In the face of intensifying ecological and social crises, the world is in need of many transformative changes, not least a profound imaginative shift. Decades of conditioning and normalisation have made it seem as though there is no alternative to capitalism, even if it leaves us exploited and bereft from both each other and ‘nature’. If we know where and how to look, however, there are whole undercurrents of social life which show us that capitalism isn’t the natural state of things, and that other worlds are possible in the here and now.
When you step across the threshold of Freetown Christiania, in the centre of Copenhagen, for instance, everything seems to change. The frenetic urban atmosphere loosens, the noise of traffic fades, time slows to a walking pace. Smells become more vibrant, brighter colours emerge, and a wilder nature creeps in. The social theorist Murray Bookchin once said that “Any society that seeks to create utopia will not only be a society that is free, it also has to be a society that is beautiful.” As you cross this threshold, just a five-minute cycle from the Danish national parliament, his words take on a renewed significance.
Christiania is a famous and controversial experiment in resistance, persistence and self-rule which sits on a squatted former military base. Founded in 1971, and thus soon to celebrate its 50th birthday, the site is home to almost 1,000 people. However, despite attracting half a million tourists per year, and being one of the most-visited sites in Denmark, it remains poorly understood by the outside world. For many, it remains primarily associated with Pusher Street, a thriving open hash market which takes place on its land.
