[csaa-forum] ALP 101

[Natalya Lusty]

Melissa,
I'm afraid I have to strongly disagree with you on this. Far from 
failing to either embrace its history or understand the competing 
demands of work, family and community life, Labor, under Latham, has set 
a truly reformist agenda on these issues. As Margaret Simons so 
eloquently argues, Latham is the first political leader since Whitlam to 
shift the political landscape from a focus on economics to a social 
agenda that includes the everyday values of the neighbourhood. This is 
key to his pragmatic approach to politics, one that attempts to move 
beyond the ideologically fixed positions of his party. In everything 
that he has written, there is a consistent and clearly stated concern 
with radical but pragmatic change. One of his greatest criticisms of his 
Labor predecessors (Hawke and Keating) is that they publicly pandered to 
big business while privately criticising its influence and lack of 
regard for the citizen. Central to Latham's vision is a concern with 
empowering individuals - on a local and transparent level. His focus on 
the management of place and the civic values embedded within the local, 
including the importance of mutual responsibility, are inspiring 
solutions to an economically driven political agenda -  a focus that 
Noel Pearson, for one, sees as relevant to his own constituency.

While the flaws of the man are self-evident and whatever the reasons for 
the failure of his political vision to strike a chord with voters, 
Latham has had "the guts" to bring politics back to the level of social 
values. Part of the contemporary malaise of politics in Australia is the 
division between, what Latham calls, "the insiders" (intellectual 
elites) and "the outsiders" (those who are disenfranchised from 
political and cultural power and therefore largely concerned with those 
things in their immediate lives). While turning to alternative forms of 
political engagement might act as a temporary panacea for our 
disillusionment with mainstream politics, with the Government now 
controlling the Senate, perhaps its time we had "the guts" to embrace 
the mainstream as well as mainstream politics - which might mean reading 
the "detail" of Latham's reforms before turning to the metaphorically 
abstract ideas of the carnivalesque as it operates in a political 
culture very different to our own.

In the mean time I highly recommend Margaret Simons essay, "Latham's 
World: The New Politics of the Outsiders" in the latest issue of 
Quarterly Essay.

--
Dr Natalya Lusty
Department of Gender and Cultural Studies
Main Quad A14
University of Sydney NSW 2006

Ph: 2 9036 9550
Fax:
Melissa Gregg wrote:

> indigo's ideas have me thinking, but i don't think scare tactics are 
> necessary so much as a party that makes sense on some level.
> as judith brett has argued so well, 
> (<http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521536340> 
> ) the Liberal party has successfully re-articulated its 'liberal' 
> name, philosophy and party history to a contemporary agenda. this is 
> why the party remains relevant and appealing to a lot of voters, 
> however far that particular definition of liberal might be from 
> alternative conceptions.
>
> when will Labor have the guts to do the same? when will it start 
> embracing its history and start talking about what work actually looks 
> like in these times, and how that reality depletes the energies needed 
> to imagine a different future? or get home in time to read the kids a 
> book?
>
> the italian effect conference was one recent event where some of these 
> issues were well debated, and Ilaria Vanni's paper (see abstract at 
> <http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/rihss/IEprog5A.html>) showed how 
> cultural studies concepts like carnivalesque and tactical intervention 
> a la Certeau still offer a useful guide for highlighting the 
> inadequacies of Politics. Now that the downtrodden North Tasmanian 
> logger has been saved by Howard, how's this for an updated Labor 
> image:  <http://www.inventati.org/hackeralbum/affreschi/maternita.html>
>
> Melissa Gregg
> Postdoctoral Research Fellow
> Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies
> 4th Floor, Forgan Smith Tower
> University of Queensland 4072
> CRICOS provider number: 00025B
>
> ph     61 7 3346 9762
> mob  61 4 1116 5706
> fax    61 7 3365 7184
>
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