A WORKING CLASS HERO IS SOMETHING TO BE . . .

1ST OXFORD WORKING CLASS BOOKFAIR - UPDATE!
'If there is hope, it lies with the proles' - George Orwell, 1984

Books, talks, badges, workshops, music, culture, short films, magazines, lectures, warm atmosphere, fellowship, meet new people, education, entertainment, magazine, newspapers etc. To book a stall/more info. email us! A flyer to pin on noticeboards/distribute can be downloaded here - our venue for the day is in the City Centre and 5-10 mins from Train and Bus Stations. Directions can be found here

Includes 100th Anniversary of 1909 Ruskin College Student Strike meeting, the first radical student uprising in English history that saw students breakaway to form radical and anti-capitalist educational networks such as the PLEBS LEAGUE and CENTRAL LABOUR COLLEGES + Talks/workshops on anti-fascism and anti-racism, situationism/dada/surrealism, anti-capitalism, people's history, trade unions, war, peace & empire, radical bookselling, bash the rich marches, psychogeography, feminism & women's equality, social ecology, popular & radical education, poetry/culture/art, music etc

Speakers include -

COLIN WAUGH Radical educator/FE teacher, active on the Post 16 Educator journal, recently author of pamphlet on the 1909 Ruskin College Student Strike & Plebs League
RICHARD SEYMOUR Author of The Liberal Defense of Murder, a searing critique of the B52 liberals and pro-war left & the brains behind Lenin's Tomb, one of the best-known political blogs in Britain, listed in 2005 as the 21st-most-popular blog in the country.
IAN BONE English anarchist associated with Class War group. In 1984 he was labelled 'the most dangerous man in Britain' by a British tabloid newspaper & was involved in the legendary Bash the Rich marches on wealthier areas of England such as Kensington, Henley-on-Thames & Hampstead. He was also interviewed by Jonathan Ross, view here
TERESA HAYTER Acclaimed authour and activist on on migration and anti-racism issues. She has been active in the Campaign to Close Campsfield since the immigration prison was opened, near Oxford, in 1993. She is one of the authors of the No One Is Illegal manifesto. Before that, she was active in anti-racist and other workers campaigns. She has written seven books, including Aid as Imperialism, The Creation of World Poverty and Open Borders: The case Against Immigration Controls
JUDITH ORR Author of Sexism & The System - A Rebel's Guide to Women's Liberation
MALCOLM HOPKINS Our man from Housmans, London Town's oldest radical bookshop who boast the largest range of radical newsletters, newspapers and mags of any shop in Brtain! He also does talks on situationism, dada, and surrealism - top bloke!
Cllr JOHN TANNER Lefty Labour Councillor, supports good causes like the Palestinians and anti-fascism - top bloke!
DAVID RENTON Independent writer & historian. Written extensively on the history of anti-fascism including When We Touched the Sky a history of the Anti-Nazi League & Red Shirts & Black (Published by Ruskin College Library) the story of how the facist Blackshirts were driven out of Oxford in the 1930s.
ANDREW BURGIN Radical seller/collektor of books, badges, posters, pamphlets & other emphemera. As an officer for the Stop the War Coalition he has worked particularly closely with the Military Families against the War campaign. He has also been linked to the Public Reading Rooms in London . . .
CIARAN WALSH IWW/Wobblie Member involved in Traveller education. 'The IWW is a union unlike any other. It is a grassroots, democratic and militant union that seeks to organise ALL workers in ALL industries in ALL countries' ... Sounds like a good idea!
PETER DWYER has done many silly and good things including working with NGOs and the labour movement in South Africa and speaking at World Social Forums in Rio, Mali and Kenya. During the daytime he teaches radical economics at Ruskin College

STEVE MILLS Bristol Radical History Group, anarchist & allotment holder, Steve is also an elected Branch Chair of Bristol UNISON, representing in local government. He supports a member lead branch, and has been involved in running strikes, disputes and demos. Actively involved in his community, he is Chair of the Avon and Bristol law centre, which is still a collective & gives free legal advice and representation to those who cannot afford it; this includes employment, discrimination, and immigration. He is also 'a happy hammer, but detests what capitalism is doing to our beautiful game'.
SHEILA COHEN (To be confirmed) Author of Ramparts of Resistance - Why Workers Lost their Power & How to Get it Back, trade unionist, labour educator and a national organiser for the National Shop Stewards Network
GUY DEBORD Sadly Monsieur Debord can't make this festival, but we have received a copy of The Society of the Spectacle - The Movie that will receive a free screening and Ruskin College premier during the course of the bookfair
LUCY PARSONS once described by the Chicago police as 'more dangerous than a thousand rioters', Parsons died in 1942, she will be brought back to life for one day during the bookfair with a public reading of her infamous address To Tramps