Bristol Radical History Festival to tackle theme of propaganda

The eighth edition of the Bristol Radical History Festival is just a month away. The event takes place over two days: at the M Shed on Saturday 25 April, before it moves on to The Cube Microplex on Sunday 26 April.

The two days will encompass talks, panel discussions, films, history walks, an exhibition and more.
One of the four themes of this year’s event is Propaganda. This is, of course, not a new phenomenon. From the Bayeux Tapestry to social media, one could argue that only the technology has changed to mould and shape public opinion.

The Saturday at the festival will see Steve Poole from Bristol UWE tell us how state propaganda played a crucial role in staving off the threat of revolution in Britain in the 1790s. Meanwhile Riley Linebaugh will bring things forward into the 20th Century and focus on the ways the UK government covered its back when the colonial administrations in East Africa systematically destroyed and removed documents from colonies in the run up to independence.

Dr Lucy Goodison and Colin Thomas will visit more recent history. Specifically, the 1970s when successive governments tried to stymie BBC criticism of policy, especially in relation to Ireland. Both Goodison and Thomas worked for the corporation at the time and give us the lowdown on what happened and how BBC journalists fought back.

And Nicholas Jones (a former BBC correspondent) and ex Head of Channel 4 News Dorothy Byrne will talk about propaganda in the media in today’s news and the increasing presence of journalistic self-censorship.

From history to the present day

Finally, Ghada Dimashk and Barney Cullum will bring us right up to date. They’ll look at how, in the recent Gaza conflict, citizens became the primary producers of historic record, though via social media that is ultimately controlled by US tech giants, and how ordinary Palestinian archivists have managed to preserve endangered digital records.

All of these events take place on the first day of the festival, Saturday 25 April, at the M Shed.
The Bristol Radical History Festival, like all Bristol Radical History Group events, is free and is organised by local people from Bristol. It doesn’t have funding from universities, political parties, business or local government.

To break even we rely on our members giving their labour for free and sales from our publications.
And most importantly: whether you are an academic or curious first timer, a lifelong Bristolian or just down for the day, all are welcome.

For more information and the full programme of the Radical History Festival go to the website at brh.org.uk

Featured image via the Canary