Events

This is a list of all the events that we have ever done in chronological order. You can also see a list of Event Series, or a list of forthcoming events in the Event Diary.

Current & forthcoming Event Series:

Miscellaneous 2024 : to
Miscellaneous 2023 : to
Bristol Radical History Festival : to

‘Soccer vs. the State: Tackling Football and Radical Politics’

Bristol Anarchist Bookfair Radical History Zone 2011 Poster
A former semi-professional football player, Gabriel Kuhn shares his thoughts on the game in his latest book. Besides exploring the history and the politics of the professional game, Kuhn takes a look at radical supporter culture and grassroots football efforts around the world. The book also includes numerous contributions from football activists around the world, not least members of Bristol's very own Easton Cowboys and Girls Sports Club! If you enjoy discussing free kicks while building […]

Beddoes Plaque Unveiling

Miscellaneous 2011
A short "affixing ceremony" to fit a plaque to mark the grave of Thomas Beddoes. Present will be Mike Jay, author of The Atmosphere Of Heaven: The Unnatural Experiments of Dr Beddoes and His Sons of Genius and members of the Beddoes family. There will be gathering at the Rodney Hotel (4 Rodney Place, Clifton, off Clifton Down Road) at about 1.00pm. There will be a small display to put up in the bar and some of Mike Jay's books for sale. At 3.00pm there will be a stroll around Clifton with a few […]

Wapping 1986-87

Miscellaneous 2011
Film: Despite The Sun The Wapping print dispute was one of the last large set-piece battles between the labour movement and the Thatcher regime and had ramifications that are still being felt today - in the working conditions of millions and in the way in which the mass media operates. On January 24, 1986, Rupert Murdoch's News International group with the support of the Thatcher government moved production of its four national newspapers to Wapping in London's Docklands. Over 5,000 production […]

“Can’t Do Nothin’ If You Ain’t Bad”‘: The League Of Revolutionary Black Workers

Life Before Thatcher
The League of Revolutionary Black Workers was formed in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan. The organisation united a number of different Revolutionary Union Movements (RUMs) that were growing rapidly across the auto industry and other industrial sectors. The formation of the League was an attempt to create a more cohesive political organ guided by the principles of Black liberation and Marxism-Leninism in order to gain political power and articulate the specific concerns of Black workers through […]

Italy In The 1970s: Bodies In The Street, A Tale Of A Country Like Ours

Life Before Thatcher
In the 1970s, Italy came to the brink of revolution, the most widespread assault on state power Western Europe had seen since the Spanish revolution. Every aspect of the state’s functioning was aggressively challenged. Millions of people were actively imposing their demands - workers, students, women. New ways of doing politics were developed including strikes, wildcats, student revolts, armed struggle and people having fun. These are all part of the story. The history of Italian radicalism in […]

From Recruitment To Dialogue: How Does The Radical Left Relate To Workers?

Life Before Thatcher
What lessons can we learn from how the Left related to workers and industrial struggles of the 1970s and how should the Left relate to workers today? How should our methods of relating to workers differ between a workplace which is experiencing a high level of class conflict and shop floor organisation, from one which conflict occurs within the framework of union control, from one which is non-unionised and there is little overt conflict and a fairly passive, quiescent and fragmented workforce? […]

Punk And The Pistols

Life Before Thatcher
A showing of the influential Arena documentary (1995), which takes a different angle to the more widely known 'The Filth and the Fury'. From the suburban backgrounds of the first '100 punks' to a movement which spanned the globe, Punk and the Pistols examines the anger, ideas and inspiration which led to a movement that shook Britain and spanned the globe. Includes interviews with Jordan, John Lydon, Malcolm McLaren, Siouxsie Sioux and Vivienne Westwood. Introduced by director Paul Tickell. […]

The Anti-Vietnam War Movement

Life Before Thatcher
The student rebellion in America in 1968 was fuelled by revulsion against the Vietnam War. It gave momentum to previously existing anti-nuclear and anti-racist movements on the campuses. The difference between the anti-war movement then and now is that the students were being drafted to serve as junior officers in Vietnam. Mike Levine provides an eyewitness account of the student revolt illustrated by contemporary newspaper pictures. Roger surveys the hidden history of resistance to the war […]

Glam-Punk Disco Inferno

Life Before Thatcher
We're taking you back to the 70s with a night of music from across the decade. 1970 may have seen the passing of Jimmi Hendrix and the disbanding of the Beatles but this decade saw the birth of new genres which were integral to fashions, the party and the political scene at the time. Punk Rock's anti-establishment and DIY ethic moved away from previous trends of the 60s, to create, as Tommy Ramone described "some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll" and played a big part in the Punk […]

How We Won: Strikes In The 70s

Life Before Thatcher
The dominant idea of strikes in the 1970s is that of the 'winter of discontent' of 1979 in which workers took industrial action in support of pay claims that breached the social contract brokered between union leaders and the Labour Government. However, the highpoint of workers' militancy was in the early years of the decade when rank and file workers led successful strikes across industry. This meeting will examine the strikes of miners, builders and dockers as well as industrial action in […]

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