Islam, Nonviolence and National Transformation

Introduction -

    An historical approach to the relationship of Islam and nonviolence in the light of national transformation necessitates the "proper" understanding of the social form used for that purpose by Muslims throughout their history.

Political Science: To Kill or Not to Kill?

Introduction -

    Philosophy begins when someone asks a general question, and so does science. - Bertrand Russell

    The questions that a country puts are a measure of that country's political development.  Often the failure of that country is due to the fact that it does not put the right question to itself. - Jawaharlal Nehru

    Each reader is first asked to reflect upon the question: "Is a nonkilling society possible?"  If not, why not?  If yes, why?

Design Flaws of the Olympics

Introduction -

    The modern Olympics were to established with the highest ideals, including fostering international reconciliation.  Yet in practise the Olympics have become the plaything of powerful interest groups, especially governments and corporations.  So great is the divergence between rhetoric and reality that it makes sense to examine the assumptions underlying the design of the games.  Help in explaining the Olympic trajectory may be found by looking for 'design flaws', namely problematical assumptions inherent in the conception of the games.

Countering Environmental Crime: The Role of Environmental Regulators

Introduction -

   Criminologists in the United States have been reporting for some years that environmental crime is one of the fastest-growing types of crime in that country.  A likely reason for this is that US regulatory agencies, unlike their counterparts in Australia, take seriously the task of enforcing environmental law.  Not only is the US Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) the most enthusiastic enforcer of environmental law in the world today but the US economy has been performing better than any other, given the lie to the assertion that such rigorous enforcement inevitably leads to higher costs for producers and consequently, job losses.  Environmental law enforcement in the US is....

The World Indigenous Movement Shaping the 21 st Century

Introduction -

    Throughout the planet, development projects continue to have a major impact on the lives of three hundred million Indigenous people.  Usually this impact is destructive, devastating lands, territories, communities, and lifeways.  As globalisation proceeds, the encroachment on Indigenous peoples' lifestyles and territories increases in rate and extent commensurate with the exponential growth of economic expansion and resource consumption.  Throughout the world the laws ....

The Uses of Nostalgia: An Analysis of Don Bradman and Australian Cricket

Introduction -

    To many Australians, former cricketer Sir Donald Bradman has become an almost unchallenged national hero.  Prime Minister, John Howard, has effused of Bradman: "He is the greatest living Australian without any argument" (Media Watch 1998).  Leading cricket journalist Gideon Haigh (1998) tells us that there are 22 major roads bearing Bradman's name in our state capitals, and that many people favour him as the person to ignite the flame at the 2000 Olympics.  Bradman's Test batting average of 99.94 runs is identical to that of the ABC's postcode in our state capitals.  Australian vernacular even has as adjective for excellence in a sporting context: 'Bradmanesque'.  These social and geographical impacts indicate that Bradman holds a prominent position in the Australian collective memory.

Hate: Fascist Rhetoric in Contemporary France

Introduction -

    Dwarfed by housing estates decorated with black and white portraits of Baudelaire and Rimbaud, two men turn to see a cow wandering through post-riot debris.  Minutes earlier, a dj scratched a vinyl record of Edith Piaf singing" 'Non, je en regrette rien'.  Spiralling into the air, her dismembered voice echoed the general mood of bravado in a streetscape of burnt-out cars.  Here, these two scenes from the film La Haine (Hate, 1995) capture the essence of France today; torn between Romantic sensibilities, a vanished bucolicidyll and life lived in a society disfigured by unemployment and social tension.