School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemCharles Joseph La Trobe: the making of a governor( 2002)The central argument developed in this thesis is that Charles Joseph La Trobe was a highly distinctive individual whose background and experiences during the first four decades of his life to 1839 shaped his character and informed his administration, firstly as Superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales until 1851, and then as Victoria's first Lieutenant-Governor from 1851 to 1854. His Huguenot descent isolated him from the traditional British mould, and yet, for all that, he was very much the typical Englishman with all the attitudes then prevailing in the educated middle-class. His Moravian faith and the advanced Moravian school system in which he was nurtured set him apart from the norm of those recruited to the Colonial Office as representatives of the imperial power of Great Britain. He was altogether, in fact, an unusual choice as administrator of a valuable and remote colony, having none of the administrative experience, military training or aristocratic background usually sought in vice-regal envoys. La Trobe came from a deeply religious and highly intellectual family whose evangelicalism and social consciences dominated their lives. He was drawn to the outdoor life and to the landscape wherever he went in his extensive travels, seeing it as God's creation, and he described what he saw and experienced fully in his four published books and in his works of art. From his youth, he developed a lifelong passion for Switzerland, the country where he formed his closest friendships. Acknowledging the seriousness with which he regarded his Australian posting as a representative of the Crown, La Trobe's every action was governed and, to a certain extent, hampered by his allegiance to the Governor in Sydney and the Colonial Office in London. La Trobe's actions, ideas, assumptions and behaviours during his fifteen years in office in Melbourne may, however, be best understood by an examination of the way his character was shaped, especially by the influences on him of the Moravian faith and education, by his passion for travel, and by the devotion and support of his family and friends in England and in Switzerland. La Trobe departed from office a wearied and disappointed man whose contribution to the development of the colony was not immediately recognised. His was a vision of a cultured, economically viable and Christian society, with equality of opportunity for all. Any recognition of his achievements eluded him, the obvious negativities of his administration, especially regarding the Aboriginal people and the goldfields administration, obscuring his successes. Charles Joseph La Trobe was a complex man of striking contradictions: he was capable of great courage, yet he often appeared timid and self-effacing; he was charming and sociable at times, yet he loved nothing better than to escape the weight of his duties by riding into the 'bush'; he had strong views, but often came across as unassertive.
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ItemMind, mania and science: psychiatry and the culture of experiment in mid-twentieth century Victoria( 2002)Psychiatry developed from the practices of nineteenth century medical practitioners based in asylums, transforming itself by the second half of the twentieth century into a specialty operating from many more places and equally concerned with temporarily disturbed “normal” people as with individuals with intractable conditions or an intellectual handicap. By the middle of the twentieth century, psychiatry in Victoria, Australia, was the site of a vigorous debate about the nature of mental illness and the appropriate way to investigate it according to the precepts of science. Using archival materials and patient records, I examine efforts by three competing schools of psychiatric thought - the biological, social and psychotherapeutic - to align themselves with scientific medicine via several emerging fields, including clinical trial research. I suggest that the biological school had an initial edge and I explain in what form academic and religious support was forthcoming for it. I also consider the influence of celebrated Melbourne psychiatrist, John Cade, whose research on lithium influenced the alignment process. The struggle for science's imprimatur was crucial to psychiatry's transition during the twentieth century. Having once been detached from medicine's main currents and remote from the community gaze, it gained increased recognition within the field of medicine. This transition was not without some cost however. In learning how to re-invent their care, study and treatment of people with disordered mentality, psychiatrists chose to privilege certain sorts of knowledge and to downgrade aspects of their healing art.
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ItemMax Crawford: necessity and freedom( 2002)This thesis is a study of Max Crawford as an intellectual and historian from the years 1927 to 1962. Its argument is that Crawford's consistent stance of liberalism in political and academic life propelled him towards a position which, in the climate of the years preceding the Second World War and the Cold War, seemed radical, but in the wake of public criticism he later withdrew from direct engagement in public intellectual life. There are three prevailing themes. The first addresses the political denial that dominated Crawford's retrospective autobiographical writing. Crawford insisted that his family was not political, and that he followed the family tradition in keeping his conscience free of political commitments. The thesis will argue that this was not evident in his family background, nor in his own activity. The ideology that he espoused in the History School, and afterwards was at pains to deny, was politically active and advocated the liberal values of freedom and morality. The thesis will explore how he was drawn to progressive causes and lent his academic authority to them, only to retreat when he encountered fierce criticism. It is my contention that Crawford finally adopted a stance of independence from all engagement because of the enduring legacy of the Cold War and the controversy surrounding his decision to write to the Bulletin ostensibly to expose an alleged Communist plot. The second theme of the thesis is the place of academic freedom in Australian universities. The thesis will argue that it was often tenuous and never completely accepted by administrators, politicians or the press, which expected universities to avoid controversy. The public and political expectations of an Australian intellectual created self-censorship and wavering commitment. These themes will be analysed in the context of Crawford’s experiences and his transformation from a highly conspicuous, progressive and engaged liberal to a more traditional and reticent one. The thesis will explore how his life and historical approach were subject to the pressures of public life. Finally, the thesis will investigate the intellectual style of Max Crawford. His approach to the theory and method of history exercised a strong influence on the discipline, as it assumed a central position in Australia's intellectual culture. The History School that Crawford created was celebrated for its scholarship and its students achieved important positions in other universities and public life. The thesis will examine the life of the Department, its influence, the approach to history and its legacy, which has been retrospectively celebrated and dismissed.
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ItemA history of the House of the Gentle Bunyip (1975-90): a contribution to Australian church life( 2002)The House of the Gentle Bunyip was an ecumenical Christian community that existed from 1975 to 1996 in Clifton Hill, an inner Melbourne suburb. Founded by a Baptist theologian, Athol Gill, it drew many of its members from the Baptist and evangelical traditions. Mostly young adults, they perceived deficiencies in their churches and wanted to explore some of the radical implications of the Christian faith in a non-traditional setting. The Bunyip was influenced by the worldwide Christian community movement and changes in Australian society in the 1970s. It sought to respond to a decline within the institutional church evident from the 1960s and, in particular, to Victorian Baptist neglect of Melbourne's inner city churches. The Bunyip established a range of mission projects in response to the poor and needy including the homeless, aged, mentally ill and children disadvantaged by poorly-resourced inner city schools. It developed educational initiatives for clergy and lay people and sought to reclaim the communal aspects of the Christian faith by introducing its own pattern of corporate worship, community housing, membership agreements and leadership structures. The Bunyip established centres in Victoria and interstate, and developed links with a range of church and community networks. Over 150 adults and 30 children joined the Bunyip and the average length of stay was a little over four years. The community made a significant contribution to Australian church life by offering a viable alternative to the institutional church. It provided men and women with training, and opportunities for leadership and relevant practical service. It challenged Christians to take seriously the radical implications of the Gospel, especially in the areas of justice, care of the poor and community. Countless people were assisted through its mission programs. Many of its members and others influenced by Gill and the Bunyip completed degrees in theology and moved into ordained ministry, denominational leadership and urban or overseas ministry. Some used their Bunyip experience in community development, welfare work, education and peace-making. Although the Bunyip eventually declined and closed, its legacy continues through Fintry Bank, a supported accommodation program for sufferers of schizophrenia.
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ItemFraming Fitzroy: contesting and (de)constructing place and identity in a Melbourne suburb( 2002)This thesis examines the ways in which Melbourne's 'worst suburb', Fitzroy, was constructed, both physically and culturally, from the Great Depression of the 1930s until the gentrification of the suburb in the early 1970s. The thesis argues that an array of institutions, extending from social welfare and slum reform groups to the media and a variety of policing agencies, relentlessly constructed Fitzroy as the site of social evil in Melbourne. It examines the variety of texts, both written and visual, that were utilised to construct a singular and negative representation of Fitzroy that legitimated particular forms of intervention. The thesis critiques and contests this representation through an analysis of the lives of those who lived in Fitzroy in the period covered by this thesis and by using a variety of original sources, including the testimonies of those who lived and worked in Fitzroy. It is a central argument of this thesis that Fitzroy was a place of complexity, vitality and cultural value for those who lived there.