ABSTRACT
The far left in Australia had significant effects on post-war politics, culture and society. The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) ended World War II with some 20,000 members, and despite the harsh and vitriolic Cold War climate of the 1950s, seeded or provided impetus for the re-emergence of other movements. Radicals subscribing to ideologies beyond the Soviet orbit – Maoists, Trotskyists, anarchists and others – also created parties and organisations and led movements. All of these different far left parties and movements changed and shifted during time, responding to one political crisis or another, but they remained steadfastly devoted to a better world.
This collection, bringing together 14 chapters from leading and emerging figures in the Australian and international historical profession, for the first time charts some of these significant moments and interventions, revealing the Australian far left’s often forgotten contribution to the nation’s history.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part 1|78 pages
Organisational histories
chapter 4|20 pages
‘The “White Australia” policy must go’
part 2|54 pages
The 1950s and 1960s: In and out of the Cold War
chapter 5|20 pages
The far left and the fight for Aboriginal rights
chapter 6|16 pages
How far left?
part 3|78 pages
The 1960s and 1970s: The valences of liberation
chapter 8|19 pages
Changing consciousness, changing lifestyles
chapter 9|20 pages
Black Power and white solidarity
part 4|55 pages
Mainstreaming the far left