A website is relaunched from within the scene for the scene:
More than 10 years have passed since Eroding Empire – your guide to DIY punk and anarchist counter-culture in London – was last given a facelift. But the time is ripe, and the new website is here.
24 years ago, Eroding Empire started as a DIY newsletter at 56a Infoshop, the anarchist social centre in Elephant & Castle, detailing alternative and radical events in London. Over the years, it morphed into an online publication, the website listing gigs, protests, gatherings and other events while providing information about social centres, squats and all sorts of collectives.
As Eroding Empire relied on input from members of the community, part of its DIY ethic, the website saw a bit of a downturn (to say the least) as social media hit the big time. Fewer people posted their events to Eroding, instead utilising the (supposed) wider reach of Facebook and the like.
Now as people are starting to realise that engagement numbers on social media mean little in terms of real connection, and as AI floods people’s newsfeeds and it becomes harder to find relevant content, we hear people asking where they can find all the radical goings-on in London without having to engage with the bullshit, and we’re here to answer that.
Teaming up with radar.squat.net, an online calendar run by the anarchos of Amsterdam (among other places Europe-wide) for finding radical events across the globe, we are able to offer something of a landing page for anyone who wants an overview of events in London, without the requirement of creating accounts or offering up personal information. Alongside events, there is information on social centres, squats, and DIY publications from people in the scene.
The site hosts its own easy-to-use submission form for putting your events up online.
We’re encouraging everyone who has a group they organise with to go to radar.squat.net and create their own group for hosting events (which will, of course, show up on Eroding Empire), but for anyone who doesn’t wish to do so or for one-off events like protests and gigs (punk or otherwise, all welcome) then our form is the perfect option for getting your event up online and advertised to the kind of people who would be interested.
We’ll be looking to expand the website as things pick up, more events, more zines, and we may branch into reviews of gigs, gatherings, and protests. If you’re interested in getting involved, head to the website and use the contact form.
Cheers, see you in the pit and on the street!
~ Eroding Empire