living out a fantasy?
The founder says: “Why would you sit around here for 30 years if you didn’t believe something could change?”
56a Infoshop is on 56a Crampton St, London SE17 3AH. It is open Thursday 2pm – 8pm, Friday 3 – 7pm and Saturday 2 – 6pm.