Uncategorized Archives - Bristol Radical History Group

Everything for Everyone

Intentional Communities and the Utopian Impulse

From the Diggers to the Hippies via the Chartists, Owenites and Tolstoyan Anarchists the utopian impulse has resulted in literally hundreds of new communities across the UK. Drawing on 30 years of researching and living communally the talk will explore the past, present and future of intentional community in Britain.

Making Utopia Great Again

This talk revisits and re-evaluates the critiques of utopianism offered by Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt and Isiah Berlin at our current moment in history, a time when far-right movements and emergent fascisms are confidently tapping into the power of both utopian and dystopian narratives.

Imagining Otherwise: Utopia and the Work of Hope

How can imagined worlds offer hope and drive change? Utopian thinking has been described as “social dreaming,” but it is social dreaming that is put to work. Across literature, film, music, and art, creators have been energised by utopia’s capacity to interrogate the present and envision other possibilities. This talk explores how utopia functions as a form of creative collective imagination that shapes the possibilities of shared futures, drawing on examples from the late nineteenth and early […]

Obituary: Samuel Paradiso

By Roger

Samuel Paradiso was brought up in the Fishponds area of east Bristol. His love of his ‘manor’ played a large part in his life, ranging from his legendary ‘border patrols’, checking no one from BS5 had sneaked into BS16[1], to the local history in his website ‘Boy from Fishponds’.[2] He knew Fishponds inside out and revelled in directing me around using secret short cuts, telling me stories of its hidden heroes and showing me the concealed ‘Lido’ that once had a bar on stilts, or so they say. […]

Faces of the Irish Diaspora: Portrait Exhibition

The exhibition illustrates the diverse experiences of identity, heritage, migration and belonging of local Irish people in Bristol. The portraits include objects of significance to their stories, and celebrate the contributions made by Irish immigrants to the life and culture of the city. Faces of the Irish Diaspora features the work of local photographer Frances Tolson, who has taken portraits that capture the essence and spirit of each individual and beautifully recorded the objects that hold […]

‘London Recruits’ and Bristol

By Colin Thomas

In the 1960s it looked as if the opposition to the apartheid regime in South Africa had been crushed. Many of the leaders of the African National Congress has been imprisoned and BOSS, the regime’s ruthlessly efficient police force, suppressed any sign of resistance. But a group of South African exiles in Britain were determined to fight back. Ron Press was one of the 156 opponents of apartheid arrested in 1956 on the charge of high treason – they included Nelson Mandela – and he took part in a […]

Bristol Radical Film Festival

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Bristol Radical Film Festival takes place this 12th-13th October celebrating political, activist, and experimental filmmaking. The programme as usual engages with contemporary political issues and showcases an eclectic mix of unseen gems: The multi-racial roots of Country Music, Britain’s forgotten prisoners, UK music’s anti-racist history, Reproductive Rights in the USA, Israel and Jewish identity, Technology and Race in photography, Union organising against Amazon. Full details here.

‘No Cure, No Fee, Boarding Excepted’: ‘Mason’s Madhouses’ in Old Fishponds

Journalist, Fishponds Voice History columnist and Bristol Radical History Group author Mike Jempson will reveal some of the fascinating facts his research uncovered about the private madhouse which dominated Fishponds in the eighteenth century. His talk includes some of the institution’s more startling treatments, the sensational public inquiry and the shameful end of the Mason dynasty - the family firm that ran this biggest private asylum outside of London for 120 years. Drawing on museum […]

Bristol Radical Film Festival – 2023

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The Bristol Radical Film Festival returns this November in collaboration with The Cube Microplex. We will kick off things with a book launch event on November 1st, followed by a weekend of screenings and discussions. As always, we will be celebrating all manners of political, activist and experimental filmmaking. We hope you can join us. BOOK LAUNCH: RADICAL FILM, ART, DIGITAL MEDIA FOR SOCIEITIES IN TURMOIL November 1st / 8 -10 PM The book launch will also include a special focus on […]

Soup and Stories

Local people of all ages are invited to share their memories and stories of living in the BS3 area and beyond. A local artist will capture these memories “visually”. Have fun with crafts, some traditional games and enjoy homemade soup. Contact: Jackie Smith 07487 329854.