Individual Labour MPs such as Sidney Silverman were significant to campaigning for abolition of the death penalty in Britain and the Labour Party was more hospitable to the idea of abolition than the Conservatives. Nevertheless, despite passing the reformist Criminal Justice Act in 1948 the Labour Government was opposed to abolishing the death penalty, which did not happen in Britain until 1965. This talk will explore why the death penalty was not abolished in 1948. It will also examine how […]
We are pleased to host this exhibition at the BRHFestival 2022 on 14th May at Mshed. You can view the exhibition from 10am to 4pm, at the Level 2 foyer, inside Mshed. Talk - 2pm at the Level 2 Foyer, Sue Tate, a trustee from the Feminist Archive South, will give a talk about the exhibition, and answer any questions. About the exhibition: Politics and Protest is a dynamic, colourful and inspiring exhibition of 70+ posters selected from Feminist Archive South's collection of over 1000. It was […]
Our panel of speakers will address the scandal of the Spycops, the hitherto secret operations of undercover cops spying inside labour and social movements since 1968. Since the scandal became public knowledge in late 2010 with the exposure of Mark Kennedy, activists have traced and identified numerous #spycops along with their true and false identities. They have exposed some of their law-breaking activities; internal cover-ups; and coercion of numerous innocent, mainly women activists, into […]
1945: The war in Europe has just ended and the Labour Party wins a resounding general election victory. What follows is celebrated on much of the left as a period of progressive government which should inspire us to build a fairer society. However, at the time, critics pointed out that every socialist principle had been betrayed by politicians. In fact this was really a period much like any other, marked by continued militarism, colonialist suppression, racism, austerity and reactionary […]
Book Review: Dazza Scott, Sabotage: The Story of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (Hunt Saboteurs Association, 2021). In 2023 the Hunt Saboteurs Association will mark its 60th anniversary. Sabotage shows that it has plenty to celebrate. For all the horrors, joys, tears, and moments of farce brought to life in this book, the hold of bloodsports is much diminished since the organisation was founded in 1963. There is a long tradition of opposition to fox hunting and other cruel sports, an expression […]
Not In An Event Series
Were you ever involved in Bristol's squatters' movement? Join us on Sunday 6th March 2-4pm at BASE (14 Robertson Road, Easton) for tea, cake and a chat around a map to capture memories of squatting in Bristol. So much of what we love about Bristol was made possible by squatting. Bristol Squatted is a new project aiming to give squatting the space it deserves in the city's history and ask what the role is for squatting in Bristol today. For more information see here and bristolsquatted.org
Raymond Williams’s novel, The Fight for Manod was first published in 1979. As we know, 1979 was an important year, seemingly a watershed year. In this year Margaret Thatcher was elected, and Ronald Regan launched what was to be his successful presidential campaign. Yet the social forces that pushed them into prominence and the form of capitalism on stilts now commonly known as Neoliberalism didn’t of course suddenly emerge overnight from nowhere. Like deadly toadstools, the mycelium that brought […]
For the last 25 years David Parker has been collecting and showcasing home movies in his documentary films for television. Using clips from his series ‘Mud Sweat and Tractors’, ‘Sea Fever’ and ‘Shooting the War’, as well as his latest series for TV ‘Britain on Film’, David will illustrate ways that he weaves home movies into his programme and show just how valuable this sadly neglected media can be in telling stories about how we lived in the last Century. Book tickets here.
While there are many academic studies of workers’ resistance and consciousness during the 1970s and 1980s, few accounts relate the personal-political experiences of the activists involved. Tremors of Discontent, however, explores how Mike Richardson’s individual consciousness came to change during that period. It shows how gradually his participation in trade union and left politics broke through his boyhood reserve, intensified by the external political, economic and social circumstances. By […]
