Ethical Matters:
A History of Protest and Public Space in England

Historian Katrina Navickas explores the radical history of the increasing restrictions against protest in England’s public spaces.

From the long history of contests over Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Cable Street and Kinder Scout, as well as sites in towns and rural areas across the country, Katrina reveals how protesters claimed these spaces as their own commons, resisting their continuing enclosure and exclusion by social and political elites. She investigates famous and less well-known demonstrations and protest marches, from early democracy, trade union movements and the Suffragettes to anti-fascist, Black rights and environmental campaigners in more recent times, offering positive as well as troubling lessons on how we protect the right to protest.

Katrina Navickas is Professor of History at the University of Hertfordshire. She is a historian of protest and social movements in Britain, with a focus on how protesters shaped space, place, and landscape She is the author of Protest and the Politics of Space and Place, 1789–1848 (2016) and Loyalism and Radicalism in Lancashire, 1798–1815 (2009).

Age Recommendation:

All ages. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Price:

*A £2 venue levy is applied to each ticket purchased. This levy helps to support us in covering the costs of keeping our grade II listed building running and our doors open.*

In advance: • Standard £10 • Living Support £6 • Student £7 • Member FREE     (+ £2 venue levy)
On the Door: • Standard £11 • Living Support £7 • Student £8 • Member FREE  (+ £2 venue levy)
Online: • Standard £7 • Member FREE   (+ £2 venue levy)

Access Information:

This event is in the Brockway Room, which is located on the ground floor. The talk will also be livestreamed.

All the ground-floor rooms are fully accessible by wheelchair. Main Hall (street access, step-free), Brockway Room (street access, step-free), Bertrand Russell Room (street access, shallow ramp), Cafe (street access, step-free). There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.