The programme of events for the Bristol Radical History Group Election Special has been announced.

In this series of events we will trace how we got the vote and try to find out whether there is a viable alternative to representational party democracy.  Therefore, in a broad  selection of events, we will find out about Thomas Spence, The Chartist, The Reform Acts and the Suffragettes. Searching for democratic alternatives we will look at anarchism in the 19th Century, election by lottery in Athens and participatory democracy from Anglo-Saxon Britain to the Internet.

Bristol Radical History Group are chuffed to welcome Dorothy Thompson, Owen Ashton, Steve Poole, Leon Rosselson, Robb Johnson, The Blue Sequoias, David Goldblatt, Roy Norris, Chris Chalkle, Les James, Keith Armstrong, Tony Dyer and some other familiar faces.

But there is more! If you are suffering from election fatigue already accomplished trouble maker Ian Bone will teach us how to subvert democracy with such shenanigans as the Vote Nobody campaign and The Bristolian. We will also be holding our own mock election in the dark and satirical tradition of The Mayor of Garrett.

Talks, walks, gigs and films. Check it out.

Here is a flyer for Indymedia’s up and coming events:

18/01/2010 Bristol Feminist Network Present: Women And The Media – Representation, Misrepresentation, No Representation.

01/02/2010 Bristol Anarchist Bookfair Presents: J18 & Seattle 10 Years On – Histories and reflections on these movements and the strategies for today’s acrivists.

22/02/2010 Cop 15 – What Now? – Short films and discussions on what the outcome of Copenhagen Climate Summit means for the World and activists.

01/03/2010 Bristol Radical History Group Present: The 43 Group – Talk from a member of the anti-fascist group that helped keep fascism at bay after WWII. Find out more >>

05/04/2010 Bristol Radical History Group Presents: Democracy? – With an election upon us we ask what is the nature of democracy and are there any better alternatives.

03/05/2010 Constantine’s Sword -  Why are intolerance, violence & war so deeply ingrained in religion? Can war ever be holy? See this film to find out.

07/06/2010 The Gleaners And I – Agnes Vardas classic film looks at The Gleaners, those who live on the margins and waste of our capitalist society.

This website has now been listed on www.communityarchives.org.uk, a site that contains a huge listing of community based archives around the country.

The video from the Bristol Radical History Walk has been added to the Archive. Let a star studded cast lead you through the streets of Bristol.

There is now a new version of the Bristol Radical History Walk map available. If you are using Firefox the talk for each stop automatically plays we you click on the skeleton. However, for a reason that I can not quite work this does not happen in Explorer and you will still have to click to open the mp3 file.