We are seeing similar trends across borders and local contexts: third places have been progressively lost and the far right has sprouted up in their absence, capitalising on atomisation, disaffection and a sense of being left behind. In the US, the decline of true third places has been so drastic that (in perhaps typical American fashion) Starbucks – very much a for-profit megachain – publicly claimed that it could fill the void. The UK has lost 37% of its pubs since 1992, depriving rural areas of vital social focal points.
France has experienced much of the same, with 18,000 bars-tabac closing their doors from 2002 to 2022, taking the"public living room" with them and, as one study found, contributing to an increase in vote share for the National Rally (RN) in the (largely rural) areas left behind by their closures. In the first round of France’s municipal elections, the RN made further inroads; but it also performed less well than feared in key cities such as Marseille, Lyon and Paris, all of which were retained by the left in Sunday’s second round of municipal elections.
Well this doesn’t really prevent a fascist rate of nearly 20%. The best weapon is a crowbar
These are often called “third places”, as in work, home and these. It is something capitalism has taken away fron us, and I firmly believe it is what weakens societies considerably. People who meet up are more inclined to stick together, but in modern days you would basically have to pay for any comfortable place to stay, especially when it’s cold outside or otherwise not ideal weather to go outside. NotJustBikes talks about this from time to time, and I really think this is something humanity has fucked up all around the world. I also think Asia has an advantage here, as cooking at home isn’t as common there. As a German saying goes: “Beim Essen kommen die Leute zusammen”, roughly translated: “Eating [next to each other] brings people closer together.”
I’m not really sure that capitalism itself has taken these away from us ?
It’s been a long, long time since we had communal camp fires and so on. Since then you’ve always needed to buy something to be in a communal place.
It being too expensive to leave the house except to go to work is kind of new.
Yeah fair enough.
Well, or the right-wing groups are the only ones still running (or have taken over) third places like the case in many eastern German villages and towns. Thus I think there mere absence of third places is not the full picture.
