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Celebrations and
Critiques of Contemporary Journalism Rodney Tiffen
A new book presents a seemingly endless
and always depressing catalogue of irresponsible journalism.
Another explains why judgements of political newsworthiness
derive, at least partially, from journalists’ sense
of where the centre of gravity of power lies. Meanwhile,
in the new Newseum, the exhibit about News Limited is sponsored
by News Limited. So much for the critical role of the fourth
estate …
Securing Australia’s
Maritime Domain Lee Cordner
With its endless coastline and vast
Exclusive Economic Zone, Australia has one of the largest
maritime security challenges in the world. Regulation and
enforcement of jurisdiction over this vast domain will require
innovative solutions, particularly given Australia’s
relatively small population and small maritime sector workforce.
Some have suggested a coastguard, but other ideas might get
us further …
Summa Sexologica Graham
Willett
It is hard to imagine that anyone
anywhere in the West might seriously doubt that our erotic
and intimate lives have been utterly transformed in the past
half century. Who in 1945 imagined a female prime minister,
same-sex marriage, public discussions of abortion and contraception?
What is often disputed, though, is whether these changes
have been for the better …
Emissions Trading: ‘Grip
on Reality’ or Just ‘Trust in Numbers’? Stephen
Healy and Declan Kuch
Emissions trading has emerged as the
key to reducing carbon emissions by putting a price on carbon.
Kevin Rudd supports the idea; even John Howard seemed to
come round to it before the election of 2007. There may be
contention over the start date and the structure of the scheme,
but all round there seems to be agreement that carbon mitigation
is primarily a matter of economics and technology. Is that
really all there is to it?
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The American Alliance in
Australian Foreign Policy Dennis Phillips (Jul
2008)
The role of the American alliance has long
been so pivotal that any serious criticism of it is viewed
as mischievous, even potentially dangerous. Critics are usually
dismissed as either naïve or malevolent. It is almost as if
the whole national security edifice could collapse if anyone dares
chip away at the foundation stone. The time has come to get out
a chisel or two …
The Idea of the ‘Bad
Girl’ Dorothy Bottrell (Jul
2008)
Girls now have the advantages of education
and career paths, and are expected to be present in political and
public worlds. Yet when it comes to images of young women in the
media, one seems only to see the video clip ‘ho’, the
mincing, pink Chanel-suit wearing princess, and the vicious ‘mean
girl’. What’s going on?
The Henson Affair: Conflicting
Injustices? Brian Martin (Jul 2008)
The censorship artist Bill Henson’s
photographs involved two conflicting injustices, from the points
of view of the contending parties. For opponents of child sexual
abuse, the key injustice was abuse of children; for Henson’s
defenders, the key issue was artistic freedom from censorship.
Powerful perpetrators of injustice use identifiable tactics to
reduce public outrage in conflicts—can we see these tactics
in the Henson case?
The Art of Bill Henson
and the Welfare of Children kylie valentine (Jun
2008)
An exhibition of Australian artist Bill
Henson’s photographs, including some works depicting nude
children, has provoked a debate between adults over the values
that adults should hold in protecting children on one hand and
in viewing art on the other. Children and young people themselves
have been almost entirely absent. What might change if they were
able to participate fully in discussions about sexuality, choice,
and representation?
Selective Hero Worship in
the War on Terror Tony Smith (Jun
2008)
In the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September
2001, fundamentalist preachers blamed pro-choice feminists for
causing God to withdraw his protection. Conservatives joined the
chorus: feminists had made American males and the military weak
and their multicultural attitudes had allowed the infiltration
of Muslim extremists. The response to the attacks would require
restoration of traditional family values. Now feminists are fighting
back …
Still Feeling for the Pulse
of Time Robert Hassan (Jun 2008)
We all have a sense that the pace of life
is increasing, and that this is not an unalloyed good. All around
us, people are crumbling under the pressure of ‘multitasking’;
some die young, from stress, especially if they have little control
over how their time is spent. Science can measure these
effects of time acceleration, but can it explain them?
Philosophers and social theorists may have a role to play, too,
in helping us understand the time of our lives …
The Right Hand of God and
the Left Hand of God Marion Maddox (May
2008)
Does separation of church and state preclude
clergy’s political activism? And if clergy, what about religiously-active
lay people who are also closely identified with their church? And
what level of political involvement does the principle
of separation constrain—organising a demonstration? Marching
in a demonstration? Distributing leaflets announcing a demonstration?
Praying for the participants in a demonstration? Australia has
an ad hoc approach to such questions—not like the United
States.
Comparing Labor in the
United States and Australia Frank Bongiorno (May
2008)
America has no labour party. Why? Many have
tried to explain: racism, the early achievement of manhood suffrage,
and political structures such as federalism and the roles of the
president and the courts have all been cited as the cause of this
unusual characteristic of the American polity. None stands up,
and comparison with Australia shows why.
Taxation, Reform and Politics Julie
Smith (May 2008)
With the first Rudd Labor Government’s
budget, an economically risky election commitment to major personal
income tax cuts amidst a booming economy, and a 2020 Summit-related
promise of ‘root and branch’ tax reform including federal
finances, 2008 promises to be another taxing year for Australian
governments.
2020 Summit: Meetings in
the Foothills Lyn Carson (Apr 2008)
The 2020 Summit was primarily a gathering
of experts. What might it have looked like if participants had
been randomly selected from the Australian population, to create
a truly representative ‘mini-public’? A more diverse
group, certainly, and very likely wilder ideas and greater community
confidence in the output …
Industrial Relations Regime
Change in Britain and Australia Rae Cooper (Apr
2008)
For many observers, Margaret Thatcher’s
industrial relations policy was the apotheosis of state anti-unionism.
So why did the British labour movement, apparently so well-organised
and robust, succumb so quickly and comprehensively to the efforts
of Thatcher and her successors? And how might solving this puzzle
help us to understand the past—and think about the future—of
industrial relations and unionism in Australia?
What Happened to South Africa’s
Transformation? Eric Louw (Apr
2008)
In April 1994 Nelson Mandela, as leader
of the African National Congress, became South Africa’s first
black president. Along with the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mandela’s
inauguration was widely hailed as a defining moment of the 20th
century. Yet today, most black South Africans remain poor—and
are becoming restive, as they wonder when the ANC’s promise
of ‘a better life’ will happen. To understand why their
lives haven’t improved, we need to understand Mbeki’s
rise to power.
Neoliberalism and Indigenous
Affairs Mark Moran (Apr 2008)
Residents of remote Indigenous settlements
experience living standards and institutional arrangements that
resemble those in less developed countries in many ways. Many policies
to which these communities are subject also resemble those carried
out to aid ‘development’ internationally. A new book
about neoliberalism in international development sheds much light,
then, on contemporary developments in Indigenous policy.
Relationships of Ownership,
They Whisper in the Wings … Stewart Clegg (Mar
2008)
Business schools are in crisis. They are
deeply implicated in the worst excesses of contemporary approaches
to business; they are insecure about ethics, and they often lack
professional purpose. They never achieved their early aim of a
professional vocation and, when the world of the organisation man
slowly crumbled in the 1980s, what was left was an ethos of managerialism
premised on measurement. Is there a way forward?
Labor’s
New Upper Class Welfare—The First Home Savers Account Ben
Spies Butcher and Adam Stebbing (Mar
2008)
Imagine a new Labor Government, fresh from
winning an historic election on the basis of defending collective
bargaining. It identifies the core concerns of working families—job
security, petrol prices, grocery prices, and housing affordability.
Then it announces a new welfare payment where those earning over
$180,000 per year will receive twice as much as those on average
weekly earnings. How did we come to this pass?
Suspicious Death: The Thankless
Role of the Medical Examiner Tess Crawley (Mar
2008)
What makes certain deaths ‘suspicious’ and
how are decisions made about the circumstances leading to those
deaths? It is the typically thankless job of medical examiners
to answer these questions. They can tell us the how, the where
and the when. But the ‘why now’ for those unfortunate
enough to come under the jurisdiction of medical examiners tends
to remain part of the Great Mystery.
Rudd’s Apology: The
Letter, the Spirit, and the Future Tony Smith (Mar
2008)
Australia’s Indigenous peoples are
not sticklers for the letter of the law. They have always emphasised
the spirit that lies behind their customs and traditions. They
have found it difficult to deal with the English invaders who have
exploited the distinction between written, black letter law and
oral, spiritual lore. The Prime Minister’s apology to Australia’s
Indigenous peoples had both letter and spirit. But will it stimulate
a positive period in race relations?
Election 2007:
Did the Union Campaign Succeed? Ben Spies-Butcher and Shaun
Wilson (Feb 2008)
The 2007 election was only the sixth bringing
a change of government since World War Two. It was also only the
second time in Australian history that a prime minister lost his
own seat. Interestingly, on both occasions the incumbent government
was challenging the pillars of Australia’s industrial relations
system. So did Workchoices cause John Howard’s downfall?
The Critical Imperative in
Religion Rachael Kohn (Feb 2008)
The open critique, dialogue and reworking
of a tradition, essential to the relevance of Judaism and Christianity
to the modern world, awaits its day in Islam. Even the establishment
of government-funded Islamic studies centres in Australian universities
is no guarantee that this area of study will be free from the apologetic
stocks in trade of Christian divinity schools. Perhaps the three ‘religions
of the book’ don’t have quite so much in common …
Playing Golf? Finding Better
Paths to Pay Equality Leanne Cutcher (Feb
2008)
Tracy earned $US200,000 in 1999, yet she
is a victim of pay inequity. That might seem implausible, even
offensive. But consider the fact that her colleague Roger, who
had identical qualifications and equivalent industry experience,
earned $US600,000 in the same year. Why did Roger earn three times
more than Tracy?
Pushing Drugs: Global Profits
and Local Markets in the Pharmaceutical Industry David Neil (Feb
2008)
Drug companies expend huge sums finding
dubious new diseases for the wealthy, in order to sell more product.
Meanwhile, what is probably the worst plague in human history ravages
entire countries virtually unchecked because a $40 per month treatment
regimen is beyond the reach of most victims. It seems clear that
medical science and money don’t mix well …
Think Tanks and Public Policy Damien
Cahill (Feb 2008)
Think tanks are an established feature of
the Australian political landscape. Their influence was evident
in some key debates during Australia’s recent federal election.
So what kinds of organisations are they? Some scholars are confident
that think tanks have emerged in liberal societies as an efficient
way to present a menu of independently devised policy options to
busy ministers and bureaucrats. Others are not so sure ...
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