The People’s Plan for the Royal Docks
Jade Spencer remembers an imagined alternative to the capitalist dystopia which now comprises much of London’s historic docks.
Kongo’s Antonian Queen
Joseph Callow writes on a Kongolese icon who declared herself the embodiment of a Christian saint and started a movement against early European colonialism.
The Suburbs of Hell: 500 years of polluted air in London
In December, air pollution was cited as a factor in the death of 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah. Tom Banbury examines the history of the capital’s smog.
The first anti-vaxxers
Jo Nayler discusses the introduction of smallpox variolation to Britain in the 1700s, the switch to vaccination, and the protests staged against both.
Street names and statues: How to mark a legacy
Jaco Prinsloo considers the contested legacies of major figures of South Africa’s history, and what they tell us about the complicated politics of memory.
Squatting the City
Danny Magill looks back on the rise and fall of London’s squatting movement in the 1970s, and what it tells us about the power of collective action in the face of housing crisis today.
Remembering Middlesbrough’s race riots
George Walker looks back on the four nights of racial violence that took place in Middlesbrough in 1961, and asks how that history can help us challenge rising tensions today.
The highs and lows of the Beveridge Report
Chris Thomas looks at the shortcomings of the 1948 Beveridge Report, and explains what they tells us about the future of the welfare state.
Colonial hunger
Joseph Manock explains the intentional, structural causes behind a type of tragedy often believed unavoidable.
Cities of equality: the material feminists
Natálie Zehnalová considers the continuing importance of spatial feminism in challenging the imposition of unpaid domestic labour.
A return to normalcy? Extremist violence and the 1920 election
Ben Davies compares the political violence that took place around the 1920 US election with the run-up to this November.
Feminism under Mao
Tevy Kuch considers the relationship between Maoism and women’s liberation in China.
Searching for LGB women in Soho
Bex Dudley explores Soho as a space for the formation and demonstration of relationships between women.
Mainstreaming antifascism: the Anti-Nazi League in Britain
Jack Stewart remembers the widespread antifascist movements of 1970s Britain.
Learning history from below
Jack Mason writes on the importance of everyday perspectives for a meaningful historical tradition.
Colonialism and conflict in Biafra
Millie Lord considers the role of British colonialism in the triggering of deadly conflict.
The Contagious Diseases Acts: an early feminist cause
Eden James writes about a legal battle that galvanised the early feminist movement.
Exposing Leopold: the campaign for the Congo
Ruby Senker tells the story of the 20th century’s first international human rights movement.
Undocumented and Irish in the 80s
J. Stoltzfus compares the visa lotteries that supported Irish-Americans in the 1980s with the situation of undocumented migrants today.
Relearning Black Power
Owen Frost reframes the Black Power movement we’re mistaught in school.
The economics of a white empire
Zeena Starbuck explains how the policies meant to hold the British Empire together are reappearing in the conversations around Brexit.
