Activism Archives - Page 11 of 13 Bristol Radical History Group

Cultures of solidarity and the 1984-85 miners’ strike

All Out! Dancing in Dulais! tells the story of London Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, a group which twinned with a mining community in South Wales. The inspiration for the recent film Pride, it is one of many examples of grassroots film-making during the 1984-5 British miners' strike. After watching the documentary, we will discuss the broad range of solidarity activism during one of the most significant strikes in British labour history: trade unionists, feminists, black activists and […]

Housing Activism and Squatting in 1970’s Bristol

Includes a screening of 18-minute documentary The Law Breakers (1973). Mac will begin by giving a brief personal/political history of what motivated him to get involved. He will be covering the squatting campaign that took place between 1972-1974 in Ashley Road Bristol, and direct action taken like the occupation of The South West Electricity Board showrooms (SWEB,) for example. The BBC West documentary will feature previously homeless single parent families, a support meeting by 'Bristol […]

Borders and Technology

By Randell Brantley

Public discussion event Friday February 20th 2015 7-9pm @ Hydra Bookshop www.hydrabooks.org 34 Old Market Bristol BS2 0EZ Speakers: Statewatch www.statewatch.org Breaking the Frame hosts speakers and discussion on contemporary and historical surveillance and control over the movement of people, plus resistance.

The Game of Drones + Unmanned

Game of Drones: The President and the White House Fly (Handsome Dog Productions, 2013). Investigative poem on topical issue of ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicles’. Written by Heathcote Williams; Narration and Montage by Alan Cox; produced by Margaret Cox. Screening will be introduced by anti-Drone campaigner John from Bath Activist Network. About Heathcote Williams: "I'd say the overwhelming feature of these poems and perhaps of Williams' whole oeuvre is a sense of the development of an argument, either […]

Justseeds: Radical art group

Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, a network of artists from the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has been producing print and design work reflecting radical social, environmental and political movements or more than fifteen years. You may have come across one project of theirs at BRHG events the excellent ‘Celebrate People’s History’ poster series, which popularises hidden histories and figures of radical social movements. Interference Archive organizer and member of the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, […]

Three Minutes to Midnight: The Women’s Anti-Nuclear Protest at Greenham Common

Elaine Titcombe. History PhD Student, The University of the West of England, Bristol. In 1984 the doomsday clock reached three minutes to midnight. This was the closest recorded time to global destruction defined (at that time) as imminence to nuclear war, since 1953. This crisis arose as a result of an escalation of militarism between the East and West Superpowers, following the NATO decision in 1979 to modernise their theatre of nuclear weapons in response to the perceived superiority of the […]

ACTION NOW! The Forest of Dean

By Randell Brantley

ACTION NOW!The Forest of Dean is being Enclosed and Sold off! Join us for a 'walk' on Sunday the 3rd of February! Take Notice, Foresters All, that Free Peoples of the Forest, intend to Meet at 12o'clock near the Free Miner Monument in Cinderford Triangle on Sunday next, the 3rd of February instant for the purpose of Opening the Forest, which hath in part of late been enclosed and threatened with Privatisation, Sale, "Land Exchanges" and other forms of political thievery and corruption. We […]

Resistance in an age of Austerity

What does resistance mean take in an age of austerity? As we see the austerity agenda having massive consequences in Greece and Spain and the UK bracing itself for the real impact of this agenda, we ask what should a resistance to austerity look like. In Greece we see outright violent resistance, combined with a development of bartering systems and many people returning back to the land to support themselves. Should we just resist or do we push for more radical change in society? If yes how can […]

Resistance to Debt: Catiline, El Barzon and Strike Debt

Resistance to Debt is increasingly the way that class struggle is being expressed today. But debt resistance is not new. In Ancient Rome the battles between debtors and creditors were real ones, fought to the finish. This kind of struggle has returned in the late 20th century in many parts of the world though in a less bloody manner. Caffentzis will discuss one of the largest debt resistors' organization in history, the El Barzon (or The Yoke) movement in Mexico in the 1990s. A number of common […]

Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power

Community Organising in Radical Times

By Amy Sonnie and James Tracey

The history of radical 'White' activism in the 1960s and 70s in the USA is dominated by the the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a large organisation which was very influential in the creation of what is known as the 'New Left'. Much has been written about their activities in the Universities particularly around resistance to the Vietnam War and their eventual split which led to urban armed groups such as the Weather Underground. However, this interesting book uncovers the hidden history […]