Register for Nijjor Manush's first reading group session.
To kick things off, we are talking about Housing campaigning.
Housing and exorbitant rents have become defining issues our time - casting a shadow over the lives of working class people, but also serving as a flashpoint of struggle and politicisation for the masses. In recent years one of Nijjor Manush's key campaigns has been the Save Brick Lane campaign and with it the issue of gentrification in the area.
For this session we will be exploring the centrality of Housing and housing campaigning in the development and defence of communities historically in the East End.
We will be looking back on how housing has been secured through the likes of the East End squatters' movement and earlier tenants organising, and how campaigning around housing can be bound up with broader political fights, such as the struggle against fascism.
This will be a 2-hour session, where we will be joined by Shabna Begum, CEO of Runnymede Trust, who will be discussing her book From Sylhet to Spitalfields: Bangladesh squatter movement in 1970s East London. We will then have discussions about the topic in smaller groups.
The full reading list and prompt questions will be sent to registrants, and will be available at nijjormanush.com.
We would like to make this reading group as accessible as possible and have therefore selected excerpts of books, articles and other formats to shape the discussion. You do not have to have read/watched all of the material to participate in discussions/attend.
We will be sharing:
- PDFs of the two excerpts from the books we have selected
- and some questions for you to think through to everyone who registers for the event.
Please note: We do not want costs to be a barrier to attendance for anyone. Please email us at nijjormanush@gmail.com if you would like to attend but cannot afford a ticket.