[Note, this history was written in 2005, and needs some updating.]

Jura books began in 1977 in a building with a shopfront at 417 King Street Newtown, we moved to 110 Crystal St Petersham, then to 438 Parramatta Road for a short time, then to the present location at 440 Parramatta Road Petersham. To be quite accurate, though, Jura began in another form about a year earlier – this is explained a little further on. But rather than just give an historical dateline of what has happened over the past years, this will be more of an account of the processes involved in establishing and maintaining a voluntary, anti-profit, collectively run bookshop.

The first thing is to explain, only because everyone asks, why we called the place ‘Jura Books’. Well, it’s named after the federation of workers of the ‘Jura’ region of France and Switzerland that associated with Michael Bakunin in the First International – one of the first large organised groups of workers who organised along anarchist lines. In about the 1870s, the Jura Federation, as it was called, consisted of 20-30,000 workers – largely, though not only, watchmakers and building workers. Peter Kropotkin, another very famous anarchist of his time, journeyed to this region and learned a great deal of his ‘formal’ anarchism among the Jura watchmakers. I say ‘formal’ because, without knowing much of the writings of anarchism, he formulated the basic concepts for himself during his youth and in his 20s, from his personal experiences, discussions and thoughts, when in the Russian military exploring the vast wilderness of Siberia. This story about Kropotkin shows the nature of anarchism itself, that is, anarchism is not an artificial theory that was formulated by some bearded guy while studying in a library for 24 years …or by a guru on a mountain. It reflects the notion that many anarchists hold, that anarchism is all around us. It is in the way ordinary people interact and help each other out, especially when various imposed authoritarian concepts and structures are absent, or, as Kropotkin would eventually put it, even in Nature itself. Anarchism is not a theory to be artificially applied, but an ethic that can be (re) discovered in our own experiences, as a way of resolving our needs. So it’s not an artificially constructed end point or some sort of  an imposed ‘utopia’, but a utopic process or journey of life, living and work.

Although Jura Books adopted a consciously collective form of organisation, its origins were actually of a different sort – a split. During the 1970s, a series of anarchist conferences were held in Sydney and Melblourne. At the last of these, a split occurred between the ‘organisationals’ and the ‘anti-organisationalists’ Or, as a later Spanish member would have said “A clarification occurred”. At the conference with something like 150 - 200 people, a heated debate developed between those who wanted a chairperson and those who declared  it an anti-anarchist practice. Most organisationalists left the conference to meet elsewhere and decided to set up an anarchist book importing and distributing service. This ‘Jura Book Service’ coordinated the joint buying and distribution of material for the three or four groups from different cities around the continent. At the time, very few anarchist titles were available in the country, mostly they were found in Marxist bookshops and all from overseas. In Sydney, that original group, with a couple of additions would begin the first anarchist bookshop in Australia for perhaps 60 or more years – since the Andrade shop in Melbourne.

So, even though we began out of a split, Jura was established on collectivist lines, as derived from the 1920s-30s Spanish anarchist affinity groups via two filters - one of the 1960s popular radical cultural, feminist, environmental and anti-war movements. The  second was the Spanish anarchist principles as transmitted from mostly post-war European migrants who re-awakened the anarchist/syndicalist project in Australia. These great characters included Antonio and Victoria, Jose and Louise, George and Mary, Jack, Gonzalas, John the Macodonian, Pat the American Wobblie, and many more who acted as mentors to the young ones of the day who came out of the 1960s.

We were not the only ones to set out on this path as many diverse organisations at the time adopted the collective form of organising. This approach was consciously taken up as opposed to the (Marxist) Party structure, and was often heatedly debated and fought over. Some examples of these included the newly emerging feminist groups (women’s refuges, discussion and publication groups), some artistic groups (Tin Sheds poster collective, poetry groups), industrial groups (building industry, metal workers, postal, nursing) and militant political groups (anti-uranium, other green groups, prisoner’s action).

Some of the ideas that have been our guiding principles over the years have included, although not all at one time, nor in exactly the same way:

• Jura Books is an anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist bookshop.
• We operate on a volunteer basis.
• Any increase on the cost price of a title will be minimal, originally intended to cover inflation, and was originally 10%.
• All book takings were to stay for expansion of stock – this has changed over time.
• We would operate as much as possible in an environmentally friendly way.
• All overhead costs to be covered by donations from within the collective, and from regular donors, and fundraising outside the collective, (now some of the books-takings goes to help with the bills).
• All decisions are made at regular (originally weekly) meetings of the collective, with delegated authority to members to carry out tasks.
• Membership of the collective is by decision of the established group. Expulsion from the collective is possible.
• Tasks, such as the ordering of title, banking, accounts, fundraising…are shared on a volunteer basis and on a mechanism established for regular opportunities to rotate jobs. Cleaning tasks are attached to the daily shop-staffing roster.
• An easily accessible shop-front premises to be maintained.
• Wherever possible, the building is to be an activist centre for like-minded groups – as accepted by the collective.

The above is a compilation of concepts that have underscored the way Jura has operated for the last, nearly, three decades. Just to repeat: not all ideas have been in practice all the time. Also the balance between us as a staid book-selling outfit and as militant activists has changed depending on who has been involved and their interests and energies.

What collectivity has meant has changed over the years depending on the membership, in terms of personalities, differing levels of commitment to the notion of collectivity, and the numbers of people involved. For example, the greater the number of members, the greater the need for systems to be in place so that everyone has ‘stewardship’ of the project – or a sense of belonging and control. This is something that the current collective is re-developing.

Our time in King St saw our stock increase about 10,000% - that wasn’t hard as we started with only a few books. Placing requests for donations on our noticeboard to help us move into a new publisher or distributor, saw us end up with, perhaps, 5-10,000 books, maybe more. Not all were on the shop shelves, as we had about an equal number in the store room. At one stage we almost had more stock out on consignment to anarchist groups across Australia than we had in the shop.

Jura and various Jurans were involved in various activists campaigns, Close Katingal (prison), Stop Uranium Mining, women’s refuge (Marrickville) support, “Everything” anarcha-feminist collective, Jura Silk-screen Printing Collective, the Industrial Workers of the World, Vitamin C Distribution Fund, Black Cat Printers, among many other causes, projects and campaigns. Jura also held a major conference, the first since the ones of the 1970s – “1984 and Social Control Conference” that was held in the Merewhether Building at Sydney University. It attracted, maybe, 800 - 1,000 different people over three days. The initial plenary session just about filled the main theatre that had seating for 600. There was a very successful dance on the Saturday night too.   

In terms of numbers, Jura started out with about eight members, went to about 12 within six months, and to about 15-16 over the next two years. Then it was down to eight again due to a split over differing ideas of collectivity. Membership rose again to 10-12 over the next few years until about our 10th anniversary. At that time we were forced to move out of the first shop, a rented premises because the owner wanted to sell the building without tennants, and we could not afford the asking price. Having raised about $78,000, (in about 18 months) we put down a deposit on the building in Crystal St.  That was a huge effort which is a story in itself.

That effort and the move saw the collective soon reduce to five. But this only happened after another big effort of saying ‘thanks’ to those who supported us in the move to establish a permanent home for the Jura project. That ‘thankyou’ was the 1988 “Beyond Social Control Conference” . This time the event was held in the University of Technology Law Courts Building – the old ‘Markets” building. It was, again, a great success and attracted several hundred people over two days. However the new location for the bookshop turned out to be not so good in terms of attracting patrons, and sales dived, as did the collective. Over the next five years Jura reached a very low point in many ways and the following five saw a slow, though not full, recovery. There were some notable exceptions, though.

Renewed energy among a few key players had Jura join with Black Rose and other anarchists to help organise the 1995 “Goals and Visions” Conference. Besides the many sessions of the conference that was held over the weekend, the highlight of that event was the lecture by Noam Chomsky in the Sydney Town Hall. Three thousand people turned up to an event that was advertised as anarchist, with 2-300 turned away because we were not allowed to fit any more in the hall, due to fire-safety restrictions.

Unfortunately, about this time, a major conflict as to the direction of Jura arose. This was about 12-18 months after the Goals and Visions conference – what should have been a time to build. Once the dispute was settled, not without some more membership losses for the collective, we set out on a more positive path once again.

We made moves to secure a new building in a better location. We sold the Crystal St place and moved to out current address at Parramatta Road. Not far away in distance, after all it’s in the same suburb, but back again on a main street and a ‘million miles’ closer to where people were. Once more, the move was only accomplished with great effort and at a cost to the membership. We should have had enough to pay off the new building, as it cost less than we sold the Crystal St building, but another matter changed that. Termites! We had successful tackled the problem at Crystal St on three major occasions, with the help of the ‘Termite Retirement Fund’ (thanks to Alison for the great title for that fundraising campaign – it raised about $2-3,000 for environmentally friendly termite treatment and a new floor for the shop).

Unfortunately, the termites at the new place were well hidden and we did not find them until we moved in. It cost us $30,000 to have the front of the building reconstructed. Much of the refurbishment work we did ourselves, but the major engineering work at the front we could not do. It also delayed our move into the building and so we rented a shop at 438 Parramatta Road, a fortunate two doors down from our own place for a year, which, of course, also cost a lot. We sold the old place for more than the new one cost, but with the mentioned problems, the move saw us continue with a mortgage – that we still have.

At 440 things are looking up. Besides sales increasing for the bookshop, the current building is used by Black Cat Printers, the Anarcho-Syndicalist Network, the Media Room, the Fanya Baron Workers Library, and is a meeting place for the anarchist-feminist group AWOL, the Industrial Workers of the World, and CAT Media. Much work has been done over the past few years by several new people who have joined the collective. The Library is now out of its boxes, and is beginning to resemble a library, we have held several major events at Jura including a major poster exhibition, and have organised a very successful Workers Control Conference, besides having book stalls at many other events. There have also been several popular film nights and discussion evenings at Jura. Much has been done, there is still much to do.

SAFER SPACES POLICY: JURA COLLECTIVE

30TH July 2008
 
A Safer Space

No space can be completely safe and free from oppression. What this policy aims to do is increase the awareness of all Jura Collective members / trusted friends, and all Jura users, to make this space as safe as possible. We hope that everyone will feel welcome and comfortable in this space, and also respect the general politics and principles of the Jura community. We encourage everyone to participate in the activities and structures of the space, to the extent that they agree with the politics and responsibilities connected to different levels of participation. For example, there are more rights and responsibilities that come along with being a Member or Trusted Friend, than those with being a visitor or guest.

Jura aims to be a survivor oriented space. This means that when decisions need to be made, the "benefit of the doubt" will go to the survivor in preference to the perpetrator.

By entering Jura Bookshop, and participating in the activities of the Jura Collective, you agree to abide by these guidelines. Those engaging in non-consensual violence (including sexual violence and harassment) will be asked to leave the space. We welcome the continuing discussion about and improvement of this policy.

Many thanks to all those in our extended communities who have been laying the foundations of this important work over the past few years.

Jura Collective and Bookshop

The events of the Jura Collective, and the Jura Bookshop are safer spaces. Violence, harassment and abuse will not be tolerated in any form. This can be based on gender, sexual preference, race, socio-economic status, political beliefs, physical abilities, class, age, physical appearance, religion, and a myriad of other factors.

If we wish to enact social change, we must implement that change in our daily behaviours.

What This Means in Practice

There can be no definitive list of behaviours / comments / situations which make people feel uncomfortable. The main thing is to concentrate on how your actions are affecting others, and modify your behaviour as appropriate.   

Try to remain open to discussion of ways to improve communication in the space, and continually question the privilege you have (e.g. from being older, from being an "experienced" activist, from utilising the space more frequently, from your ethnicity, from your gender, etc). It's YOUR responsibility to ensure you aren't taking up too much "space", and devaluing or disregarding the opinions and experiences of others.

This includes, but is not limited to: speaking loudly and over the top of others, interrupting other's speech, dominating conversation and not allowing others to speak, assuming everyone knows where all utilities are in the building, explaining concepts condescendingly, making assumptions about the experiences and lifestyles of others, starring at others in a manner which makes them uncomfortable (i.e. "checking them out") and invading the personal space of others during conversation.

Please keep the following in mind when utilising Jura Bookshop or interacting with Jura Collective:

• Every-one's physical and emotional boundaries are different. Always ask consent before touching someone in a manner that could be considered intimate, and check if people are comfortable discussing certain topics that may be triggering (e.g. sexual abuse, sexual experiences, physical violence, or encounters with the police).  
• Pay attention to body language, as people often use non-verbal clues to communicate a lack of consent (e.g. not making eye contact, making excuses to move away from you, not responding to your physical advances).  
• Take responsibility for your own actions, and consider how your behaviour and speech affect others. Remember that not everyone reacts the same way.
• Respect other's thoughts and opinions. This doesn't mean we all have to agree, but that discussion is entered into without prejudice or personal insult.  
• There may be certain situations when you feel comfortable using language which some may find offensive or derogatory – Jura is not an appropriate space for this. You do not know who will overhear you, and how they will react to this.  
• Look out for others, and try not to leave anything around that may endanger their physical safety. This is particularly important when using the kitchen or during renovations!
• No smoking is allowed within the Jura building itself. Please go outside to smoke. Talk about the influence of alcohol and other drugs on yourself and others, and think about limiting your use if you know that you become violent or disrespectful under their influence.  
• Be aware of yourself and how you are feeling. If you need assistance, do not be afraid to ask someone or call a friend. Removing yourself physically from a situation can be a great help.   

Remember, you are responsible for articulating 100% of your needs 100% of the time. This can be intimidating and scary, but there are ways we can support you in doing this.

Dealing With Grievances

If you feel unsafe, or experience any behaviour which crosses your boundaries, please approach a Jura Collective Member / Trusted Friend whom you feel comfortable talking to. They can talk to you about how you wish to resolve the issue and can act on your behalf if you desire.

The Collective shall have two people with whom grievances can be taken up with, one male and one female (transgender?). They can act on your behalf at the next collective meeting if you do not feel comfortable raising an issue, or can assist you in dealing with more immediate problems. This position will rotate. Contact details for these people will be kept at the Jura desk.

Generally, grievance issues will be discussed at the next collective meeting, and resolved as the collective, in discussion with all the parties, feels appropriate. More urgent grievances can be dealt with by the grievance people as appropriate. Whist we acknowledge the autonomy of survivors of sexual and physical assault, we would prefer to resolve issues without the police or other state institutions. However, we recognise that this is ALWAYS an option for the survivor themselves to take into consideration.

For larger events (e.g. gigs, zine fairs, large collective meetings) a "chill-out space" will be designated. This will be a room for people to have a cup of tea, be alone (or with small, selected company) and recuperate. Please seek this space out if you need it. There will be information available on the day in question.

A suggestion box will be kept at the Jura Bookshop Desk for anonymous comments on this policy. Alternatively, all are welcome to attend collective meetings and have further input.  
   
The Jura Collective committs to holding regular workshops (at least once a year), to re-familiarise people with the safer spaces policy and it's implementation.

OURSIDE SERVICES

NSW Rape Crisis Centre
24 hour free call: 1800 424 017

Help available online: http://www.nswrapecrisis.com.au/
 PO Box 555, Drummoyne 2047
Ph: (02) 9819 7357
Fax: (02) 9819 6295

Leichhardt Women's Community Health Centre
55 Thornley Street, Leichhardt 2040
PO Box 240, Leichhardt 2040
 Ph: (02) 9560 3011
Fax: (02) 9569 5098
 
NSW Health Sexual Assault Services
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Missenden Road, Camperdown 2050
Ph: (02) 9515 9040
Ph: (02) 9515 6111 (24 hrs)
Fax: (02) 9515 9041

SAFER ACCOMMODATION SERVICES

Homeless Persons Information Service
(Crisis accommodation referral)
02 9265 9087  
1800 234 566  

Child protection and family crisis (24hr)
1800 066 777

Telephone Interpreter Service (24hr)
13 14 50

Youth Emergency Accommodation Line
(02) 9318 1531 (Sydney Metro)
1800 424 830 (Toll free outside Sydney Metro)

Tenants Union of NSW Co-operative Ltd
02 9251 6590  
1800 251 101

See: http://www.wrrc.org.au/emergencynos/ for more info and other organisations to contact.

Lots is happening at Jura in the next month...

Coming up on Sunday 8th June, from 2pm: Hip Hop high tea at Jura Books. An
arvo of vegan high tea, popping lessons with the elegant shelly and
hip-hop sounds from secret special guests! This shall be followed by a
discussion of gender, and subversion of gender, in hip-hop and dance.

On Saturday 14th June, from 2pm, there'll be a film screening and
discussion about the Camp for Climate Action. The camp will
be five days of inspiring workshops and direct action aimed at shutting down the
world's largest coal port in Newcastle (July 10-15). If you're concerned about
climate change, and want real action instead of more hot air, then we encourage
you to come to the camp and bring your friends and family! Want to find out more
and meet people who are going? Come to Jura on Saturday 14th June. We'll be
showing an inspirational one hour documentary about the need for radical
action and the 2006 Camp for Climate Action which happened in the shadow of one
of the biggest C02 emitters in Europe: Drax coal-fired power station in
Yorkshire.

Out in the community, we've got two book stalls planned for the next
month:

1) 11am-1.45pm, Sunday 18th May outside Palace Cinema on Norton
St, where a new film about a Spanish anarchist is screening: Lucio - "There
are many anarchists in the world, but few have discussed strategies with Che
Guevara, saved the skin of Eldridge Cleaver (the leader of the Black Panthers),
and also brought to its knees the most powerful bank on the planet by forging
travellers cheques, without missing a single day of work in his construction
job!"

2) 11am-5pm, Sunday 25th May at the Sydney
Writers Festival zine fair, Museum of Contemporary Art.

Food Not Bombs is continuing
to use the Jura kitchen fortnightly to prepare food that would otherwise go to
waste. Come and help with the preparation at Jura (from 1pm), or come and help
eat the food from 4pm on the corner of Forbes St and King St, Newtown.
Next dates are 17th May and 31st May. All welcome!

Come along to our working bees, where we'll be sanding and painting
the floor, and fixing the skirting boards - the final touches on the library
renovations. Saturday 17th May and Saturday 7th June, from 12pm.

The Jura Food Co-op continues to provide people with affordable,
organic fruit and vegie boxes. Order yours or find out more by emailing jurafoodcoop@riseup.net

Alarm youth anarchist
collective will be holding a meeting at Jura on Saturday 7th June. All
welcome!

After many meetings and much discussion (thanks again to all who
participated in the survey!), the Jura Collective has drawn up a new
strategic plan! Read it here. It lays out our goals for the
bookshop, library, organising space, property, finances and more.

Here is the vision from the plan:

"At Jura Books, we are working to create a radically different world: one
based on freedom, equality and justice for everyone, as well as environmental
sustainability for all life on the planet. We believe this can only be achieved
by an organised and politically conscious social movement, based on
participatory democracy and workers control. Our collective will help to build
this movement.

"This (already growing) movement will revolutionise mainstream political
ideology, and will develop alternative social structures. We will work to
establish this new political consciousness in Australia, by putting the ideas of
anarchism, libertarian socialism, social ecology and anarcha-feminism on the
political agenda in Sydney. This means bringing these ideas to ever-widening
circles of people. We will also prefigure and nurture the alternative social
structures through the structures and activities of our collective. This means
creating a physical and social space that is liberating, safe, imbued with our
anarchist politics, and a joy to be in. So we will focus both outward and inward
in order to build a transformative social movement. We will work with other
groups to achieve our shared vision of a better world. Jura Books has been, and
will continue to help and encourage campaigns and like-minded groups which may
or may not include members of our collective. In order to build the movement,
the collective must expand so we will actively seek new members and new ideas.
We operate as an organised, participatory democratic, volunteer
collective.

"The core projects of the Jura Books collective are i) the bookshop, ii)
the library, and iii) the workers control centre / community organising centre.
Other activities related to these projects are: holding stalls, running
campaigns, improving our website, putting on events (talks, gigs, films,
performances), improving the space, and publishing pamphlets.

"Freedom without socialism is privilege, socialism without freedom is
tyranny!"

And finally, everyone is welcome at the Jura Collective Meeting at
12pm on Saturday 31st May.

Wow - so many great events! To see them all in calendar form, check out
our website calendar.

The May 08 update to the draft Jura strategic plan with the correct version of section 6.

Our server at Jura is named after Commondante Ramona... and here's a picture of her!

Sharpen your viewpoint 

New: Check out our online catalogue!

Jura Books is an anarchist bookshop located in Sydney, Australia. As anarchists, we try to organise without hierarchy or privilege.

We stock new and old books on a range of topics, including (but not limited to): classical anarchist texts, ecology, economics, feminism, unionism (history and theory), globalisation, and many more. Come in and check out our huge pamphlet collection. We also stock t-shirts and badges of various designs and vintages.