Celebrating the knowledge production of Aboriginal women: Jacquelyn Baker reviews the 20th anniversary edition of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s ‘Talkin’ up to the white woman’.

Celebrating the knowledge production of Aboriginal women: Jacquelyn Baker reviews the 20th anniversary edition of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s ‘Talkin’ up to the white woman’.

In our latest book review,    Jacquelyn Baker reviews the 20th anniversary edition of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism (University of Queensland Press).   By Jacquelyn Baker 2020 has already been dubbed a historic year. As the new year ticked over, record-breaking bushfires continued to burn throughout New […]
Angie Sassano reviews ‘Indigenous Self-Determination in Australia’, edited by Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse

Angie Sassano reviews ‘Indigenous Self-Determination in Australia’, edited by Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse

In our latest article, Deakin University PhD Candidate Angie Sassano reviews a new collection about the history of Indigenous self-determination edited by Laura Rademaker and Tim Rowse.   By Angie Sassano Despite the shift to self-determination in Indigenous policy making in 1973, Australia has faltered, with critics such as Megan Davis (2016) claiming self-determination has […]
Gwyn McClelland reviews Lesley Blume’s ‘Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World’

Gwyn McClelland reviews Lesley Blume’s ‘Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World’

Dr Gwyn McClelland’s review of Lesley Blume’s   Fallout describes how the US government sought to cover up the horrific effects of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Blume tells us the story of  journalist  John Hersey’s scoop in the New Yorker in August 1946, which signalled the beginning of a propaganda contest about the […]
The Anzac legend has blinded Australia to its war atrocities. It’s time for a reckoning.

The Anzac legend has blinded Australia to its war atrocities. It’s time for a reckoning.

  Martin Crotty, The University of Queensland and Carolyn Holbrook, Deakin University For years, Australians have faced a steady stream of investigative media reports about atrocities allegedly committed by the country’s most elite soldiers in Afghanistan. Yet, nothing could have prepared the nation for the breathtaking contents of the landmark report by Major General Paul […]
The media and Indigenous political aspirations: Michael Dillon reviews Amy Thomas, Andrew Jakubowicz & Heidi Norman’s ‘Does the media fail Aboriginal political aspirations?’

The media and Indigenous political aspirations: Michael Dillon reviews Amy Thomas, Andrew Jakubowicz & Heidi Norman’s ‘Does the media fail Aboriginal political aspirations?’

What role does the media play in perpetuating social and economic disadvantage among Indigenous peoples in Australia? Michael Dillon reviews   Amy Thomas, Andrew Jakubowicz & Heidi Norman’s survey of media reporting of key political moments, Does the media fail Aboriginal political aspirations? While Dillon agrees with the authors’ conclusions about the inadequacy of media coverage, […]
Effie Karageorgos reviews Peter Yule’s, ‘The Long Shadow: Australia’s Vietnam Veterans Since the War’

Effie Karageorgos reviews Peter Yule’s, ‘The Long Shadow: Australia’s Vietnam Veterans Since the War’

Australians’ involvement in overseas conflicts has been in the news again recently, with the release of the Brereton report into alleged soldier atrocities in Afghanistan. In our latest  article, Dr Effie Karageorgos reviews Peter Yule’s new book about the effect of war service on Vietnam veterans and their families. Yule shows how issues such as […]
Joanna Cruickshank interviews Kama Maclean about her new book, ‘British India, White Australia’

Joanna Cruickshank interviews Kama Maclean about her new book, ‘British India, White Australia’

Kama Maclean’s new book,   British India: White  Australia, examines the history of the relationship between the two nations. In this interview with Dr Joanna Cruickshank, Kama explains how the treatment of Indian students in Australia during the COVID pandemic bears some resemblance to the difficult experiences of earlier generations of Indians living in   Australia under […]
In Godwin We Trust: Debunk[er]ing the Hitler/Trump Analogy

In Godwin We Trust: Debunk[er]ing the Hitler/Trump Analogy

Academics have been busy in the last few   years   calling out ham-fisted analogies between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, and the contemporary United States and 1930s Germany. It’s easy to laugh at clumsy historical references, but harder to make informed   judgements about the   validity or otherwise of these references. In our latest article, Dr Mathew […]
After COVID-19: Reviews of ‘Upturn’ and ‘What Happens Next?’

After COVID-19: Reviews of ‘Upturn’ and ‘What Happens Next?’

The Austrian economic historian’s Walter Scheidel’s 2017 book, The Great Leveler, argues that gross inequality is the natural state of human affairs. This structure is only interrupted by events such as mass war, revolution, state failure and pandemic disease. Does COVID-19 present an opportunity to halt growing inequality and reset our economic and social order? These […]
Australian Soldier Atrocities in Afghanistan: Why We Should Not Be Surprised

Australian Soldier Atrocities in Afghanistan: Why We Should Not Be Surprised

By Dale Blair The allegations of atrocities committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan may be shocking, but they suggest continuity rather than rupture with our military past. In this article, Dr Dale Blair outlines Australia’s past involvement in war crimes, and the exalted status of Australia’s soldiers and official patronage that have obscured the […]
Echoes of Vietnam: Counterinsurgency, “warrior hero” culture, and war crimes in Afghanistan

Echoes of Vietnam: Counterinsurgency, “warrior hero” culture, and war crimes in Afghanistan

By Mia Martin Hobbs In our latest article, Dr Mia Martin Hobbs finds important parallels between war crimes committed by the US and Australia in the Vietnam War and those alleged to have been committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. These echoes, she argues, should cause our politicians to think carefully before sending fighting […]
Jon Piccini reviews Kieran Finnane, ‘Peace Crimes: Pine Gap, National Security and Dissent’ (UQP, 2020)

Jon Piccini reviews Kieran Finnane, ‘Peace Crimes: Pine Gap, National Security and Dissent’ (UQP, 2020)

In 1952 the Menzies government passed the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act, which banned entry to ‘prohibited area[s]’,  as part of its defence against the ‘red menace’. That act was barely used until 2016, when a group of Christian peace protesters entered the Pine Gap base near Alice Springs.    Jon Piccini reviews Kieran Finnane’s new […]