DannyB

Global Supply Chains

We should take liberties with Raymond Williams book Keywords. It was never meant to be definitive, a list of all possibilities. It was a methodology. How to take a word and look at the social relations which help to form and define it and how meaning changes over time. According to The Shorter Oxford EnglishContinue reading “Global Supply Chains”

It needs a driver

Workers are hidden, out of sight, to be kicked, spat at, abused, ill-treated, badly paid, forced to work in dangerous conditions, made a scapegoat for the ill-will and corruption of politicians. Workers are to be despised, shouted at with racist slogans from the mouths of money drenched riff raff. Workers are to be blamed whenContinue reading “It needs a driver”

Riots, Rebellion and Machine Breaking

It’s widely believed that the Captain Swing riots started in Kent in August 1830 in Lower Hardres a parish and village just south of Canterbury. There had been widespread agrarian rebellion in East Anglia in 1816 and 1822. There were incidents of rick burning and machine breaking throughout the period. Bad harvests made the situationContinue reading “Riots, Rebellion and Machine Breaking”

Radical St Pancras Walk – Resources

The walk started at the British Library. Not the Thatcher-ite edifice some imagine – she cut the budget so it was never completed to the original design. The British Library was built on land which was once the railway yards of St Pancras station. Those yards were created by demolishing densely packed slums. An estimatedContinue reading “Radical St Pancras Walk – Resources”

Seascapes

The beach was deserted. The sea scapes and the sky scapes and the sense of being alone were ideal. A perfect time and place to plan a revolution. The container ship Hong Kong Express sailing from Antwerp to Southampton. The coast of France. Earlier I met some French swimmers in the harbour who are trainingContinue reading “Seascapes”

Emporium Temporay Sign

I went to the open studios as part of the Folkestone Triennial. It was great fun with interesting and entertaining people. Had a superb slice of lemon drizzle cake (left over from a private view but one must remember the relationship between ‘beggars’ and ‘choosers’). Listened to people explain their work and looked at drawings,Continue reading “Emporium Temporay Sign”

St Pancras – Labour vs Capital

At Kings Cross station militant suffragettes handed out leaflets to the crowds of football fans arriving in London for the 1908 FA Cup Final. There were sharp words at times. Local working class women joined in and said to the men that they should listen to the Suffragettes. ‘They’re the only ones who talk sense’.Continue reading “St Pancras – Labour vs Capital”

Radical St Pancras – Part 2

Friedrich Engels lived in 122 Regents Park Road from 1870 to 1895. Jenny Marx, the wife of Karl, had helped him house hunting. Jenny and Karl were frequent visitors, as were many members of the European revolutionary socialist movement. Wilhelm Liebknecht (‘Library’ as he was nick named by the Marx children), August Bebel, Karl Kautsky,Continue reading “Radical St Pancras – Part 2”

Abstraction, distraction

A different walk for a change of scene. I like all the abstraction and colour that can be found and how it changes with the light and tides. But this abstraction was in fact a distraction for things I should be getting on with. Still, it was pleasant to be absorbed in what felt likeContinue reading “Abstraction, distraction”

A Universe of Stone

We were in Norwich with plans. None of which involved the history of the city with it’s medieval churches and history of banking and insurance. Those must wait for other days. But we had to go into the town, and in the space of an hour managed to see a great deal. The city needsContinue reading “A Universe of Stone”