**Despite the recent fire Bristol Reference Library will re-open on April 14th and this event will be unaffected** The Commons And Enclosure Your chance to view primary source material related to the commons, enclosure and rebellion in the Bristol Room of the Central Reference Library. Hosted by our friends, the knowledgeable and helpful archivists Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley Here is a list of the books that were on view: John Parkinson (1567–1650; buried 6 August 1650) was the last Laws and […]
The Forest Of Dean - Meet at Hopewell Colliery, Speech House Rd., Coleford. Come with us on a Bank Holiday day trip to the historic Forest of Dean. Ian Wright, who was brought up the forest, will talk about the life and times of the Warren James. In the early 19th century James became a spokesman for the foresters in their struggle to protect their traditional way of life from the imposition of enclosures and industrial capitalism. The forest riots of 1831 led to Warren's arrest and […]
The New Enclosures Enclosures are always "new," because once capital separates us from the means of subsistence in one part of our lives, we struggle to reunite with these means some place else (and at times succeed!). Capital then attempts to separate us from our new connection with the means of subsistence. Separation and union, are as essential to class struggle as demanding higher wages. In this talk George Caffentzis will discuss the current "housing crisis" in the US as an example of a […]
The Incomplete, True, Authentic And Wonderful History Of May Day Leigh Hunt the English essayist of the 19th century, wrote ‘that May Day is the union of the two best things in the world, the love of nature, and the love of each other’. Peter Linebaugh shows how the festival intertwines two strands of radical thought, the red and the green, with a gentle gambol through the history of labour struggles and agrarian utopianism. Partition And Prejudice: ‘The English Arrangements Of Place And Space’ […]
Clipped Coins: John Locke's Philosophy Of Money Join George Caffentzis as he takes a sledgehammer to Locke’s economic theory, his philosophy and his reputation. Starting from the political crisis that arose from the ‘clipping’ of silver currency by 17th century monetary pirates, moving through Locke’s support for slavery and his active role in providing the philosophy that underpinned the rise of capitalism, Caffentzis’ critique provides useful ammunition in the ongoing war of ideas with […]
Liberties And Commons For All Think you know about the Magna Carta? Peter Linebaugh’s new book lifts the lid on the true importance of both the Magna Carta and its lesser known, but equally as important counterpart, the Forest Charter, which safeguarded the rights of the commoners. Ranging across the centuries, and from England to Asia, Africa and the Americas, Linebaugh shows us the contested history of Magna Carta — how the liberties it invoked were secured and (as today) violated, and how […]
Namibia: Genocide And The Second Reich "The ghosts of the Namibian genocide have been reawakened. They return to haunt liberal post-war Germany, and in doing so they force Germany to wake-up to a very uncomfortable fact that the dark racial theories that helped inspire the Nazis run much deeper into German and European history than most people want to acknowledge." The powerful documentary by David Olusoga (BBC) is the story of Germany's forgotten genocide. It takes a sensitive and […]
Music live from Who's Afear'd and they Turnips. While this even is free donations for the band will be asked for.
Tour the pirate landmarks of Bristol Harbour in the company of historian Mark Steeds and the cider-fuelled Surfin' Turnips. Each tour lasts one hour.
