Studies in Australian History To constitute a nation : a cultural history of Australia's constitution
Type
Book
Authors
ISBN 10
0521668972
ISBN 13
9780521668972
LCCN
JQ 4081 .I79
DDC
306.2099
Category
Australia and New Zealand
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Publication Year
1999
Publisher
Pages
xiii, 257 pages
Subject
Political Institutions and Public Administration (Australia)
Tags
Series Name
Abstract
The men who drafted the Australian Constitution in the 1890s may have thought that they were filling in blank pages, but in fact those pages were already inscribed with the dominant values and ideas of the times. This imaginative and resonant book looks at the Constitution as a cultural artefact and attempts to understand the period during which it emerged, culminating in Federation in 1901. The book argues that Australians displayed an ability to reconcile the demands of pragmatism with the spirit of romanticism in constituting their nation., Helen Irving looks beyond the well-known events, places and figures to ask: What are the prerequisites to becoming a nation? What did ordinary people hope to achieve by uniting six separate colonies? She locates Federation and the Constitution in the context of broader changes in the arts and literature, in the political sphere and in race relations, and in light of the emergence of the Labor Party, institutionalised industrial relations, the political activism of women and the reality of difficult economic times.
Description
Content:
Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Chronology -- Introduction -- 1. Colonial nuptials -- 2. The imaginary nation -- 3. Imagined Constitutions -- 4. Models for a nation -- 5. Things properly federal -- 7. Australian natives -- 8. The people -- 9. Citizens -- 10. Half the nation -- 11. The federal compact -- Conclusion -- Epilogue -- Appendix: key sections of the Constitution -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index.
Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Chronology -- Introduction -- 1. Colonial nuptials -- 2. The imaginary nation -- 3. Imagined Constitutions -- 4. Models for a nation -- 5. Things properly federal -- 7. Australian natives -- 8. The people -- 9. Citizens -- 10. Half the nation -- 11. The federal compact -- Conclusion -- Epilogue -- Appendix: key sections of the Constitution -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index.
Biblio Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 240-248) and index.
Item donated by Graham Price.
Categorized by publisher, then author, then date.
Item donated by Graham Price.
Categorized by publisher, then author, then date.
Number of Copies
1
