Sarah Maddison

Activist wisdom : practical knowledge and creative tension in social movements

This lively book blends the voices and experiences of insiders involved in particular causes with a bigger picture that analyses successes and failures, communication of ideas and social and political impacts.

Democratic constraint and embrace: Implications for progressive non-government advocacy organisations in Australia

The advocacy work of non-government organisations can be either constrained or embraced by government attitudes and practices. Although it is widely accepted that NGOs are an essential component of a healthy and robust democracy, serving as essential intermediaries between community and government, and providing a voice for marginalised groups to make claims on governments between elections, the current dominance of the public choice paradigm in public administration has seen the legitimacy of NGOs come under attack. Questions have been raised about the representativeness of NGOs and the legitimacy of their standing as policy advocates. As a result of this shift many disadvantaged groups that had taken years to organise themselves sufficiently to have a voice have found themselves increasingly constrained and excluded from the policy-making process. The threats that many NGOs are now facing have the effect of reducing government accountability, sustaining existing inequities and, ultimately, diminishing the quality of Australian democracy. 1This article is developed from the discussion paper Silencing Dissent: non-government organisations and Australian democracy, by Maddison, S., R. Denniss, and C. Hamilton, published by The Australia Institute in June 2004. The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers at the Australian Journal of Political Science for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Indigenous identity, ‘authenticity’ and the structural violence of settler colonialism

In many ways, the structural violence of settler colonialism continues to dominate the lived experience of Indigenous populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in contemporary Australia. One aspect of this structural violence concerns the regulation of Indigenous identity, today perpetuated through state monitoring of the ‘authenticity’ of Aboriginal people. This article argues that the contest over Indigenous identity perpetuates a form of symbolic political violence against Indigenous people. It considers the ways in which structural violence against Indigenous identity has featured in Australias settler colonial regime and examines the particular violence faced by urban-dwelling Aboriginal people, who endure much contemporary scrutiny of the ‘authenticity’ of their Indigeneity. As a case study, the article examines the symbolic violence associated with a particular legal case in Australia and, in light of this analysis, concludes that settler colonies could make a decolonising gesture by legislating for the protection of Indigenous identity.

Indigenous autonomy matters: what's wrong with the Australian government's ‘intervention’ in Aboriginal communities

On 21 June 2007, the (then) Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, announced an ‘emergency intervention’ into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The intervention was justified as a crisis response to allegations of widespread child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities, allegations contained in the Ampe Akelyernemane Meke Mekarle: ‘Little Children Are Sacred’ report. The terms of the intervention were far-ranging, including the quarantining of welfare payments, new alcohol restrictions, compulsory health checks for children, and the acquisition of townships by the government through five-year leases. This article argues that the neo-paternalism of the federal intervention is a simplistic and wrongheaded response to the complex reality of Indigenous political culture. Australias colonial history has created a range of dependencies in Aboriginal communities, against which Indigenous people have struggled in their quest for greater autonomy. Recent debates about the contribution made by ‘welfare dependency’ to the breakdown of social norms in many communities have paved the way for paternalistic policy that seeks to control Aboriginal peoples behaviour through coercion and punishment. This article concludes that such policy is precisely the wrong response to problems in Aboriginal communities, as it will further entrench the dependencies that have caused social breakdown in the first place.

Young Women in the Australian Women’s Movement

This article explores and documents the role of young women in the contemporary Australian women’s movement. Through case studies of two very different groups of young women, working in submerged networks in the community and on university campuses, it aims to suggest the diversity of contemporary young feminist praxis. Further, it argues that the work that these young women are doing in discursively creating and maintaining a feminist political space is crucial to the future of the movement. Based in constructivist ‘new’ social movement theory this article suggests a way forward from the so-called ‘generational debates’ of the 1990s and argues that, through their own unique processes of collective identity, young women who are active in the Australian women’s movement are dealing with the conflicts that are essential to the movement’s survival.

Introduction to ‘Surviving Neoliberalism: The Persistence of Australian Social Movements’

This article considers the survival tactics and successes of Australian social movements during the Howard years (1996–2007). It explores how movements might operate in a political environment that is hostile and bereft of opportunities, and where the strategies of government seek to exclude deliberately progressive collective voices. The article examines theories of neoliberalism and neoconservatism and shows how these came together in the Australian example. Key theories of social movements are also discussed to foreground the empirical case studies that comprise the bulk of this special issue of Social Movement Studies. Précis of the articles making up this issue are then provided. The article concludes by reflecting on the prospects for change post-Howard.

Ideas from ‘across the ditch’? Wedge politics in the 2005 New Zealand election

The 2005 New Zealand election campaign saw the use by the opposition National Party of a racialised and highly divisive ‘wedge politics’. Tensions between Mäori and Pakeha that had previously been managed through care and compromise were inflamed by talk of a New Zealand mainstream and the need for ‘one law for all’. In the context of a difficult national debate about Mäori rights to foreshore and seabed, this talk had strong echoes of recent Australian political discourse. It also had the effect of dramatically increasing the National Party vote in the election, and this research note speculates that, in a different electoral system, this may have been enough to see National form government.

Relational Transformation and Agonistic Dialogue in Divided Societies

In societies emerging from conflict and violence, achieving a peaceful political settlement is an important goal. In most situations, however, achieving this goal is not enough to transform underlying conflicts rooted in history and identity. Rather, it is understood that what is needed in such situations is ongoing effort towards the transformation of underlying historical and relational conflict. But while high profile events such as truth commissions often become the public focus of a reconciliation process, in fact much of the effort towards conflict transformation takes place in lower profile dialogue processes. This article theorises a model of agonistic dialogue required for relational conflict transformation in divided and post-violent conflict societies. Described here as ‘sustained, intensive relational work’, this model draws from theories of agonistic democracy to argue for dialogue processes that are focused on engaging across deep differences in ways that can facilitate an enlarged understanding among former enemies.

Postcolonial guilt and national identity: historical injustice and the Australian settler state

In nations with a record of historical injustice, guilt about the past is deeply implicated in both efforts towards reconciliation and the construction of national identity. This is as true in notionally postcolonial nations, where past injustice is often denied or avoided, as it is in situations where conflict and injustice have been more recent, overt or visible to the rest of the world. Taking the Australian case as an example, this article considers the dimensions of historical collective guilt, and explores the implications of that guilt for contemporary national identity in postcolonial nations. It argues that until a nation is able to deal with social psychological barriers to addressing historical injustice, it is likely to construct and maintain a narrow and defensive form of nationalism.

Damaged but Determined: The Australian Women's Movement, 1996-2007

What happened to the womens movement in Australia under the conservative Howard government (1996–2007)? Why was there such a slump in energy and impact during this period? And what are the implications for the future? In addressing these questions, this article critically reflects on concepts of abeyance, political opportunity structures and cycles of contention. It highlights the shift to neoliberalism that occurred even before Howard came to power and the loss of the movements ‘novelty value’, trends that were intensified by broader ideological shifts under Howard. Using interviews with key activists, the article constructs a detailed historical account, arguing that there was not only a hostile environment that constrained the movement but also that the movements dynamics, activities and goals changed over time. The article concludes that the Australian womens movement is still surviving, but not thriving.