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Rewriting Australia

The way we talk about fears and hopes

School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University, P.Beilharz{at}latrobe.edu.au

Sociologists in Australia often talk about a politics of fear, or of moral panic, in order to explain the apparent awkwardness of a situation where leftwing intellectuals cannot come to grips with a rightwing political moment. This article addresses the question of dominant images of Australia through the 20th century as a part of the dominant leftwing historiography, which has now been replaced by a rightwing political narrative. The central theoretical and historical issue here is the problem of populism, and its shift from left to right. This leads to a discussion of the politics of fear and uncertainty, and how to begin to think about them, and to questions of the role of sociologists in all this.

Key Words: Australia • fear • historiography • history • populism

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				P. Beilharz Australia: The Unhappy Country, or, a Tale of Two Nations Thesis Eleven, August 1, 2005; 82(1): 73 - 87. [Abstract] [PDF]