This Manifesto Club Night followed our campaign against booze bans launched in the summer, continuing the spirit of standing up against the petty bureaucracy that sucks the life out of public spaces. A whole host of activities are either banned outright or only allowed with official permission. As well as booze bans, there are now no-photo zones, no-leafleting and no-demonstrating zones; CCTV cameras watch our every move and we are searched at the entrance of many public buildings. What is behind the creeping regulation of public space? Is the freedom from official regulation trivial in the face of terrorism and antisocial behaviour? Or should free citizens demand the right to regulate public spaces for ourselves?

Photographer Steve Forrest and Manifesto Club co-founder Dolan Cummings kicked off the discussion. Steve showed a selection of images from his current project Paranoid Britain documenting the vast number of CCTV cameras visible on a short walk through central London. Dolan suggested that the regulation of public space in contemporary society – from CCTV to smoking and booze bans – has to be understood as an expression of a more insecure society rather than old-fashioned authoritarianism, and that we need to respond by having more confidence in ourselves as a public rather than fearing a 'Big Brother' state. The floor discussion ranged from the efficacy of CCTV to how insecurity is institutionalised and how it can be challenged.
Over drinks, club members and supporters discussed possible future initiatives to free up public spaces - from taking on booze bans on Brighton beach, to campaigning against photography restrictions in Westminister.

Speakers:

Dolan Cummings is co-founder of the Manifesto Club; research and editorial director of the Institute of Ideas, where he edits the online review Culture Wars. He has written widely on the regulation of public space, including a Manifesto Club Thinkpiece, Smoking Policies: a civilised approach (PDF).

Steve Forrest is a photographer who is interested in developing a critical perspective on the way we respond to regulation in public space. He worked extensively in the Middle East, Africa and the UK, before joining the photography collective Insight Visual in 2001, where his clients include the the New York Times, Newsweek and Guardian Weekend. His recent project is Paranoid Britain.

Event: Free the streets! Against the antisocial regulation of public space
Date: Thursday 13 November 2008
Venue: The Evangelist (Downstairs), 33 Blackfriars Lane, London EC4V 6EP