http://www.australianreview.net/ Australian Review of Public Affairs -- Original research, commentary, and review. Published by the School of Economics and Political Science, The University of Sydney en-au (C) 2000-2006 School of Economics and Political Science, The University of Sydney S.Cheung@econ.usyd.edu.au (Stephen Cheung) S.Cheung@econ.usyd.edu.au (Stephen Cheung) http://www.australianreview.net/image/feed.gif http://www.australianreview.net/ 144 85 http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/03/clegg.html By Stewart Clegg. Socrates was, if Plato is to be believed, as much of an anti-careerist as one might find: the agora rather than the boardroom was his habitual place, or what one might call "the street". Moreover, in recent times, few university leaders have been prepared to take the hemlock rather than compromise themselves when a difficult and ethically challenging decision presented itself. So is there a case for Socrates in the Boardroom of our universities? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/03/phillips.html By Dennis Phillips. It is easy to sympathise with those who despair at the current state of global politics. Today the world system seems to be broken, unable to function effectively in many crisis situations. Nevertheless, there are some distinguished optimists out there, with concrete plans for change for the better. What are their plans and will they work? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/03/hill.html By Elizabeth Hill. The lives of knowledge economy professionals look pretty much the same, whether they live and work in New York, Sydney, London, New Delhi or Beijing. It"s a whirlpool of constantly intersecting activities in which they multi-task their way through every minute of the day, feeling ever pressed for time and on the move. Buffeted by streams of information coming via their BlackBerries and laptops, this elite live with only one eye on the here and now ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/02/grey.html By William Grey. Greek mythology gives us the goddess Gaia, who brought order out of chaos, and the tempestuous and destructive Medea. These figures provide powerful -- and opposing -- metaphors for understanding the history of life on earth. As ever, how we understand history shapes how we move forward, and as global temperatures continue to rise, some tough decisions are needed. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/02/sawer.html By Marian Sawer. The Liberal Party of Australia has eschewed quotas as "patronising" to women. The effects of this approach seem evident enough in the proportion of Liberal women in Australian parliaments: currently an average of 20 per cent, compared with 37 per cent on the Labor side. If the Liberal Party did more to assist the entry of more talented women, it might assist in the rebuilding of the party and its electoral appeal. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2010/02/brownlee.html By Patrick Brownlee. Australia' s last two prime ministers Paul Keating and John Howard, were tribal warriors, perhaps the last of their kind. Both are 1950s suburban Sydney boys of white Christian background, both were administered a healthy dose of work ethic by their small business parents, both had entered parliament by the mid-1970s. They do seem to have a lot in common ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/12/smith.html By Tony Smith. Along with the other summer sports of swimming and tennis, cricket dominates myth production and hero generation in Australia. And most cricket books reinforce the notion that beneath the commercial imperatives, the game remains in the "fair go" tradition that has coincided with Australian values. Can we read between the lines to find a richer -- and more realistic -- account of corporate cricket in the postmodern age? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/12/edwards.html By Jane Edwards. However much conservatives insist that marriage is divinely ordained, it is an institution profoundly moulded by secular events. The changing position of women, the nature of the labour market, educational and welfare policy, the state of the economy and other structural factors will continue to shape marriage into the future. It is the worst fear of conservatives and a fond hope of non-heterosexuals that gay marriage might also help re-shape heterosexual marriage. Both groups are likely to be disappointed ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/11/chappell.html By Louise Chappell. If Australia is to adopt a bill of rights, three elements need to be in place: an agreed model, public support and political support. The National Human Rights Consultation Committee recently submitted its report to the Attorney-General. The report clearly demonstrates that one element can be counted on: public support. The other two still seem to be some way off ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/11/gelber.html By Katharine Gelber. Freedom of speech is at the apex of the core freedoms considered to warrant protection in any mechanism designed to protect human rights. Yet developments in anti-terrorism laws have demonstrated the fragility of the protection of freedom of speech in Australia. Changes to sedition and censorship laws have turned sceptics into supporters of a bill of rights for this country. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/11/hill.html By Lisa Hill. Australia is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which stipulates that "every adult citizen shall have the right to vote without distinction and regardless of their circumstances". Yet Australia flouts this commitment by legally preventing prisoners from voting. Curiously, the same high standards for political participation do not apply to legislators themselves ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/11/thom.html By Graham Thom. Fleeing persecution is a fundamental human right. Despite the 1951 Refugee Convention explicitly stating that those arriving undocumented, or "illegally", should not be penalised for doing so, members of this group are increasingly being stripped of some of their basic human rights. Their treatment by successive Australian governments provides a compelling case for a human rights act. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/11/hogan1.html By Michael Hogan. The mainstream secularist argument has it that the more modern, economically developed and technological a society becomes, the more religion will fade away. Can the argument be turned on its head? As we advance into the 21st century, are formerly materialistic societies like Australia facing a religious revival of hand-clapping religious enthusiasm from populist movements like Sydney's Hillsong? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/10/bowe.html By William Bowe. The qualities or otherwise of democracy have been the subject of controversy since ancient Greece. In Australia, the meaning of the term has been one more battleground in the culture wars, over which the Howard Government continues to cast a long shadow. A new book from the Democratic Audit of Australia provides a systematic evaluation of Australian state and society in a single volume. What does it find? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/10/phillips.html By Dennis Phillips. Who could have predicted that eight years of George W. Bush's hapless foreign policy would produce a crisis of confidence among liberal theorists? Put another way, did George W. Bush and his neoconservative brains trust so discredit Wilsonian liberal internationalism that there is nothing useful left in the grand old idealism for which America's 28th president, Woodrow Wilson, is justly famous? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/10/mcleod.html By Julie McLeod. At school pick-ups, at homes, in cafes and at work, worried parents debate the merits of different schools, share insider knowledge and gossip about school reputations, cultivate strategies for getting into the "right" school for their child, and endlessly dissect or defend their decision. The new school market place is not just changing the topic of conversations; it is transforming middle-class family life. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/09/griffiths.html By Paul Griffiths. Since its first, confident dawn a hundred years ago, the conviction that psychology has finally won its long struggle to attain scientific maturity by embracing Darwinian principles has recurred several times. Significantly, women have often been in the front line of the struggle between evolutionary psychologists and their critics ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/09/mikler.html By John Mikler. Rather than pinning our hopes on global solutions, anyone concerned about mitigating climate change should be hoping that the few big emitters decide to act now, regardless of discussions at Copenhagen, and regardless of what other countries decide to do. Otherwise, the inevitable imperative of doing something will be thrust upon them, and us, in the near future anyway. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/08/rowse.html By Tim Rowse. It seems to many historians that Australia was an exception within the story of British colonisation in the extent to which the native presence here was denied, dismissed and, subsequently, degraded. And for many, terra nullius has become the doctrinal summation of Australia's exceptional, and distinctly shameful, history. Many, but not all: a new work uses the conceptual pair "civilization" and "savagery" to explain relations between the colonisers and colonised in Australia. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/07/brent.html By Peter Brent. Election reform is big business in the United States. Academics meet at conferences to deliver papers explaining what must be done, while individuals and organisations run blogs and proselytise in print and on the airways. Yet one suspects that the American public views electoral reform as they do health reform: a nice idea perhaps but in practice too much like those socialist European countries ... http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/07/jones.html By Stephen Jones. While Australia's federal and state leaders have been stuck discussing the introduction of the emissions trading scheme, some of our local governments have been trying to do something about the impact of human activity on global warming. But will climate change policies developed by city governments be worthwhile? Or will it be negated by the actions - or inactions - of the other levels of government. http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/06/oreilly.html By Brendan O'Reilly. OECD educational expenditure data for Australia have been at the centre of the debate about what happened to university funding during the Howard years. Ministers of Education on both sides of politics, as well as a sitting Prime Minister, have provided Parliament with clearly misleading interpretations of these statistics, including claims that they are flawed. Is there something wrong with OECD statistics? http://www.australianreview.net/digest/2009/06/atkins.html By Kim Atkins. Human destiny will be determined by how we respond to our mortality, not by technology or television or dieting, still less the caprices of gods or demons. Instead of looking to the stars for the meaning of life, we need to look much closer to home: to our spotty, ageing bodies and to our flawed and funny minds.