Political Backlash and the Failure of Leadership

Introduction -

    The Pauline Hanson phenomenon is generally considered an Australian manifestation of the political backlash against established political parties and processes in Western democracies in recent years. In the Australian case Hanson has gone beyond criticism of professional politics and politicians to focus on the issues of Aboriginal welfare and land rights and of (especially Asian) immigration as a threat to " Australian" jobs, claiming to speak on these issues for mainstream Australians. Two major explanations have been offered for Hanson's success - racism and economic anxiety among the electorate. In this article we argue that both racism and economic anxiety playa role, but that it is primarily a failure of leadership that has allowed this development in Australian politics.

Wild Men: looking back and lashing out

Introduction -

    "Wild" can be used to describe the responses of large numbers of men in Australia, as in comparable societies, to contemporary feminism where "wild" is used in both the colloquial sense of meaning to be angry and also in the more literal sense of "uncivilised". These wild responses represent what Faludi (1992) has referred to as "backlash" politics. Backlash can at times be a problematic concept in that it implies there is some natural or ideal progression towards a better society. Howeve4 "backlash" as a term is an appropriate description of these two types of masculinity politics. In both instances adherents to these politics look back with nostalgia upon earlier periods in history when men were "really" men. However, such men are not wistful in their nostalgia, rather they are looking back in anger and in so ....

The Backlash Against the United Nations

Introduction -

    The Howard Government has announced that Australia will resign from the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Owing to a bureaucratic mistake about a decade ago, Australia found that it had "resigned" from UNIDO and soon found a way of getting back into UNIDO with the minimum of publicity. The Howard Government's decision, by contrast, is a calculated decision to withdraw from a UN body.

Reform, Backlash and Social Balance

Introduction -

   The last half century has seen dramatic changes in the dominant political-economic ideologies and practices. The incomplete revolution associated with Keynesian economic policies, the welfare state and the 'mixed economy' has been reversed by a counter-revolution led by monetarists, economic rationalists' and other advocates of free market principles. It has been a powerful backlash, manifest in terms of the anti-policies of deregulation, privatisation, trade liberalisation, cutbacks in the public sector and the further commercialisation and commodification of social life. Yet a backlash against the backlash is possible to anticipate: its early signs are already evident. It is timely to ask in what direction it could and should take us.

Is Backlash only a Modern Social and Political Phenomenon?

Introduction -

    The Oxford Dictionary definition of backlash is 'excessive or violent reaction'. In current usage it refers to a sudden change in direction by a segment of society which is reflected in altered power structures within the society or nation. It mayor may not be accompanied by physical violence. A backlash is part of a spectrum of social adjustments where a build up of tension between strata of societies is suddenly released; it includes other fonns described as revolutions or wars. They all involve an effort to resolve conflict, however violent this may be, and return to a form of status quo where lines of authority are established and accepted.

D.I.Y or Die: Is there a young feminist backlash in Australia?

Introduction -

    In this paper I examine accounts of the backlash of young women in Australia against established 'second-wave' feminist practices. I focus on two recent feminist texts: The First Stone: Some Questions about Sex and Power (1995) by Helen Garner and DIY Feminism (1996) edited by Kathy Bail. I assess the claims of Garner and Bail in light of recent literature produced by young women and discover that assertions of a backlash of young women against the negativity and rigidity of older women's feminism are unfounded and misleading. I conclude that the persistent notion of the backlash has two serious consequences for the debate about the views of young feminists: firstly, it serves to homogenise and unify both young and older feminists, and secondly, it focuses attention on what is at best a dubious generational division.

The Backlash Caused by the Past

Introduction -

    Practically everyone is having difficulty accommodating much of what is happening around us in daily life. This is not to say that we have lost the ability to cope with changes, rather it is to say that many of the changes come before we are ready for them. When change is given a place in a logical sequence, or a convincing rationale before it begins, it is much easier to accept. Thus, the backlash is reduced. In this instance, I will provide a perspective based on two concepts from Ulrich Beck (1992;1994) called 'individualisation' and 'reflexive modernity'. Though one has a small focus and the other a large focus, in tandem they provide a useful tool for examining some of the backlashes taking place today.

Democracy, Transnational problems and the Boundary Questions: Challenge for China

Introduction -

    This is the transcript of an interview with David Held conducted by Baogang He in Cambridge, November, 1996.

Baogang He: You are one of the first to propose a cosmopolitan model of democracy. What kinds of personal experience led you to its development?
 

David Held: My interest in the nature and shape of democratic life started when I was a child. This is not to claim that I had a great academic interest in democracy when I was six or seven years old! Rather, it is to claim that my interest in democracy came from experiences of growing up in a household in which there was a clear - and to my young mind - unjustified imbalance in the distribution of power.

An Indian-Pakistani Joint U.N. Peacekeeping Brigade

Introduction -

    One of the best ways to help overcome the 50-year old tensions between India and Pakistan is for the two countries to work together on a mutually desirable project. There are historical precedents.

After World War II, the French economist and diplomat Jean Monnet felt that Europe could not afford another such war. He believed that some form of mutually beneficial economic cooperation might be the best way to end the century-old hostility between Germany and France. By examining various sectors, he found that free trade in coal and steel would bring quick and obvious mutual benefits. He wrote a paper with
estimates how much each participating country would save from such cooperation and sent it to many politicians, including

"Street Safety" A Threat

Introduction -

    Several months ago, in order to deal with hooliganism, the NSW State government proposed the Crimes Act (Street Safety) Amendment Act. This legislation will grant the N .S. W. police broad new powers to break up groups of three or more people in public and to demand their private details.