The story of Australian agricultural economics 1900-1975

The growth of the agricultural economics profession in Australia is evaluated within the context of government policy. Particular economists and agricultural economists were instrumental in questioning the government's policy approach to agriculture. Their life work is assessed to ascertain their legacy to this country through their research, teaching and writing.

Eric Reece, society, Labor and developmentalism in Tasmania, 1900-1975

The thesis examines the life and times of former union organiser and Tasmanian ALP Premier, Eric Reece. It analyses the historical and biographical forces shaping state Labor politics in twentieth century Australia and investigates the ideologies of development, progress and environmentalism in Tasmania.

The dialectic of Bangsa and Minzu and nation-building in Malaysia 1900-1990

Examines the evolution of the terms "bangsa" and "minzu", the reforms and adjustments made to define Malay and Chinese ethnic boundaries and the forms that resistance took in response to real and perceived threats to each community's rights vis-a-vis the other. Linked is the related issue of how these dialectical differences have hindered the process of nation-building in Peninsular Malaysia especially from 1957 until 1990.

Metamorphosis of a gold town : Stawell 1900-1940 : a study in local history

Examines the experience of the Wimmera town of Stawell as being representative of the early settlements created by gold rushes, and then threatened with extinction as the industry declined. Attention is paid to the role of community in Stawell's struggle to survive in the period between Federation and the Second World War. Reviews the economic and social processes involved in the eventual recovery. Argues that the forces of Stawell's historical legacy can be detected in the town's reaction to adversity after the closure of the last major mine in 1920.

Reproduction and social control : women in Australia 1900-1999

Examines the conditions of Australian women in their reproductive lives, in a social and scientific context throughout the twentieth century. Aims to identify those areas which have influenced change (if it has occurred), the types of change and the impact those changes have had on the lives of women, given the premise that the social life of women, in all its forms, is predicated by their reproductive function.

Spectres in the city –De Chirico’s mythologized streetscapes

It is generally accepted that some of the unsettling scenes of the Italian metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico, arose from his response to the northern Italian city of Turin, a city he claimed a great affinity with. While de Chirico’s paintings and commentary of this period abound with references to Turin, there has been little investigation into how genuine these citied locations really are. We know that de Chirico’s preference for Turin arose from his passionate engagement with the writings of the philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche and Nietzsche’s fondness for the city. Yet there is much evidence to suggest that Munich, the city of de Chirico’s early art school days permeated his imagery more completely; whereas Turin reflected his philosophical and aesthetic concerns. This article examines how cities have operated for the artist and how using iconography from both the world of the real and imagined produced powerful enigmatic images that evoked a profound mood of illusion and revelation.

Ethics and reflective practice : continuing the conversation

This paper is a response to the question asked by Tony Ghaye in Reflective Practice Volume 8, Number 2, 2007, ‘Is reflective practice ethical?’. My response is to re‐consider the pervasive idea in reflective practice that experience is always private and personal. This common understanding of experience leads to a reluctance when writing for the purpose of assessment and to a type of writing that tends towards the confessional. Contrary to that notion of experience, I suggest that a return to Charles Sanders Peirce enables the acknowledgement that experience is not personally owned but rather a conversation between the self and that which is not‐yet known. This conversation is precipitated by the element of surprise, thus making the study of surprise a central feature of reflective practice. This argument is illustrated through examining a dramatic moment in Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical novel Thus spake Zarathustra (1887) in which Zarathustra’s teaching techniques are challenged and rendered different. Eschewing the belief that experience is ‘personal’ offers a version of reflective practice as the attempt to continually engage in conversations precipitated by the Other