ABSTRACT

John Howard said, The times will suit me,' and they did. For over a decade John Howard took advantage of international crises and local anxieties to not only stay in government, but to radically reshape Australian public life.

The Times Will Suit Them digs behind the headlines to explain the success of Howard's radical new conservatism. It shows how the Howard government and its small legion of culture warriors responded to deep changes engendered by two decades of economic reform by importing moral agendas from the US. The result was a brand of deeply postmodern' conservatism which undermined much that traditional conservatives hold dear.

From Hansonism to children overboard to the Intervention in the Northern Territory and beyond, The Times Will Suit Them offers a fresh and provocative analysis from two Young Turks. It is compelling reading for anyone seeking to understand the drivers in contemporary Australian politics.

chapter |13 pages

Introduction

A postmodern kind of conservatism

part I|105 pages

Politics

chapter One|20 pages

Relaxed and comfortable, alert and alarmed

chapter Three|29 pages

In whom did we trust?

chapter Four|31 pages

The new spirit of Australia’s laws

part II|109 pages

Society

chapter Five|22 pages

Integration crisis, or, why culture wars now?

chapter Six|21 pages

Culture wars and the new religiosity

chapter Seven|23 pages

Social solidarity or postmodern tribalism?

chapter |19 pages

After Howard

Postmodernism or a revitalised Australia?