US NOW
Date: Monday, 05 April 2010
Time: 20:00
Venue:The Cube
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A public debate about the impact the Internet has had on the struggle for popular democracy. Has the web opened up opportunities for new forms of political activity or has it forced us into impotent behaviour, divorced from the real world? The evening includes a screening of the film US NOW that tells of the online networks whose self-organising structures threaten to change the fabric of government forever. In association with Bristol Indy Media.
The Chartists And Their Legacy
Date: Saturday, 10 April 2010
Time: 14:00
Venue:The New Room (Wesley Chapel))
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The Chartists’ demands for the vote, secret ballots and the end of property qualifications rocked the British establishment to the core. We bring together a panel of enowned historians to discuss the origins, achievements and the significance of the South West’s Chartist Movement. Dorothy Thompson is a world-wide authority on the Chartists. Owen Ashton is Professor of History at Staffordshire University and an expert on Chartism in the West Country. Les James is a community historian whose work celebrates the Newport Chartist Rising.
Mills & Bone: Subverting Democracy
Date: Monday, 12 April 2010
Time: 19:30
Venue:Stag & Hounds
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Steve Mills and Ian Bone relate their experiences of contemporary interventions into the electoral process including The Alarm the Swansea based forerunner of The Bristolian, the legendary anarchist tabloid Class War and the Vote Nobody campaign of 2001. These two renowned local troublemakers will also provide their own searing critique of the upcoming General Election.
Thomas Spence: The Forgotten Revolutionary
Date: Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Time: 19:30
Venue:Redcliffe Scout Hut/Boat House
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Thomas Spence was a leading English revolutionary whose tracts were among the most far-reaching radical statements of the late 18th Century. Keith Armstrong of the Thomas Spence Trust considers Spence's ideas and their contemporary relevance. Steve Poole, UWE lecturer, traces the fate of this alternative current in English radicalism. Spenceans argued that without the common ownership of land the electoral franchise would remain open to manipulation by the economically powerful.
How Protest And Riot Won Working Men The Vote
Date: Thursday, 15 April 2010
Time: 19:30
Venue:GWRSA
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There were three main phases of extension to the male franchise in the 19th Century. The ‘Great Reform’ of 1832 was preceded by a period of intense unrest in Western Europe. Roger Ball considers the impact these various social and political movements had upon the British ruling class and the first extension of the franchise. Dave Cullum analyses the popular pressure which led to the later Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884.
Opening The Archives
Date: Friday, 16 April 2010
Time: 14:00
Venue:Central Reference Library
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Your chance to view primary source material related to the struggle for democracy in the Bristol Room of the Central Reference Library. Hosted by the knowledgeable and helpful archivists Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley.
Suffragette!
Date: Monday, 19 April 2010
Time: 19:00
Venue:Hamilton House
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They Fought for it, They Starved for it: THE VOTE: Using visual sources Dawn Dyer charts the struggle for Women's Suffrage in Bristol and the South West. Votes for Ladies: The Suffragette Movement 1903-1914: An examination of the established view of the struggle for votes for women. Anny Cullum critiques the composition and outlook of this iconic movement from a class perspective.
‘Every Cook Can Govern’: From Athens To Westminster?
Date: Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Time: 19:30
Venue:GWRSA
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Cheerleaders for parliamentary democracy often hark back semi-legendary ‘golden ages’ as a foundation of the modern electoral process. Do these myths have any basis in reality and what relevance do they have today? Dan Bennett and Tony Dyer follow an historical path from ancient Athens via Anglo-Saxon participatory democracy through to the French Revolution. Dave Cullum poses the question, is representative democracy necessary for modern capitalism to exist?
The Liberty Tree
Date: Friday, 23 April 2010
Time: 19:30
Venue:The Thunderbolt
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Legendary protest singer Leon Rosselson celebrates his fiftieth year in music with a special performance with songwriter/activist Robb Johnson. The LibertyTree is an evening of contemporary songs reflecting the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Paine, which had a huge impact on the struggle for modern democracy. Supported by Bristol-based singer/songwriter Eirlys Rihannon. A must-see event for anyone inspired by the power of popular song.
Bristol Radical History Walk
Date: Saturday, 24 April 2010
Time: 14:00
Venue:The Centre
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About 1.4 miles of walking that takes in scenes of radical activism in Bristol. Discover why a man on a donkey in Corn Street and a theology geek who stayed at the Seven Stars Pub had such an impact on the world, why a mob burned down Queen Square in 1831 and who ate all the pies in 1832. Join us to find out about Thomas Clarkson, James Nayler, St. Wulfstan, Dorothy Hazard and various Bristol Riots.
Mock Election Bonfire Night
Date: Sunday, 25 April 2010
Time: 19:00
Venue:Boiling Wells Project
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Come and stick two fingers up at electoral politics in 2010. Discover our dark and funny tradition of mock elections. Write a manifesto, bring and burn an effigy of your most despised public figure. Seditious toasting and acoustic music from The Blue Sequoias, Who’s Afear’d and the Surfin’ Turnips by the flickering flames of our pyre of politicians.
Previously In Radical History …
Bristol Radical History Week 2006
28th October to 5th November 2006
32 Events, Over 9 Days at 7 Venues. Bristol Radical History Week 2006 was a series of events aimed at opening up to public scrutiny some of the hidden and misrepresented history of Bristol. Rather then concentrating on royals, famous engineers or wealthy merchants, Bristol Radical History Week was concerned with the proper people of Bristol. The mass of sometime rebellious and mutinous people who had their own agendas to fulfil. Lectures, debates, music, art, film, re-enactments and (if you can believe it) more.
Slavery – The Hidden History
4th to 15th March 2007
March 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the parliamentary abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. This was a series of events to both mark and critique the occasion. In a series of public lectures and debates we examined some of the areas of the history that were neglected by the official events. We also examined the links between punk, beer and the abolitionist movement in Bristol.
The BRH Summer Party On Brandon Hill
19th August 2007
Despite the vagaries of the English summer of 2007, a small but feisty mob of radical historians, skate boarders and cider drinkers gathered on Brandon Hill in Clifton. We were both celebrating the 175th anniversary of the invasion of the Great Reform Dinner and protesting against the dispersal order served on Bristol citizens this summer. What is the connection?
Bristol Radical History Week 2007 – Pirates, Witches & Smugglers
27th October to 6th November 2007
Who were these ‘outcasts’? Why are we so fascinated by them? Do their villainous representations carry clues to their real nature? Another heady brew of lectures, debates, film, outings, story telling, music, cider and the now infamous Pirate Booze Cruise.
The Seven Stars Plaque Project
January 2008 – May 2009
Bristol Radical History Group raised over £3000 for a new plaque outside The Seven Stars pub in Thomas Lane, Redcliffe, Bristol. It was at the Seven Stars that abolisionist Thomas Clakson met Landlord Thompson and began taking statements from sailors who had worked on slave ships. The pub is not only an important historical landmark in Bristol but also holds a unique place within world history.
Down With The Fences – The Struggle For The Global Commons
Thursday May 1st – Sunday May 11th 2008
From Magna Carta to the enclosure rioters of the Forest of Dean; from the stripping of the oil commons of the 20th century to the enclosure of the peoples’ game in the Premier League; from the rise of the corporations to the massive gentrification programme launched in our cities, we examined the process of enclosure, the forces that drive it and some of the historical and current confrontations that have occurred as a result.
Bristol Radical History Week 2008 – Off With Their Heads
Saturday October 25th – Tuesday November 4th 2008
Assassins, Plots & Regicide – 10 days of lectures,
debates, gigs and ‘happenings’ dedicated to
the men and women who have attempted to
instigate political change, through fair
means or foul. Join us, as we explore the
past to discover the present.
Spring 2009
April – June 2009
We began with future utopian visions (Nowtopia), consided the hidden histories of seminal events of the 1980s (Hillsborough and The Miners’ Strike) and championed Thomas Paine. To top it all we unveiled a plaque on the Seven Stars Pub to commemorate the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson and the Bristol sailors who blew the whistle on the slave trade.
BRHG Take Manhattan
12th – 15th November 2009
A small BRHG mob Takes Manhattan, as the Muppets did before them. A seriers of talks and a visit to the Midnight Notes 30 Conference.
