Boys’ Own Adventures of John Howard
Quadrant magazine, the self-described “leading general intellectual journal of ideas, literature, poetry and historical and political debate published in Australia” has published a book titled The Howard Era. The book is co-edited by Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle, University of Queensland […]
Destroy which joint?
I’ll take as my text today a contribution from Helen Razer to the discussion about the impact, effectiveness and value of Destroy the Joint. It’s provoked a lot of debate on Twitter and in the femosphere.
Invasion Day/Australia Day: Unity/Disunity
I think everyone of a certain age can remember a certain mantra from John Howard. Symbols, he intoned, are not important. “Symbolic Reconciliation” is not important, he couldn’t say Sorry. The Republic was just a symbol, of interest to “elites”. […]
White Ribbon Day
Marcus Campbell provides some good reading, and a good basis for reflection on White Ribbon Day at The Drum. In the piece, to my mind, this quote from sociologist Dr Michael Flood epitomises the challenge that faces us, and the […]
Julian Assange, Andrew Bolt: political celebrity and the ‘free speech’ of privilege
Julian Assange, a little late to the party, penned an op/ed for Fairfax last week defending Andrew Bolt’s ‘right to free speech’. It’s an odd piece of writing. Assange asserts, all John Stuart Mill-like, that: The best policy decisions result […]
At Home with Julia: didn’t fail to disappoint
The AGE must have thought At Home With Julia was a doco, because they had an item about it in the News section today. “Slight it certainly was, but not fundamentally unkind – to the Prime Minister at least.” Er, […]
London burning: Why here, why now? The sociology of civil disorder
Underlying all this is deep inequality, which creates the subcultures where setting the town alight can be perceived as a rational action. Addressing those causes would require a different form of society altogether, and a politics which would take us there.
Roundtable: post-election politics and what the broad left and progressive movements can do about it.
I have for some time meant to create an open thread for discussion about how the broad left and progressive movements can most effectively intervene in Australian political life after the election. However people’s thinking on that question would obviously […]
May Day, Paul Lucas, Australian Labor and class politics
In Queensland today, we celebrated Labour Day as a public holiday. In the wake of the privatisation imbroglio perpetrated by the Bligh government, expectations were that solidarity between Labor and labour wouldn’t be at the forefront of the Brisbane May […]
Tony Abbott's deepest, darkest fears
Here’s the bit from the 60 Minutes transcript: LIZ HAYES: Homosexuality? How do you feel about that? TONY ABBOTT: I’d probably I feel a bit threatened… LIZ HAYES: I’m not asking if it’s a personal choice of yours. TONY ABBOTT: […]
JJJ Hottest 100: Women free edition
As observed here: Only 10 songs on the hottest 100 list were made by a band who had any women in it, ever (if we include Massive Attack, who, technically, only ever had female guest vocalists); the highest of these […]