News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Gentrification In New York

Justice In The Barrio

Speaker - Juan The Movement for Justice in El Barrio (MJB) was founded in New York by immigrants and low-income people of color fighting back against the effects of neo-liberalism and discrimination in all of its forms. The organisation operates on a commitment to the ideals of self-determination, autonomy and participatory democracy emphasizing their connection to the Zapatista’s ‘Other Campaign’. Driven by multi-national corporations and profit-seeking landlords and facilitated by city […]

The Virtual Commons

Open Source Software: Interactive Workshop Bristol Wireless will be hosting an evening of Creative Commons Fun including talks, demonstration, films and a bar! 5.00-7.00pm Interactive workshop on Open Source Software 7.30pm Film: ‘Revolution OS’ a 2001 documentary film made in the United States, directed by J. T. S. Moore, which traces the twenty-year history of GNU, Linux, open source, and the free software movement. – followed by talk and discussion on Open Source software. Bristol Wireless […]

Kings, Commoners & Corporations

The Crown And The Commons: Holding Monarchy To Account In 18th Century England - Steve Poole Eighteenth century English men and women understood their allegiance to the Crown in contractual terms. Their allegiance to the King, in other words, was conditional upon the King looking after the interests of the Commons and defending Constitutional liberty. In theory then, their allegiance was dissolved if the King failed to perform. And in these circumstances, radical constitutionalists might make it […]

The Real England

Economic globalisation, an increasingly intrusive State and the power of consumerism are conspiring to scour the colour, character, independence and eccentricity from all corners of the English landscape and replace them with shopping malls, second homes, clone towns and executive apartments. Join author Paul Kingsnorth for a tour around a nation, which is beginning to fight back against this erasure of its history and character. Listen to this talk: Download Paul Kindsnorth's talk (1hr 20mins, […]

The Battle For Bristol

A night dedicated to ongoing struggles in Bristol to control our urban spaces whether playing field, park or pubs and clubs. Packers Field: A Victory? Packer's Field is a seven acre area of green land that nestles between the Whitehall, Easton and Greenbank districts of Bristol. For generations it was used by local people for recreation and leisure. In 2003 the City Council sold the lease to an Academy school without proper community consultation. Kevin Davis recounts the battle by local people […]

The Kett Rebellion

The Kett Rebellion was a sudden explosion of popular feeling against the enclosure policies of the Tudor government that swept through Norfolk in the summer of 1549. 20,000 people led by Robert Kett created a self-governing camp outside Norwich. It required two military expeditions from London to suppress the uprising. Listen to this talk: Download Peter Clark's talk (50mins, 8.8mb mp3 file)

Opening The Archive

**Despite the recent fire Bristol Reference Library will re-open on April 14th and this event will be unaffected** The Commons And Enclosure Your chance to view primary source material related to the commons, enclosure and rebellion in the Bristol Room of the Central Reference Library. Hosted by our friends, the knowledgeable and helpful archivists Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley Here is a list of the books that were on view: John Parkinson (1567–1650; buried 6 August 1650) was the last Laws and […]

The Beautiful Game?

The Ball Is Round Why is football is the world game? What kind of world does it show us? David Goldblatt surveys the ‘beautiful game’ and ‘goes in hard’ on the money men who increasingly dominate what was once the peoples’ game. Goldblatt is a Tottenham fan and the acclaimed author of The Ball is Round a global history of football. Listen to this talk: David Goldblatt Q&A Downlaod David Goldblatt's talk (56 mins, 9.7mb mp3 file) Download the Q&A (1hr 7mins, 11.5mb mp3 file)

A Picnic In The Forest

The Forest Of Dean - Meet at Hopewell Colliery, Speech House Rd., Coleford. Come with us on a Bank Holiday day trip to the historic Forest of Dean. Ian Wright, who was brought up the forest, will talk about the life and times of the Warren James. In the early 19th century James became a spokesman for the foresters in their struggle to protect their traditional way of life from the imposition of enclosures and industrial capitalism. The forest riots of 1831 led to Warren's arrest and […]

New Enclosures

The New Enclosures Enclosures are always "new," because once capital separates us from the means of subsistence in one part of our lives, we struggle to reunite with these means some place else (and at times succeed!). Capital then attempts to separate us from our new connection with the means of subsistence. Separation and union, are as essential to class struggle as demanding higher wages. In this talk George Caffentzis will discuss the current "housing crisis" in the US as an example of a […]