Power politics and the Indonesian military

This book, based on extensive original research, examines the role of the military in Indonesian politics. It looks at the role of the military historically, examines the different ways it is involved in politics, and considers how the role of the military might develop in what is still an uncertain future.

State-NGO relations in Malaysia in the Mahathir years

This thesis states that the containment of NGOs is not simply due to the state's control of the political mechanisms. This study argues that the boundaries for NGOs are determined by the interplay between the state, the ruling elites, the middle class and the business elites.

Poetry, politics and place : black and white perceptions of landscape in modern Australian poetry 1965-1990

Argues that the most influential landscape poetry deals with landscape as an aesthetic concept, and also with the politics of land ownership. Several "landscape poets". Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, have given voice to some of the most compelling social currents in society, and their work has an important place in contemporary political debate.

Bob Brown: ecology, economy, equality and eternity

"Against a backdrop of advancing neoliberalism and globalisation, this timely book examines nine prominent Australians from diverse backgrounds - ʻglobal citizensʾ who have each enhanced public life through promoting universal values and human rights. The book charts over 50 years of campaigning, and espouses perennial causes such as peace, social justice, ecological sustainability and gender and racial equality. Ultimately, this inspiring volume sends a message of hope for Australian society and provides a benchmark for all proponents of change."--Publisher description.

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.

Civil war, conflict resolution and culture in Lebanon and Algeria

This thesis examined the explanatory capacity of political culture in relation to civil war and conflict resolution in Lebanon and Algeria. It argued that political culture operates to affect the form and legitimacy of peace agreements by employing a method of content analysis that emphasised 'contextuality' in resolution processes.

Multiculturalism in Asia

This book explores the different ways that issues of ethnocultural diversity are conceptualised and debated in South and East Asia. It looks at the legacies of precolonial and colonial traditions for managing diversity, their reinterpretation under postcolonial independence and globalisation, and their relationship to Western liberal models of multiculturalism and emerging international norms of human and minority rights. It shows that political actors draw on a range of intellectual resources and traditions when thinking through these questions. Appeals to international human rights instruments and Western policies of multiculturalism are interspersed with appeals to local traditions, national mythologies, regional practices, and religious doctrines. An attempt to understand these debates or contribute to them requires an understanding of the complex interaction between the different ways of conceptualising diversity and citizenship.

Cultural politics and the appropriation of Theravada Buddhism in contemporary Burma (Myanmar)

In Burma, under the State Peace and Development Council, Burmese culture and Theravada Buddhism have become conjoined, the distinctions between the sacred and the secular have become blurred, and the political and the cultural have become intertwined, as the military regime seeks to legitimate its political power and authority.

Threats, fear, politics and the shaping of insecurity 1946-1955

Governments use fear to promote political objectives. Through the exaggeration of external threats, fear as conceptualised in the writings of Hobbes, Barry Buzan, David Campbell and others, became a major factor in shaping Australia's post-war foreign and defence policies which were also intended to serve the government's domestic political agenda.

The influence of Britain's Margaret Thatcher on Australian politics and Australia's influence on her, 1972-1983

This thesis examines the relationship between leading British conservative politician, Margaret Thatcher and Australia, from her first visit in 1972 to the defeat of the Liberal Party or ‘Conservative’ government led by Malcolm Fraser in the 1983 Australian elections and shows that Australia played a significant role in Thatcher’s career.