The Difficulty with Alternatives

Introduction -

    Criticising the existing systems seems pretty easy.  Lots of people do it.  Why is it so difficult, in comparison, to promote alternatives?  Whether the topic is the military, the nuclear family, the market or the prison system, there is little attention to alternatives compared to criticism of the current system.  For example, Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman (1979) in their classic book The Political Economy of Human Rights document US government sponsorship of regressive regimes.  But they do not discuss how to promote change in these policies......

Peace, Action and Consequences

Introduction -

    We all know that the world is full of problems.  Some of us, when we made aware of them through television, books or newspaper, feel a strong desire to 'do something.'  The question is, what should we do?  What can we do that would be useful or effective?  There are no self-evident answers to this question.  One might decide that human rights violations in Colombia are a travesty of justice and so join Amnesty International, bit this is not the only response available, nor is it the only valid one.  The way in which we think about global issues, resistance and action, often makes us ignore the complexities of the web of cause and effect that is global society.  The aim here is to rethink this problem of what we should do, by examining the various responses and levels of action, their consequences and the relationship between.  A theory of action for peace - in particular positive peace - encompasses both activities of state leaders in political maneuvering and decision-making and the actions undertaken by people in their eveyday lives.

Corruption in The Truth Teller and Last Drinks

Introduction -

    In this article we look at two novels about Queensland Fitzgerald Inquiry, Margaret Simon's The Truth Teller (1996) and Andrew McGahan's Last Drinks (2000), and analyse the manner in which they illuminate that phenomenon.  The Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption was a watershed event for Queensland and presumably has lasting lessons for Australian politics and society.  While journalists and academics have written about the Inquiry, we assume that the perspective provided by fictional accounts can provide additional dimensions to our understanding of important social and political issues, especially moral ones (e.g., Adamson, 1998).  It can particularise, it can show rather than tell, and it can allow the reader to experience rather than simply read about those issues.  The Truth Teller and Last Drinks tell us much about the construction of corruption and its underpinnings, supplementing formulations by academic and journalistic texts.  Our central argument is that these novels broaden our cultural contexts that facilitate and, indeed, encourage corruption of various forms.

Tampering with the World Conference Against Racism

Introduction -

    Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda.  Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity.  Racism can, will and must be defeated. - UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, 2001.

    We just live racism everyday.  It's like getting up, washing your face and having a cup of tea. - An indigenous woman to HREOC during WCAR consultations 2001 (quoted by Commissioner Pru Goward, 2002)

    The United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Intolerance, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) was held in Durban, South Africa from late August to early September 2001.  It was the first global opportunity to discuss broad racism issues at a special United Nations (UN) forum, as the previous UN efforts had focus exclusively on ending apartheid in South Africa.  Hence the significance of the location of the conference and the great desire on the part of host government South Africa for WCAR to yield tangible results.

Tampa, Terrorism & Temptation : The Howard Government and the Misuse of 'Mandate'

Introduction -

    Australian Prime Ministers are often remembered for a single word or phase that encapsulates, rightly or wrongly, favourably or pejoratively, the general theme of their administration.  Where Robert Menzies addressed the 'forgotten people', Harold Holt claimed Australia was all the way for LBJ'.  While Malcom Fraser warned that 'life wasn't meant to be easy', Bob Hawke strove for 'consensus'.  While it is perhaps imprudent to claim a definitive phase to identify the current Prime Ministership, it is likely John Howard will be remembered, above all else, for his liberal use of the term 'mandate'.

    The purpose of this article is to review the events immediately before and after the Australian general election of 10 November 2001 at which the Liberal National Coalition (LNP), under John Howard, was returned against earlier expectations.  This paper posits four arguments. First,...

Australia Should Abolish the Detention of Asylum Seekers

Introduction -

    In an ideal world people would be as free as capital to move in and out of countries without restrictions.  Australia incarcerates individuals who seek sanctuary from genocide, slavery, torture and intractable poverty when they arrive on our shores without valid entry visas.  The paradox is that Australian governments consistently claim Australia to be aliberal democracy, which is committed to humanitarianism and the protection of freedom.  This perception of the Australian State is not shared by many in need of asylum.  Ruddock, the minister in charge of migration matters, said to the Young Liberals Conference in Melbourne in January 2002:

        In the main, people who have sought to come to Australia and make asylum claims do not come from a situation of persecution....They may not be able to go back to their country of origin but they are making a lifestyle choice (cited in Crossweller and Saunders,2002, p.2)

Valorising the Resistance : National Identity and Collective Memory in East Timor's Constitution

Introduction -

    In moments of national liberation or state transitions, new narratives and symbols national identity will be negotiated and articulated.  Inboth a formal legal, and broader symbolic sense, a national constitution provides an opportunity to enshrine rights, values and identities that were abused or suppressed in the past.  In this sense, the founding document of a new state may represent an important 'official' contribution to the development of an independent political culture.  Like its South African counterpart, the new East Timorese constitution enshrines a range of substantive values that move beyond a narrow, formalist focus on governmental powers and limits.  Some of these sections deal explicitly with issues of national 'personality' and cultural heritage.  This article examines these founding conceptions of national identity, memory and history embedded in the new East Timorese constitution.

Excluding Undesirables from the Local Community

Introduction -

    Globalisation and the associated decline of political support for centralised welfare state had led to renewed interest in local community provision of welfare services and programs (Rodger 2000, pp. 1-8.).  For example, the Howard Liberal Government has proposed a 'social coalition' of government, business and community groups in order to tackle more effectively social problems such as unemployment and drugs abuse (Howard, 1999).  This concept is explicitly reflected in the final report of Reference Group on Welfare Reform.  The Report recommends the strengthening of local communities in order to increase opportunities for the social and economic participation of disadvantaged people (McClure, 2000).

Bonfire of the Literacies? The Internet and Challenges to Literacy

Introduction -

    Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory and mother of the muses, would weep at the disrespect granted to history in the informatic age.  Such a denial of the past isolates literacy issues away from a recognition of the compromises and declines in funding for the humanities specifically, and the Australian education system more generally.  The politicking over literacy lacks depth and context, displaying little grasp of how information is created. stored, accessed, applied and circulated through a culture.  For most of its (elitist) history, the humanities-based liberal arts degree was the basis of citizenship, a conjuring space for critical thinking about significant issues such as truth, democracy, politics, faith and justice.  That these ideas and attributes are now framed as non-vocational and generalist, and difficult to tick and measure on a work based generic skill sheet, is a chilling indictment of our time and place.