Shutting Down Fascism on the Streets

The riots of summer 2024 show that far-right ‘protests’ can quickly devolve into racist attacks, terrified communities, and burning hotels. The police are unable and unwilling to stop them.

But fascist street movements start small. By directly countering their marches, rallies, and events, we can prevent them from ever growing large. These counterprotests, however, are often heavily policed and can be unpredictable, even to people with experience of other protests.

A determined antifascist crowd can hold the line and withstand police attempts to push the fascists through. It takes courage, but it also requires an understanding of the police, the far-right, and how to effectively work with a crowd of strangers.

Drawing on case studies from the last few years, we will talk about what to expect at antifascist counterprotests, how to keep yourself and others safe – and how to stop the fascists from achieving their goals. There will be a practical element for those who want to take part – please wear sensible shoes!

Building Solidarity in a Disabling World

Wednesday 13th May, 7pm in the Backroom of The Bell

Our world is organized to enable some people to meet their needs and to disable other people.

Disabled people are often assumed to be a burden on the wider population. This is used to justify cuts to services and support.

This is not new, but the hostility directed at Disabled people is increasing. Disabled people are among the first targets of fascism. This was the case in Nazi Germany as it is in modern day Britain.

This session will look at some of the struggles, achievements and principles of the Disabled people’s movement which are often disappeared from history lessons as well as from wider activism.

Disabled people are not an optional extra.

Anti-fascist resistance must learn from, and build solidarity with, the insights and experiences of the Disabled people’s movement. We will discuss what needs to change and how it might be done.

Please let us know any access needs asap and we will do our best to address them.

Racism: How to spot It, how to combat it, how to have difficult conversations about it

People are in denial about what racism is, which means it’s hard to spot and even harder to deal with.

Racism permeates most things in our society, from the books we are taught from, to AI soap dispensers not being coded to recognise dark skin.

Because racists are also experts in deniability, we are not having the difficult conversations we should have.

In this session, we’ll talk about racism, anti-racist strategies and have some difficult conversations ourselves.

Transphobia: how did we get here and what can we do about it?

In the UK in 2026, trans people are in peril.

The role a minority of feminists have played in this state of affairs, by representing trans rights and existence as a threat to women and children, is by now well-known. Often less well understood, however, is the role played by the international Christian (far) right.

In this session we’ll discuss these twin histories of organised transphobia – Christian Right and ‘TERF’ – and how they have come to overlap in UK politics today. Following this, we’ll explore practical ways we can organise to stem the anti-trans tide.

Wednesday 29th April, 7pm in the backroom of The Bell

BATH SUPPORTS BODILY AUTONOMY FOR ALL

An update on Saturday and what it means for the planned counter demo next week

The annual anti-abortion picket on London Road changed their date!

Twenty years of the same date every year, and increasing public dislike made them try and sneak a demo past without anyone noticing.

But notice we did! And last minute, with no prior organisation, we had vast public support and pushed them out early.

Thank you to everyone who came along.

What this means for next week:

Hopefully there will be no anti-abortion demonstrators on London Road next week.

However, a few of us will still be there in case anyone shows up with cake to celebrate. Feel free to swing by!

The Media and How (Not) to Talk about the Far Right

The rise and mainstreaming of far-right politics is predominantly a top-down process, bolstering a racist agenda and diverting our attention away from structural crises (cost of living, climate change, institutional racism and other forms of oppression or the crumbling of our public service).

The media plays a crucial role in constructing far-right politics as both an alternative and a threat.

Without falling for simplistic narratives, this session will encourage us to think about how our life is mediated, if the media is necessary and how the media we currently have is not only unable to counter the far right, but fuels it.

The last part of the session will then cover what we can do about it – discussing how we, as antifascists, can use the media to our advantage.

Fighting the Far Right: Local Antifascist Resistance

Antifascist movements definitionally exist in response to fascist and far right threats. When these threats arise, it has historically been decentralised, informal and horizontally organised groups that form the spearhead of the antifascist movement.

With each new iteration of the far right, the antifascist movement in the UK often struggles to ensure the continuity of knowledge and experience from one generation of activists to the next.

The beginning of this year saw the demise of Bristol Patriots after a year of far right demonstration, counter protests, and police violence.

We invite you to meet 2 antifascist activists from Bristol – one with 20 years experience and one more recently involved – to discuss their personal experiences of opposing far-right street movements.

We’ll look at how a network of local activists, mainstream unions and protest groups, independent researchers, and local journalists worked together to dismantle Bristol Patriots. Finally, we’ll ask what lessons can be learned from Bristol in the ongoing national response to the rise of both fascist street movements and far-right political parties.

How the Mainstream Enables the Far Right

Mainstream politics tries to distance itself from the far right. But the far-right and mainstream politicians often share more than either would like to admit.

In the UK and beyond, centre-right and centre-left governments are becoming more and more authoritarian, cracking down on protest, marginalising racialised communities, and militarising borders.

This session explores what the far right looks like today, and how far-right ideas have become commonplace in the mainstream.