Around the world, democracies have seen a decline in social and political trust. Australian Social Attitudes IV: The Age of Insecurity is an in-depth look at the economic and geopolitical uncertainty that pervades Australian public discourse. In the decade following the Howard administration, Australian politics has been defined by growing uncertainty, instability, and the emergence of popular disaffection with the political class, similar to what has been seen in the United States and Britain. Featuring contributions from Australia’s leading social scientists, this book explores the connection between insecurities and disaffection, and the ways in which they have manifested – in populist voting patterns, suspicions about climate science, and hostilities to immigration. A fascinating insight into what Australians think about contemporary political and social issues, this book is designed to present the public, media, and policymakers with up-to-date analysis of public opinion about important topics confronting Australian politics and society.
Newspaper and journal indexes and general materials indexes ordered by library according to type of library; subject index includes Aboriginal materials.
The first comprehensive volume on the impact of digital media on Australian politics, this book examines the way these technologies shape political communication, alter key public and private institutions, and serve as the new arena in which discursive and expressive political life is performed. -- Publisher's description.
Four decades ago, faced with a series of economic, political and social crises, business and government leaders in Australia and many other nations were convinced by a well organised ideological insurgency of the need for what at first was presented as a series of technical changes in economic policy. However, neoliberalism quickly became a revolutionary agenda for re-ordering the social democratic state. Captured: How neoliberalism transformed the Australian state directs attention to the central role of state power not just to remake markets, but also to remake a broad swathe of political life, social policy and citizenship. In seeking to undermine the power of organised labour and “unleash” market capitalism, neoliberalism promised a surge of competition, productivity and common prosperity. For the wealthy few, this has indeed been an historically unprecedented time of capital accumulation, but for most, the results have been profoundly disappointing. Today, neoliberalism is in crisis. We are living through an age of great instability, disillusionment and despair. Inequality of income and wealth has been rising; a majority of workers have experienced long-term declining relative living standards; corporate political and market power has reached historic levels; and younger generations are increasingly giving up the expectation of attaining the living standards of their parents. The status of prevailing neoliberal ideas and policy is in increasing disarray. But without a coherent understanding of the ideas and interests driving neoliberalism, many people have turned to incoherent populism for an explanation and salvation and, failing that, even to forms of nihilism. Disillusion and anxiety constitute the dominant mood among the economic and policy elites, within Australia and internationally. Captured presents a series of case studies from leading public policy experts, building critical new insights into the malaise that has characterised the neoliberal era. This book tells the story of how a small group of economists and lobby groups with a universalising agenda of radical change used neoliberalism to transform the state, and of the destructive effects of those policies on everyday life. Captured includes critical accounts of neoliberal policy and speculates on the likely future of neoliberalism as a form of political power and governmentality in Australia.
A fascinating insight into what Australians think about contemporary political and social issues using data collected from the inaugural Australian Survey of Social Attitudes on the expressed opinions of some 4300 Australian adults.
