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The People's Papers

@peoplespapers.bsky.social
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~ all about the archives ~ A research project exploring 1970s activist print culture. Current project: local Manchester newspapers @wcmlibrary.bsky.social linktr.ee/peoplespapers

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Hammer and Hope @hammerandhope.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
In our latest issue, @nancymaclean.bsky.social meditates on the history of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because MAGA, she writes, is "counting on public amnesia about why these transformative policies were needed in the first place and how they were won." hammerandhope.org/article/civi...
hammerandhope.org
The Forgotten History of the Civil Rights Movement’s Fight for Economic Justice
By turning DEI into a slur, Trump and MAGA want to erase the radical promise of the movement that won civil rights.
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
"The Antiuniversity of London was a shortlived and intense experiment into selforganised education and communal living that took off at 49 Rivington Street in Shoreditch in February 1968" Research blog here: antihistory.org
antihistory.org
Antihistory | Antiuniversity of London
This is a research blog collecting material related to the Antiuniversity of London and related...
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Would love to have a class or reading group that revisits all of these radical housing/urban planning texts from the 1970s 😍
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Prof. Felipe Gusmão @fgusmao.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Spirit of Revolt – Archives of Dissent. The Archive collects, manages and preserves multi-media records from Glasgow’s and Clydeside’s anarchist and libertarian-socialist past and present. #reference
spiritofrevolt.info
Spirit of Revolt | Archives of dissent • Glasgow • Scotland • elsewhere
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Radical Online Archives @radonlinearchives.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
For Pride Month, Radical Online Archives has many collections of LGBTQ+ historical documents from across the world listed. Here is a selection of those listed. hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...
Issue 5 (Winter 1977) of Gay Left, a socialist journal produced by gay people (UK), with a group of people in front of Karl Marx's graveFront page of Issue 1 of 'Come Out' (November 1969) of Come Out! newsletterFront cover of issue 7 (Winter 1973) of The Body Politic, a Canadian gay rights journal. Orange cover with 'Gay Liberation Journal' in the middle.Front page of issue 10 (April 1987) of the UK Black Lesbian & Gay Centre newsletter. With flyer, stating: 'Fight Bigotry! Fight Racism! Smash the Back Lash! National Demonstration May 2'
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Remember LOP @rememberlop.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
#LeedsHistory
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
"This fall, MCNY will open the Puffin Foundation Center for Social Activism, dedicated to civic engagement [+] the city’s rich history as a hotbed of political organizing... 'We’re certainly aware of the moment we are all living through... We’re just continuing to do what we do...'"
hyperallergic.com
As Democracy Falters, a New York Museum Champions Activism
The Museum of the City of New York will open its expanded center for social activism alongside a slate of exhibitions, public programs, and screenings.
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Manchester Histories @mcrhistories.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
The Manchester Histories Festival 2026 programme is now live! Expect workshops, performances, talks, films, and a visit from a wandering friend 🐐 🎟️ Explore the full programme & book your tickets: bit.ly/mhf2026
Promotional graphic for the Manchester Histories Festival 2026 event programme. A colourful illustrated festival programme sits in the centre of the image, with excerpts of pages from the brochure partly visible. Pink background decorated with flowers, bees, clouds, and hearts. The poster reads “Manchester Histories Festival 2026” with the theme “Histories Matter: Past, Present & Future” and features large illustrated lettering spelling “Civic Pride.” Event dates are listed as 4–6 June alongside a QR code, website link, and hashtag #MHF2026. Text at the bottom reads “Event Programme Now Live.”
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Common Notions Press @commonnotions.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Did you miss the launch of our new imprint Class Compositions? Watch it on Red May's Youtube channel! @charmainechua.bsky.social, @sarahljaffe.bsky.social, Kieran Knutson, and Peter Linebaugh discuss "Class Compositions in a Time of Fascism" with @americanwork47.bsky.social as moderator.
youtube.com
Class Compositions in a Time of Fascism
YouTube video by Red May TV
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Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
History matters. Good to see Huddersfield celebrating and publicising its local history. I enjoyed my recent visit.
Three leaflets on guided walks - Public Art Trail; Historic Buildings Trail and Civic Celebration Trail
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Common Notions Press @commonnotions.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Tomorrow 5/17!
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Last blog post now up @wcmlibrary.bsky.social ! wcml.org.uk/blog/wrappin...
wcml.org.uk
Wrapping up the People’s Papers project - Working Class Movement Library
Building on my previous blog posts, the aim of this last update is to provide a fuller summary of some of the papers I looked at in the WCML collection — as a series of paper profiles — along with res...
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Society for the Study of Labour History @sslh.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
A small number of spaces are left - book now to guarantee your place! Free one-day conference on the history of coal communities, health and welfare, featuring academic researchers, heritage organisations, and community and campaign groups. Find out more: warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
warwick.ac.uk
Conference programme
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The John Rylands Library @thejohnrylands.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
A century ago today, Britain was brought to a standstill as the General Strike began. In our latest blog, Dr Janette Martin explores its impact on Manchester, drawing on material from The Guardian Archive at the John Rylands Library to reveal how the city responded: ow.ly/GsoL50YUiVR
Black and white illustration of two men in a heated discussion over documents, featured in a 1920 Manchester Guardian news bulletin.

The Manchester Guardian News Bulletin 18 September 1920, GDN 256/1
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
As Chris writes, "Forward to, and beyond, SquatSlop, forever!" substack.com/home/post/p-... (also think this topic would make a great article for @pasttensehistories.bsky.social !)
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Including connections to 1970s urban agriculture efforts!
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
With resonance to the photo montage and collage of “Squatted land and buildings are put to many uses, London 1974-7” in "Squatting: The Real Story" (Wates, 1980), p 42
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
"The history of London's squat cafes: Chaos in the Streets. Order in the Kitchen" ! Chris (56a Infoshop) on squat cafes and their discontents (😍) in @vittles.bsky.social: substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
The history of London's squat cafes
Chaos in the Streets. Order in the Kitchen. Chris Jones on squat cafes and their discontents
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Such a rich archival history on film (and great programming from the NY Public Library!)
filmlinc.org
Film Comment Live: Labor Day on 16mm with the New York Public Library
Join Film Comment Co-Deputy Editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute as they welcome Elena Rossi-Snook, Collection Manager at the New York Public Library, for a lively screening and conversation event.
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Common Notions Press @commonnotions.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
"Documents the PAH’s strategy for building the power of ordinary people to tackle Spain’s eviction crisis. . . . an inspirational resource." —@amandatattersall.bsky.social and @kurtiveson.bsky.social YES, IT'S POSSIBLE! BUILDING POWER FROM BELOW by @fedivers.joao.cat and the PAH Available Now! 👇
commonnotions.org
Yes, It's Possible! A Handbook for Building Power from Below — Common Notions Press
A handbook for achieving social change through collective action based on lessons from a revolutionary movement’s struggle for housing justice in Spain.
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
Great online discussion today with Paul Gilroy and Adam Elliott-Cooper thanks to the Soundings Journal -- looking forward to the continued series! "Antiracist Organizing, Policing, and the GLC in 1980s London" www.eventbrite.com/e/antiracist...
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
😍😍😍
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pasttensehistories.bsky.social @pasttensehistories.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
The Past Tense stall at the always fabulous Bristol Radical History Festival. Talks, walks, stalls and exhibitions & more All day today at M Shed, Princes Wharf, Bristol BS1 4RN Tomorrow: The Cube BS2 8JD
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Great to see such in-depth coverage of Needle!! Definitely worth a read: wellcomecollection.org/stories/pati...
wellcomecollection.org
Patient power
Needle, a small London-based group, led the early fight for patient rights. Leona Letts reveals how they championed giving patients a louder voice in their own care.
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Manchester Histories @mcrhistories.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Join us this Wednesday for the next instalment in our Salon series—The Northern Art Workers’ Guild: An Untold Story. Authors Barry Clark and Richard Fletcher will reveal the story of a community of artists, architects, and makers who shaped Manchester. 🎟️ Book here: bit.ly/4tFn1JX
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
#CFP: BRN Conference 2026: Spaces of Bookselling: "invites papers exploring the multiplicity of trajectories within which bookselling operates—and which are, in turn, created by bookselling spaces" via the Bookselling Research Network: booksellingresearchnet.uk/events/brn20... <3
booksellingresearchnet.uk
CFP: BRN Conference 2026: Spaces of Bookselling - Bookselling Research Network
Bangor University | 9–11 September 2026In association with the Stephen Colclough Centre for the History and Culture of the Book “For such a space entails the unexpected. The specifically spatial […]
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 16/04/2026
In August 2025, our editorial collective spent an afternoon exploring the contents of the History Workshop archive held @bishopsgateinst.bsky.social 🗃️ Marybeth Hamilton, Elly Robson, Mary Katherine Newman, Marral Shamshiri, Vivien Chan and Beckie Rutherford reflect on their radical findings.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Reflections on a Radical Archive
In the final article of this series, our editorial team discuss their findings from an afternoon spent collectively exploring the History Workshop archive.
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American Worker @americanwork47.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Offering a few talks and workshops in Binghamton, Montreal, Chicago, and Online this spring (with more dates and details to come) and tabling with @commonnotions.bsky.social. Check it out: www.readingstruggles.info/post/spring-...
readingstruggles.info
Binghamton, Montreal, Chicago, and Online Talks and Workshops Spring 2026
SPRING 2026 TALKS AND WORKSHOPSA few upcoming talks and workshops with more details forthcoming.  May 2nd and 3rdUsing Workers’ Inquiry to Organize and Fight the Boss a Workshop at the Upstate Anarchi...
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American Worker @americanwork47.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
A Brief History of the Workers’ Inquiry out now on @commonnotions.bsky.social. Pick up a copy here: www.commonnotions.org/buy/brief-hi...
commonnotions.org
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minor compositions @minorcompositions.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Susana Caló & Godofredo Pereira join Adam Greenfield on Lifepod to discuss CERFI – Analysis Everywhere. lifepod.transistor.fm/s1/5 From collective psychotherapy to desire, transversality & institutions as processes. Listen now 🔗 available on all the usual podcast places
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
"'There’s a kind of freedom that’s present in being an artist that allows for inquiry,'.. Embedded within municipal departments, PAIRs occupy unusual positions as temporary bureaucratic agents — or infiltrators — who make systems more visible, translate civic life, and advocate for change."
urbanomnibus.net
The Artist Is Present - Urban Omnibus
What happens when artists embed within city government? For ten years, New York’s Public Artists in Residence have been building bridges and breaking down walls between the civic and the public.
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George Padmore Institute @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
This National Poetry Month we share 'It Dread inna Inglan' by GPI Trustee Linton Kwesi Johnson, written as part of a campaign to free George Lindo, a wrongly convicted Jamaican-born man in Bradford in 1978, and which Linton recited on the steps of a police station in Bradford during the campaign.
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
<3
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Society for the Study of Labour History @sslh.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Left on the Shelf remains a key resource for anyone interested in labour history. Find out more about new owner Mark Thwaite's plans for the store. sslh.org.uk/2026/04/07/l...
sslh.org.uk
Left on the Shelf enters a new era
Left on the Shelf Books, the UK’s largest dealer in radical second-hand books, pamphlets and journals, has changed hands following the retirement of its founder and long-term owner Dave Cope. Set u…
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American Worker @americanwork47.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
“Workers’ inquiries are identifying working-class self-activity in various sectors, understanding the class struggle from the working-class point of view, and allowing workers to develop their own knowledge of how their work is organized.” @NewPolMag newpol.org/using-worker...
newpol.org
Using Worker’ Inquiry to Organize and Fight the Boss - New Politics
Workers' inquiries are identifying working-class self-activity in various sectors, understanding the class struggle from the working-class point of view, and allowing workers to develop their own know...
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Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick @mrcwarwick.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
New 1926 General Strike map online! Using early 20th century Ordnance Survey maps, the online resource shows strike events (through archive sources) in their contemporary landscape. Explore the map, digitised sources and more at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Map of Britain made from early 20th century Ordnance Survey maps. It includes pins which link to digitised documents and links to a timeline.
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Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
One of the country's finest libraries of books on town planning and housing policy - the Harry Simpson Memorial Library, currently located in Wisbech - is at risk of being pulped. Please publicise and support the campaign to save it. davemnt.wordpress.com/2026/03/26/a...
davemnt.wordpress.com
A Homeless Library: The Library of the Housing Crisis?
David Mountain, 27 March 2026.[1] In the storerooms of a little-known fenland museum is a treasure trove of rare books on town planning and housing policy, comprising an entire specialist library. …
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
The book is a "compendium of... the unfinished + abandoned projects that have languished in notebooks, memories + email drafts—presented with unsentimental retrospection. It’s perhaps fitting that the only formal catalogue raisonné of Calle’s work documents this negative space..."
brooklynrail.org
Sophie Calle’s Catalogue Raisonné of the Unfinished | The Brooklyn Rail
This is a compendium of the most private parts of the artist’s practice—the unfinished and abandoned projects that have languished in notebooks, memories, and email drafts—presented with unsentimental...
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South Side Weekly @southsideweekly.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The Worker Issue is an ode to the hidden labors—and laborers—that make our world go round. Learn about the daily work of rapid responders, caregivers, and grant writers; hear from an incarcerated worker, a neon sign maker, and many more. Read here: southsideweekly.com/the-worker-issue
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Common Notions Press @commonnotions.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
We need radical imagination to fight fascism and reclaim our world! Join us to celebrate the launch of Project 2052: a website of revolutionary speculative fiction and art set in the world of EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE!
promotion for the launch of project 2052 at pilsen community books in chicago. saturday march 28 2026
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George Padmore Institute @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Our recent talk which explored the histories and materials of black activist publishing in the UK from the 1970s and was chaired by Arielle Lawson @peoplespapers.bsky.social, with intro by GPI Archivist Sarah Garrod, is now available to view on YouTube: youtu.be/of9E5E-hpqs?...
youtu.be
The Black Radical Press in 1970s Britain with Leila Hassan Howe, Nigel De Noronha, Sophia Siddiqui.
YouTube video by George Padmore Institute
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HOWL @howl2025.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
"All through the 1970s there were books coming out that made me examine what it was to be a woman." Celia Burgess-Macey's account of her joining a consciousness raising group in Islington in the seventies. Read her article for a brilliant 1970s reading list! howl-uk.org/my-first-con...
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Love thiiis! 💞
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The People's Papers @peoplespapers.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
“The Internet Archive is not outside history, nor beyond contradiction. But it offers a terrain closer to what these books have always been doing: building archives of the present for futures that are not yet decided.” 🤩🥰
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Raphael Samuel History Centre @rshc.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Call for Papers New Left Histories and Historiographies: Mapping a Renewed Research Field Workshop to assess the current state of research on the New Left. Cfp for an event to be held in November at QMUL. Info here www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event... @bbkhistorical.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social
bbk.ac.uk
Call for Papers. New Left Histories and Historiographies: Mapping a Renewed Research Field
Call for papers.
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BSA Activism, Social Movements and Revolutions Study Group @bsa-asmr.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
📣Launch Event Friday 10 April 15:30! Join us for a library tour & archive workshop, introduction to the Group, food & drinks and a social event at Working Class Movement Library in Manchester during @britsoci.bsky.social Conference. DM us or email asmrstudygroupbsa@gmail.com. Details below👇
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Ellie Munro @elmunro.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
This was an excellent event from @peoplespapers.bsky.social and @gpadmoreinstitute.bsky.social on the Black Radical Press in England in the 1970s - including activists and archivists both. Lovely stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=of9E...
youtube.com
The Black Radical Press in 1970s Britain with Leila Hassan Howe, Nigel De Noronha, Sophia Siddiqui.
YouTube video by George Padmore Institute
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 07/03/2026
#OtD 7 Mar 1942 Lucy Parsons, African-American anarchist, founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (@IWW), and powerful orator for women, working people, and political prisoners died in a house fire. More about IWW women in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/2018/12/02/e...
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minor compositions @minorcompositions.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
The Minor Compositions Podcast began on Firefly Frequencies as a kind of semi-clandestine radio experiment. Now, all 42 episodes of Season One are available everywhere. We don’t need more heroes. We do need more conversations. Listen, share, conspire.
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