Global Resiliencies: Activist Zines from 2010 to 2022 Reading List

Global Resiliencies is a project centred on activist zines produced between 2010 and 2022. It asks how grassroots publications can reflect and shape political movements and collective action across different geopolitical contexts around the globe. At its core, this project seeks to explore how zines—those self-published, often ephemeral documents of resistance—offer unique insights into how people organise, build communities, and foster solidarity across borders.

Rather than a conventional, static exhibition, Global Resiliencies unfolds at the Stuart Hall Library as a living, evolving showcase. Through rotating the zines and making space for new contributions as they arrive, this approach emphasises a continuous process of gathering, sharing and reflecting on activist voices and materials. This participatory format invites viewers to return, engage with the new additions, and reflect on how political and social movements evolve.

Global Resiliencies proposes a double exercise of looking back, and looking forward into the future—creating strategies to ensure that these materials can continue to inspire new forms of resistance, new solidarities, and new ways of understanding our worlds. The Stuart Hall Library reaffirms the potential of self-publishing as a tool for social transformation and building collective memory, proposing an evolving archive of resilience; one that lives and expands alongside the movements it documents.

The following resources is an evolving list of activist and protest zines that will grow alongside the exhibition.

Artistic organising

The zines included on this wall focus on the various forms of artistic organising, making use of exhibitions, film, video games, and the zine itself to advocate for different movements.

A space of dissent by Rachael House & you (ZIN SPA)
Siu2 la3 ba1 #3: Are You Game? by Anonymous (ZIN SIU[3])
The Events Annual 2015-2016 by Shades of Noir (ZIN SHA)
Bam Bam!: Brixton Calling! by Barby Asante (ZIN BAM)
Voting is not harm reduction: an indigenous perspective by Indigenous Action (ZIN VOT)
Partisan by Misha Maltsev (ZIN PAR)
The Suffragette as Militant Artist (ZIN SUF)
Redo Pakistan: Declaration of war against the present time (ZIN RED)
Weirdspace: episode 220419 by Shi Blank (ZIN WEI)
Zines, scenes, squats, anti-racism, gender everything and the kitchen table: queer culinary community conservations in the 2000s by Raju Rage and Parastou (ZIN DUH[1])
Motherlands by Royanne Bushell (ZIN MOT)
Nip it zine: womxn empowerment, health, safety, creativity by Gabriella Gasaprini (ZIN NIP)
Decolonising the Arts Curriculum: Perspectives on Higher Education collated and curated by Hansika Jethnani, Lucy Panesar and Rahul Patel (ZIN DEC[1])
I’m not waiting. Doin’ it yrself, now. Challenging constructions of feminist activism in women’s DIY music communities by Melanie Maddison (ZIN IMN)

Personal responses and language

Featured on this wall are zines related to the exploration of language and media in movements and moments of resistance, as well as those that take on a more personal and intimate approach to protesting.

The #FreeBresha zine by pink brains (ZIN FRE)
Sepa(race)tion by Nur Alina (ZIN SEP)
Extrajudicial Killing by Adam Gallagher (ZIN EXT)
Grassroots Media zine #1 (ZIN GRA[1])
Grassroots Media zine #2 (ZIN GRA[2])
Samizdat: I write it myself, edit it myself, censor it myself, publish it myself, distribute it myself, and spend jail time for it myself – Vladimir Bukovsky by Ng Sioieng (ZIN SAM)
Trump reminds me of my rape by Ifer Moore; illustrations by K.V. Natan (ZIN TRU)
BAME Lib Zine: Issue #02; Tips & Tools by iniva (ZIN BAM[2])
Aiyoh, Wat Lah…: A fan compilation of nominees from Malaysia’s most interesting awards ceremony (2012 – 2015) (ZIN AIY)
Inform/Transform by Mimi Onuoha and Zara Rahman (ZIN INF)
Fear Brown Queers: Returning and de-centering the white gaze: an on-going visual essay by Jacob V. Joyce (ZIN FEA)
Pajuba: the language of Brazilian travestis by Eloisa Aquino (ZIN PAJ)
Pait ii em phi, pait ii em ki: Look at what they have, look at what you have by Synchar Pde (ZIN PAI)
Remembering Olive & the radical history of Brixton by Remembering Olive Collective (ZIN ROC)
Muzak to my ears: canned music & class struggle: public space and muzak as policing (ZIN MUZ)

Civil rights movements and protests

These zines respond directly to various large-scale social and political movements across the globe. These zines include instructional zines on how to organise, protect yourself, and also to advocate.

Hong Kong Way by Pop & Zebra (ZIN HON)
Walls Palestine by Josh Macphee (ZIN WAL)
Between the Borders (ZIN BET)
Bell invites by Richard Bell (ZIN BEL)
Race Revolt Issue 5 by Humaira Saeed (ZIN RAC[5])
The Bradical: Issue #2 – British Values (ZIN BRA)
Movement Power: A Toolkit for Building People Power in a Time of Crisis by Tipping Point (ZIN MOV)
The experiment of West Kurdistan (ZIN REA)
Through a Riot Shield: the 1985 Brixton Riot by Past Tense (ZIN PAS)
A Thin Booklet by 4res (ZIN THI)
Siu2 La3 Ba1 by Anonymous (ZIN SIU[1])
Siu2 La3 Ba1 #2 by Anonymous (ZIN SIU[2])
A-Z: No Borders by UK No Borders Network (ZIN AZN)
In the Shadow of the S.P.G: Racist policing, resistance, and black power in 1970s Brixton by Tim Barker (ZIN BAR)
The 48% by Jen Kavanagh (ZIN KAV)
The Water Lily Killings: Dhaka 2013 by The Brethren of Black Lotus (ZIN BRE)
Working Class Queers: the queer working class zine project by Charlotte Richardson Andrews (ZIN WOR)
Mainshill: Stories from the woods (ZIN MAI)
The Journey: a story of torture, persecution and survival by Freedom from Torture (ZIN JOU)
Kiahan: a tale of migration by Calais Migrant Solidarity (ZIN KIA)

Global Resiliencies: Activist Zines from 2010 to 2022 Reading List

1 October 2024

Notes on Home: Resources

Artistic organising

Personal responses and language

Civil rights movements and protests

Further Reading