Harnessing the Past for Present Purposes: Self-Reflexivity in Researching and Teaching Western Australian Gay History
Australia’s contemporary social context has demanded a re-evaluation of our relationship to gay and lesbian history. Interest in the 40th anniversary of the first Australian Mardi Gras march in 1978 along with the success of the marriage equality campaign have led to a growing awareness around queer issues. With the inevitable backlash that comes with such social progress,... Read more
A Life Triumphantly Well Written: Producing the Hawke Legacy, 1979–2019
The scent of Great Man history was in the air at the memorial service to Australia’s 23rd prime minister at the Sydney Opera House on 14 June 2019. Friends, loved ones and former colleagues, mostly Australian Labor Party (ALP) figures, rose to offer their reflections on Robert James Lee Hawke, many of which were both idolatrous and irreverent.... Read more
The Internal and External Manifestations of Cultural Nationalism: A Borobudur Case Study
The development of cultural nationalism in Indonesia is bilateral. It denotes the unification of heterogeneous populations within national borders, while concurrently asserting a place for the Indonesian nation-state within the global community. The seemingly paradoxical manifestations of internal and external Indonesian nationalism can be comprehended by exploring the cultural nationalist discourse surrounding the Buddhist stūpa,... Read more
The ‘Housewife Syndrome’: An Indicator of Madness or Oppression?
The ‘housewife syndrome’ was a mental disorder diagnosed in many American housewives suffering from supposed bouts of madness and enigmatic conditions, such as hysteria or neurosis, that plagued women who showed unhappiness in their stereotypical role of homemaker in the mid-twentieth century. It was commonly used as an umbrella term for other common diagnoses such as ‘housewife’s nerves’,... Read more
National and Personal Stories: Anzac and Forming a Sense of the Past for ‘Ordinary Australians’
At around 12 pm on 11 November 2018 the guns fell silent on Australia’s Anzac centenary commemorations. Lasting for about five years and costing almost $600 million, these commemorations aimed to impress on all Australians the significance and enduring legacy of our military history, and particularly our involvement in World War I (WWI).... Read more