The Freedom Shop Aotearoa

The impact of punk on the lives of local activists is examined in a new pamphlet recently released by the Freedom Shop: Dumb Enough to Actually Try It: How Punk Rock Can Make You a Better Manager by Sam Buchanan. Part history, part self-help guide for aspiring managers, the essay sets out how punk developed an economic structure and organising methodology. This not only sustains it, but has given many people skills which have proved effective well beyond the punk movement. Punks have taken these skills into many areas, both expected and unexpected. Several local punks are quoted in the essay, including Kate Pussycat who went on to establish fundraising opshops and a rural animal sanctuary. “ Years of being broke living on the dole and loving opshopping prompted me to set up an opshop in Wellington as a way to fundraise for animal rights work. It was wildly successful! So then we got ambitious and borrowed money from anyone we knew who had anything to lend and bought 26 acres of land t

The impact of punk on the lives of local activists is examined in a new pamphlet recently released by the Freedom Shop: Dumb Enough to Actually Try It: How Punk Rock Can Make You a Better Manager by Sam Buchanan. Part history, part self-help guide for aspiring managers, the essay sets out how punk developed an economic structure and organising methodology. This not only sustains it, but has given many people skills which have proved effective well beyond the punk movement. Punks have taken these skills into many areas, both expected and unexpected. Several local punks are quoted in the essay, including Kate Pussycat who went on to establish fundraising opshops and a rural animal sanctuary. “ Years of being broke living on the dole and loving opshopping prompted me to set up an opshop in Wellington as a way to fundraise for animal rights work. It was wildly successful! So then we got ambitious and borrowed money from anyone we knew who had anything to lend and bought 26 acres of land t

The Freedom Shop has released several new pamphlets lately, including a new edition of On the Misery of the Student World (AKA On the Poverty of Student Life ). This text came about in 1966 after five situationist-influenced students were elected to the University of Strasbourg’s students’ union. The group formed an ‘anarchist appreciation society’ The Society for the Rehabilitation of Karl Marx and Ravachol and appropriated union funds to flypost a detourned comic strip, Return of the Durruti Column. They then invited the ‘Situationist International’ to contribute a critique of the University of Strasbourg, and this text, which despite the title critiques the whole of Western society, rather than just the role of students, was the result. Credited to ‘Members of the Situationist International and students of Strasbourg University’, it was actually mostly written by Tunisian situationist Mustapha Khayati. Formed in 1957, the situationists were a small group that mixed avant-garde art

Just from the printer - the Plan B diary for 2022 has arrived. Plan B is a weekly planner with lots of information about events that are relevant to the history of Aotearoa and the Pacific.   Get yours from the shop for $12 or email us at freedomshopaotearoa@gmail.com and we will get one to you.

A launch event for three new zine titles, presented by The Freedom Shop in collaboration with Wellington Zinefest, PAPA and Counterfutures. On Thursday the 18th of November we will be launching THREE new zines in collaboration with Wellington Zinefest, People Against Prisons Aotearoa, Counterfutures and the How To Talk To Your Racist Uncle team.   The zines are: 'How To Talk To Your Racist Uncle' by Gaayathri Nair, illustrated by Lenny Zook.Check out their upcoming workshop on 27 November at the Aro Community Centre . 'Daring to Think of Something Better' -by People Against Prisons Aotearoa . 'Landlord Neutral 2030' by Counterfutures , illustrated by Pinky Fang.  The plan: Doors open at 5:30. Launch begins at 6:10pm. Expect ten minutes of kōrero on each zine, and the chance to buy copies before and after. The Freedom Shop will be open for you to pic