Reading lists

I've read some fascinating books recently, and have been remiss in writing for the blog. These have explained a good bit for me about Australian politics of historical interest, and with resonances to recent politics. Highly recommended, all three.

Judith Brett. Australian liberals and the moral middle class: from Alfred Deakin to John Howard. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ Press, 2003.

The Liberal Party (and its anti-labor precedents) and the moral concepts underlying its support. Initially a party for all Australians (unlike the labour movement which clearly identified its own class self interest), protestant and dutiful. That is, until the move of the moral, disinterested citizenry to the Labor Party in the 1970s ... and Howard's move of the Party to the right, and its representation for the self-interested classes, Howard's so-called battlers. A fascinating and satisfying read.

Alison Bronowski. About face: Asian accounts of Australia. Carlton: Scribe, 2003.

Face, or self-image, is presented as of key importance to the Asian mindset. Bronowski describes how Australia undermines its own relevance and influence in the region through the face it presents, as good blokes in an innocent country. But also how views of Australia are manipulated by Asian political elites for their own purposes.

Marion Sawer. The ethical state: social liberalism in Australia. Carlton: Melbourne Univ Press, 2003.

The standard neo-classical economic theories are not new, and this is not the first time they have been tried, and criticised. Sawer presents the social liberal argument (incl. the benefits of investment in poverty relief, and the lack of justice in contracts between parties of unequal power) which was influential in 1890s England. Unlike England, with its rigid class system, Australia was then seen as the place of opportunity for development of these very principles - so we were early with extended suffrage, fair pay, 8-hour days, etc. Sawer is moderately optimistic about a return to these principles, but not particularly convincing.