Radical Bookselling discussion event

Applied History Network View this email in your browser

Sites of Resistance: Radical Bookselling A discussion event Tuesday 9th February 2016, 6.30-8pm, London EC1R 0DU

UPDATE [9 Feb. 2016]: Change of venue Due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to change the venue of our upcoming event to UCL's Institute of Archaeology, Room 6.12. The address for the Institute is: 31-34 Gordon Square London WC1H 0PY. For further directions and a map, please see their website. We only have a few tickets left, so if you haven't booked yours yet you can still do so through our Eventbrite page. If you have already booked your tickets please come early to make sure you get a good seat. The other details remain the same: [See below] We will be looking at the importance of radical bookshops as "sites of resistance."  The 1970s saw a peak in the numbers of bookshops dedicated to providing access to alternative publications covering the growing anti-racist, LGBT+ and feminist movements, amongst others. Many of these bookshops also acted as meeting places and support centres for new and established groups, and offered a template for encouraging further grassroots and community activism and campaigning. More recently, the numbers of these vital “sites of resistance” have closed due to increasing rents, funding cuts, the growth of online bookstores and competition from larger bookshops. Although bookshops have been a core element of campaigns, as a subject this seems to have been neglected by researchers and historians of social history. Key questions that we will cover are: has the internet already filled the space left by these important centres? What is the future of activism and campaigning? And the future of radical bookshops?

Speakers: Sarah Garrod: Archivist, George Padmore Institute Nik Gorecki: Co-ordinator, Alliance of Radical Booksellers and co-manager of Housmans Ken Worpole: Author Rosa Vilbr: Oral Historian and founder of On the Record Event Info: Date: Tuesday 9th February 2016 Time: 6.30pm-8pm Venue: Marx Memorial Library, 37a Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DU Eventbrite: Register here Website: Applied History Network

The Applied History Network is a group of PhD students and early career researchers committed to politically engaged history. We put on regular evening events in London which aim to apply an historical perspective to contemporary events and debates. The event grew out of conversations started at the ‘what is radical history?’ conference at Birkbeck in March 2015. In an effort to carry on these important debates, we put on free events every two months in central London.