De Peper : The Anti-Consumer Culture of Squatting

So Fiona, Issac and I focused on squatting as a starting point for this assignment, as Fiona expressed interest in producing culture within a squat, Isaac interested in food, and I was interested in homelessness. After brainstorming for a while, we discussed important aspects of squatting in Amsterdam.
One thing we discussed, which I feel is a defining feature of squatting in Amsterdam is the sense of community and organization, the idea of togetherness, and free flow of information among squatters. I read an interesting article pertaining to this idea, "Is the Institutionalization of Urban Movements Inevitable? A Comparison of the Opportunities for Sustained Squatting in New York City and Amsterdam," by Hans Pruijt (2003) (I'm going to try to link this article). Squatters in NYC seemed to be much less organized and therefore lacking in community support in contrast with Amsterdam. We also felt that an important feature of the squatter's movement in Amsterdam is the anti-consumerism expressed, and the emphasis on doing-it-yourself: fixing, building, creating art, etc. Fiona's, second video on her blog post expresses this concept well. Other important aspects include the emphasis of organic (organic food) and knowing where things come from, making things and food themselves.
Anyway, we decided to form this research question, which of course, is subject to future provisions: How is anti-consumerism a cultural movement? And for our synechdoche, we decided on the De Peper Organic Cultural Kitchen. It is a legalized squat with inexpensive organic cuisine, performances, art gallery, and other cultural activities. Home to an anti-consumer subculture, and containing defining features of community, creation of culture, organic food and art, we felt De Peper would be a great stand in for the whole.