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1, 2, 3, What Are We Fighting For?
1, 2, 3, What Are We Fighting For? is an examination of the most important years of campus activism: the radicalisation that gripped Australian universities in the late 1960s to 70s.
114 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 11, 2025
late review, but great book on the rise and fall of student activism in australia in the 60s and 70s. it’s now become all the more relevant as students across australia have fought against a livestreamed genocide of palestine for the past two years.
students as a force under capitalism is very interesting. they can’t go on strike and create social disruption or revolution like workers can, but they have a much more volatile nature due to their placement in the university that allows them to be the first sparks in a broader movement that can convince workers to take further action. this is exemplified in the movement against the vietnam war, especially in arguably the highest point of 1968 globally - the french may.
of course, with the state of the left’s politics at the time (stalinism shifting to just classic reformism), students were looking for political alternatives. in australia, this manifested in many different ways: maoism, anarchism/libertarianism, and - to a smaller extent - trotskyism. all of the groups under these political labels had their own weaknesses, especially in their orientation to vietnam’s nlf, how to relate to workers, and many tactical questions. ultimately, no group in australia was big or politically clear enough as revolutionaries to carry on a long-term hit to capitalism. this doesn’t mean that it wasn’t greatly shaken by the massive achievements of the anti-vietnam war movement.
right now, australian capitalism is creating simmering tensions in students today, similarly to those in the 60s: alienating assignment and examination policies, a terrible cost-of-living and housing crisis that forces more working class people to enter university to get a well-enough paying job, as well as universities’ complicity in upholding capitalism’s most brutal manifestations, such as the ethnic cleansing of the gaza strip. this book highlights the urgency of building a revolutionary organisation before our next ‘68’, to discuss the socialist alternative needed to end the terrors of capitalism we face everyday. i also like the hope it offers that this is totally possible, an optimistic but nonetheless true statement, and which cuts against the pessimism or apathy we see around us right now, and what was present in the downturn of the student struggles into the 70’s.
“Don’t wait to join us on the barricades. Get
involved now!”
students as a force under capitalism is very interesting. they can’t go on strike and create social disruption or revolution like workers can, but they have a much more volatile nature due to their placement in the university that allows them to be the first sparks in a broader movement that can convince workers to take further action. this is exemplified in the movement against the vietnam war, especially in arguably the highest point of 1968 globally - the french may.
of course, with the state of the left’s politics at the time (stalinism shifting to just classic reformism), students were looking for political alternatives. in australia, this manifested in many different ways: maoism, anarchism/libertarianism, and - to a smaller extent - trotskyism. all of the groups under these political labels had their own weaknesses, especially in their orientation to vietnam’s nlf, how to relate to workers, and many tactical questions. ultimately, no group in australia was big or politically clear enough as revolutionaries to carry on a long-term hit to capitalism. this doesn’t mean that it wasn’t greatly shaken by the massive achievements of the anti-vietnam war movement.
right now, australian capitalism is creating simmering tensions in students today, similarly to those in the 60s: alienating assignment and examination policies, a terrible cost-of-living and housing crisis that forces more working class people to enter university to get a well-enough paying job, as well as universities’ complicity in upholding capitalism’s most brutal manifestations, such as the ethnic cleansing of the gaza strip. this book highlights the urgency of building a revolutionary organisation before our next ‘68’, to discuss the socialist alternative needed to end the terrors of capitalism we face everyday. i also like the hope it offers that this is totally possible, an optimistic but nonetheless true statement, and which cuts against the pessimism or apathy we see around us right now, and what was present in the downturn of the student struggles into the 70’s.
“Don’t wait to join us on the barricades. Get
involved now!”
October 18, 2025
Fantastic book. Short and easy read. Great overview of student activity in the lead up to and downswing from the Vietnam war movement, in Australia. It’s got some good learning lessons as well for activist movements today!
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