School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses
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ItemThe Victorian Boy Scout Movement: a case study of adaptation from Edwardian times to today( 1989)This thesis is an enquiry into the world view of the boy scout association and the way that world view has been adjusted in the light of changing values and societal patterns. The boy scout association has been in existence for some eighty years and it has maintained its strength while almost all other comparable movements have had to disband because of falling membership and insufficient interest. The thesis explores how the association, established in Edwardian times and rooted in imperial middle-class values, has managed the process of adaptation. The thesis is also a case study of scouting in Victoria. The enquiry proceeds by examining three chronological periods selected for their historical significance to the movement. The first is the period from scouting’s inception in Victoria in 1908 until the First World War. The second is the decade 1930 to 1940. Finally is the period from 1967 to 1977. This work does not attempt a detailed historical account of the eras, but pauses to provide only a still shot of the movement at these times. The aim has been to be representative rather than exhaustive in the selection of material. When the movement was established, it was imbued with the spirit of imperialism, militarism and masculinity. It is in terms of these three central concepts that the thinking, values and activities of the movement have been observed to determine how they have survived, rearranged themselves or become something new over the years. This preparatory section will provide a brief sketch of scouting’s ideology, looking specifically at the origins of these three principal elements. (From Introduction)
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ItemConservative radicals: Australian neoconservatism and its intellectual antecedents( 1989)This study charts the rise of Australian neoconservatism. With reference to a range of influences which coalesced in the journal Quadrant, it is argued that the genesis of a new intellectual conservatism had its origins in the decade of the 1950s, and that it has reached its culmination in the contemporary phenomenon of neoconservatism. Correspondingly, it is contended that recognition of this evolution reveals the longstanding inadequacies of depictions of 'the right' in this country, and the wider implications of this for Australian critique. A preliminary chapter discusses the shortcomings of conceptual approaches to the topic of Australian conservatism, and indicates the ways in which they are challenged by the neoconservative evolution. Part I considers the components of an informal alliance which crystallized in the 1950s, gravitated towards the journal Quadrant, and lay the foundations for a new conservatism. It is argued that despite their disparity, important common ground existed between a Jewish-European component of Australian society, a Catholic component, and a group influenced by Sydney philosopher John Anderson. A focus on founding Quadrant editor James McAuley completes this discussion of neoconservative antecedents, and highlights both the commonality and diversity of sources from which the new conservatism would emerge. Part II traces the evolution of neoconservative critique with reference to some of its central and recurrent themes. It is shown that neoconservative concerns were prefigured in the early Cold War period, and that these have been heightened and amplified in the light of ensuing developments. Such themes include the depiction of a 'new class' within society, and the rise of an 'adversary culture'; both of which were given impetus by developments of the 1960s. Exploration of the continuity and character of this evolving critique also underlines the inadequacy of critical approaches to it. In this way, it is shown that the emergence of Australian neoconservatism simultaneously demands reappraisal of the ways in which Australian intellectual traditions are conceptualized.