Exhibition launch: A Say in the End of the World

Drop in from 5pm to 7pm for a drinks reception celebrating the launch of our new exhibition A Say in the End of the World: Solidarity and Nuclear Defence in the Cold War.

Book a place to register your interest and receive reminders about the day or just drop in on the day!

About the exhibition:

Thoughtfully curated by guest Gareth Bryant (Ph.D. student, Open University), the exhibition explores networks of solidarity between groups campaigning on peace, nuclear weapons and national self-determination.

In the late 1950s, hundreds of thousands of people took part in demonstrations against Britain’s role in the nuclear arms race, sparking a movement that would continue until the present day. Over the decades, individuals from different classes, genders, races and religions would be united in their support or rejection of nuclear disarmament. At times of great political division, these alliances evolved to incorporate debates over industrial relations, social policy and British identity as a whole.

This exhibition brings together diverse stories to discover networks of solidarity between groups campaigning on peace, nuclear weapons and power, gender equality, industrial democracy and national self-determination.

The exhibition approaches this network primarily from the point of view of peace and anti-nuclear groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). However, it invites you to consider how the interests and goals of any group can interact and intersect with one or more others.

Space has also been given to the opponents of nuclear disarmament, such as Women for Families and Defence, hoping to foster a deeper understanding of the diversity of opinion that continues to characterise British society.

Curated by Gareth Bryant (PhD Student, Open University) with guests Kate Hudson (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), Charles Wright and Sam Perlo-Freeman (Campaign Against the Arms Trade), Lady Olga Maitland (Families for Defence), and Daniel Payne (Curator, LSE Library)