News Feed - Bristol Radical History Group

Pirates, Piracy & Smuggling

The Real Pirates Of The Caribbean - Marcus Rediker Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) and the author of The Many Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea : Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age and this year The Slave Ship: A Human History. Marcus Rediker explores the 'Golden Age' of […]

Going Underground

A rare opportunity to visit the subterranean wonders of Bristol's history. Two 1 hour tours begining at 11am and 12 pm. Children must be accompanied. Please bring a torch and wear sensible shoes.

Witches 3: The Body & Labour Power

Workshop: The Body, Capitalist Accumulation And The Accumulation Of Labour Power - Silvia Federici Long time feminist activist and teacher, Silvia is co-founder of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and the RPA (Radical Philosophy Association) Anti-Death Penalty Project. She teaches International Studies and Political Philosophy at Hofstra University. Federici's published work includes: Enduring Western Civilization: The Construction of the Concept of Western Civilization and its […]

Meet The Director: Paul Tickell

Rasicm: A History: Part 1 The first part of Racism: A History was screened in March this year on BBC4. Partly filmed at Bristol Radical History week last year, the first of this excellent three part documentary deals with the rise of transatlantic slavery. Bristol Radical History Group think this is one of the best documentary series we have ever seen on the BBC. What did other viewers think on the BBC website? Here is a selection: "This should be shown in every secondary school in the country. […]

Witches 2: Witch Hunting & Capitalism

Witch Hunting And Capitalist Development, Past And Present - Silvia Federici Long time feminist activist and teacher, Silvia is co-founder of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa and the RPA (Radical Philosophy Association) Anti-Death Penalty Project. She teaches International Studies and Political Philosophy at Hofstra University. Federici's published work includes: Enduring Western Civilization: The Construction of the Concept of Western Civilization and its 'Others' (editor) and A […]

Opening The Archives

View original source material from the Reference Library's archives in the Bristol Room. Hosted by Dawn Dyer and Jane Bradley. (More details to follow.) Since there is limited space in the Bristol Room we are offering two 1 hour slots; 2pm - 3pm & 3pm - 4pm.

Witches 1: The Politics Of Pandaemonium

The Politics Of Pandaemonium - Jonathan Barry Head of School and Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter. Jonathan lectures on provincial society and culture in England from 1500 to 1840 and on religious and medical history, including the history of witchcraft with particular emphasis on Bristol and the South West. Radical history seeks to recover the perspective of the losers in history. Two prominent examples of these in the seventeenth century would be those accused of […]

Smugglers 2: The West Country

Smugglers: Radicals Or Romantic - Kevin Davis Easton Cowboy and refugee from Dorset, Kevin claims to have left his life of wrecking and smuggling behind in his hometown of Poole. But who knows? 'Official' history tells us that the smugglers of the 18th and 19th century were shadowy, brutal thugs, a threat to the economy, law and order and moral fabric of a whole nation. Yet popular culture then as now celebrates these same figures as brave, cunning and noble folk heroes. Using the case study of […]

Smugglers 1: Custom Becomes Crime

Custom Becomes Crime, Crime Becomes Culture: The Sea Related Informal Economies From Feudalism To Capitalism - Trevor Bark Troublemaker and academic from the North East, Trevor is on the editorial board of Capital and Class. He is an expert on the social history of crime and author of papers such as 'Crime becomes Custom, Custom becomes Crime'. This talk describes the inter-related nature of the sea based informal economies through time, and in the process drawing out important characteristics. […]

Merry Hell

A singular conflagration of live music and moving pictures to launch Bristol Radical History Week into fair winds. The Cube Orchestra will accompany exceptional films with improvised scores. Pirates created an upside down world of anarchist organisation and festival, with violence and death ever present. Through the satanic imagery of their flags, skulls, skeletons, grim reapers and hourglasses, they expressed their defiance of death itself. Pirates shunned Christian myths of paradise and […]