What Do We Want? The story of protest in Australia

by Clive Hamilton, Germaine Greer (Contributor)

In 'What Do We Want?' Clive Hamilton explores the colourful, enthralling and stirring forms of protest used in the big social movements that defined modern Australia.

Hamilton examines how these movements for equality, peace and environmental action have confronted the ugliness in Australian society and caused epoch-defining shifts in social attitudes. From Charles Perkins to Vida Goldstein, Bob Brown to the gay and lesbian 78ers, the stories of incredible bravery and rousing leadership will move and inspire

Genres: Politics

209 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Clive Hamilton AM FRSA is an Australian public intellectual and Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics and the Vice-Chancellor's Chair in Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University. He is a member of the Board of the Climate Change Authority of the Australian Government, and is the Founder and former Executive Director of The Australia Institute. He regularly appears in the Australian media and contributes to public policy debates. Hamilton was granted the award of Member of the Order of Australia on 8 June 2009 for "service to public debate and policy development, particularly in the fields of climate change, sustainability and societal trends".


(From Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Sayraphim Lothian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of protest in Australia over the last 200ish years.

[Book Grocer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchase 'What Do We Want?' here for just $12!

A fascinating exploration of how Australian society has been shaped by the actions of individuals. The movements for equality, peace and environmental action that Hamilton accounts still hold relevance today. It is interesting to reflect on these past movements while thinking about future change.

Nerida - The Book Grocer

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Do We Want? The Story of Protest in Australia is a sort of coffee table book for baby boomers. That’s not to trivialise it, but to acknowledge what the author Clive Hamilton says in his preface:


… writing this book has been not only a fascinating authorial task but also a wistful return to an early phase of my life. From 1970, while in my second last year of high school, I was a foot soldier in several of the protest movements here described. […] For many of the young people caught up in those heady times, the protests defined us. We felt we were making the world a better place, and we were. Although a few moved into politics and non-government organisations, most went on to careers, families and mortgages. But so deep was the imprint of those times that we always live a little in their shadow. (p.viii)

The book begins with a chapter about the protests to end conscription and the Vietnam War. ‘End the War’ starts with the 1965 May Day procession where the Union of Australian Women pioneered a movement that would bring capital city streets to a standstill but Like the Eureka Youth League, who held the first protest against the Vietnam War in 1963, they had a long way to go before the movement really took off. Ultimately it became a ‘broad church’, including pacifists and people who objected only to the Vietnam War; communists and liberals; people who were against conscription under any circumstances and those who opposed it only for the Vietnam War, religious people and the iconic mothers who led Save Our Sons. It feels empowering to read this chapter, but there’s a sobering reminder that moratorium-style protests don’t have the impact that they once did...

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/05/w...

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As he explains in his introduction, Clive Hamilton himself has been a “foot soldier in several of the protest movements here described” and, for him, the writing of this book has been “not only a fascinating authorial task but also a wistful return to an early phase of my life” (p.viii). Hamilton says that the major aim of this book is to “honour those who have had the courage and commitment to stand at the front of the barricades” and as he points out, the presence of one or two main characters is fundamental to the theatre of protest. The choice of protest movements that he focuses on were influenced, he admits, by space limitations and the availability of usable images. Pictures do play an important part in this book. This book is very much of the Left, and I found myself wondering if and how the Right protests. The protests in this book involved people, and flipping through the abundant photographs, there is a focus on physical flesh-and-bones bodies. This is not ‘clicktivism’ but on the street activism: “Rather than waiting for society to be ready for change, the lesson of radical activism is to make society ready for change” (p.116)

For my full review see https://residentjudge.wordpress.com/2...
(I would rate it 3.5 if the stars would let me!)

[Stacey Farley]

Fab!