News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

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 […]

The Commons

The Incomplete, True, Authentic And Wonderful History Of May Day Leigh Hunt the English essayist of the 19th century, wrote ‘that May Day is the union of the two best things in the world, the love of nature, and the love of each other’. Peter Linebaugh shows how the festival intertwines two strands of radical thought, the red and the green, with a gentle gambol through the history of labour struggles and agrarian utopianism. Partition And Prejudice: ‘The English Arrangements Of Place And Space’ […]

Time, Tide & Money

Clipped Coins: John Locke's Philosophy Of Money Join George Caffentzis as he takes a sledgehammer to Locke’s economic theory, his philosophy and his reputation. Starting from the political crisis that arose from the ‘clipping’ of silver currency by 17th century monetary pirates, moving through Locke’s support for slavery and his active role in providing the philosophy that underpinned the rise of capitalism, Caffentzis’ critique provides useful ammunition in the ongoing war of ideas with […]