Labour intellectuals in Australia: Modes, traditions, generations, transformations

International Review of Social History

Volumn 50, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 1-26

  Irving, Terry ^a   Scalmer, Sean ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 17044428498     PISSN: 00208590     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S002085900400183X     Document Type: Article

References (116)

1. Jack T. Lang, I Remember (Katoomba, 1980, 1st edn 1956), pp. 133-134.
2. "Ame Perdue", "A Plea for the Practical", Ross's Monthly, 3:35 (1 October 1918), p. 9.
3. S.A. Rosa, "'Intelligentsia' and Snobs", Common Cause, 5 June 1924, p. 6.
4. Frank Hardy to John Morrison, n.d. [1958], John Morrison Papers, National Library of Australia, Canberra [hereafter NLA], MS 4165, box 2, folder 13.
5. Stuart Macintyre, The Reds: The Communist Party of Australia from Origins to Illegality (Sydney, 1998), pp. 325, 387, 409.
6. Daniel De Leon, "The 'Intellectual'", One Big Union Herald (Melbourne), 1 March 1924.
7. D.C., "Readers' Opinions of 'Ross's'", Ross's Monthly, 1:5, 1 April 1916, p. 8; Tom Tunnecliffe, "Among the Books", ibid., 5:49, 13 December 1919, p. 16;
8. D.C., "Readers' Opinions of 'Ross's'", Ross's Monthly, 1:5, 1 April 1916, p. 8; Tom Tunnecliffe, "Among the Books", ibid., 5:49, 13 December 1919, p. 16;
9. "Printer's Ink", ibid., 5:56, 10 July 1920, p. 7.
10. "Left Book Club", Australian Left News, 1:2 (December 1938), p. 3.
11. "Elder", "Dialectics and Everyday Life", Communist Review, 15 (October 1942), p. 9.
12. John Curtin, "Federal Executive Meeting", 24 January 1944, Australian Labor Party Papers, NLA MS 4985, box 2, p. 6.
13. For a more detailed definition of "the labour intellectual", and its relationship to theories of the intellectual and the public sphere, see Terry Irving and Sean Scalmer, "Australian Labour Intellectuals; An Introduction", Labour History, 77 (1999), pp. 1-10.
14. This account of "withdrawal" and "agitation" is a characteristic of all "counter-publics", as argued by Nancy Fraser, "Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy", in Craig Calhoun (ed.), Habermas and the Public Sphere (Cambridge, MA, 1992), p. 124.
15. Ron Eyerman, Between Culture and Politics: Intellectuals in Modem Society (Cambridge, 1994). P. ix.
16. For example, note Percy J. Trainer's response to Bob Ross's earlier entreaties: Letter 7 October 1918, Australian Archives [hereafter AA], Victoria, CIS 95/1, Intelligence Reports, file 169/49-55.
17. Henry Boote, The Human Ladder: An Australian Story of Our Own Time (Sydney, 1920), p. 24.
18. Idem, "A New Power has Arisen", in n.a., Fifty Years of Labour (Sydney, 1940), p. 47.
19. Lang, I Remember, p. 134.
20. A good early example is the deputation that waited upon the premier in pursuit of the eight-hour day. See "Minutes", 8-Hour Day Committee, 26th Meeting, 20 September 1899, Victorian Trades Hall Council, 1/7/1-1/7/3, Melbourne University Archives.
21. An early example is a report of an address to the Ballarat Eight Hours Dinner, in which the Factory Acts legislation was explained. See ibid., 21st meeting, 28 June 1899.
22. V.G. Childe, How Labour Governs: A Study of Workers' Representation in Australia (Melbourne, 1964, 1st edn 1923), p. 31.
23. Valerian Poliansky, "The Banner of the 'Prolet-Cult'", The Plebs, 13:1 (1911), p. 3.
24. n.a., "Human Factor", The Communist, 1 July 1921.
25. n.a., Handbook for Tutors (Sydney, 1944), p. 4.
26. Ibid., p. 45.
27. There is a very large literature on the formation of the Australian working-class and labour movement, much of it not recent. We draw particularly on Ray Markey, The Making of the Labor Party in New South Wales 1880-1900 (Sydney, 1988), and G. Patmore, Australian Labour History (Melbourne, 1991).
28. There is a very large literature on the formation of the Australian working-class and labour movement, much of it not recent. We draw particularly on Ray Markey, The Making of the Labor Party in New South Wales 1880-1900 (Sydney, 1988), and G. Patmore, Australian Labour History (Melbourne, 1991).
29. Terry Irving, "William Astley (Price Warung) and the Invention of the Labor Party", in Bradley Bowden and John Kellert (eds), Transforming Labour: Work, Workers, Struggle and Change (Brisbane, 2003), pp. 177-183.
30. Markey, Making of the Labor Party, p. 157.
31. Bruce Scates, A New Australia: Citizenship, Radicalism and the First Republic (Melbourne, 1997).
32. Figures calculated from H.J. Gibbney (compiler), Labour in Print: A Guide to the People Who Created a Labor Press in Australia between 1850 and 1939 (Canberra, 1975).
33. Marc Steinberg, Fighting Words: Working Class Formation, Collective Action, and Discourse in Early Nineteenth-Century England (Ithaca, NY, 1999), pp. 1-12.
34. Childe, How Labour Governs, chs 2 and 3; for an earlier account see "Price Warung" (William Astley), Labor in Politics - The Conference of November 1893:A Criticism and an Appeal (Sydney, 1893).
35. Childe, How Labour Governs, chs 2 and 3; for an earlier account see "Price Warung" (William Astley), Labor in Politics - The Conference of November 1893:A Criticism and an Appeal (Sydney, 1893).
36. Willam Lane to "My Dear Price Warung", 11 February 1893, Astley Papers, Mitchell Library (Sydney), [hereafter ML], MSS 250, box 1.
37. Terry Irving and Lucy Taksa (compilers), Places, Protests and Memorabilia: The Labour Heritage Register of New South Wales (Sydney, 2003), pp. 72-73, and throughout the database on the Sydney labour precinct.
38. For a discussion of this Struggle see Irving, "William Astley".
39. Astley, Labor in Politics.
40. Markey, Making of the Labor Party, ch. 6.
41. Cited in L.F. Fitzhardinge, William Morris Hughes - A Political Biography, vol. 1: "That Fiery Particle" 1862-1914 (Sydney, 1964), pp. 50, 60.
42. Examples of unions re-formed by intellectuals at this time include the Sydney Wharf Labourers' (by Hughes), the Newcastle Wharf Labourers' (socialist H.E. Holland), the Tailoresses' Union (Holland?), Storemen's Union (Hughes), Trolley, Drayman and Carters' Union (Hughes), and the Waterside Workers' Federation, the first national committee of which contained only one person connected with the industry and only one non-politician! See Fitzhardinge, William Morris Hughes, pp. 108-109.
43. Ibid., p. 103.
44. Ibid., p. 207.
45. W.M. Hughes, The Case for Labor (Sydney, 1970, first publ. 1910).
46. Democrat, 5 December 1891.
47. Hughes, The Case for Labor, p. 99.
48. Boote, The Human Ladder, p. 125.
49. Ibid., p. 31.
50. Childe, How Labour Governs, p. 192.
51. George Black was also expelled at this time, as was New South Wales's first Labor Premier, James McGowen.
52. Childe, How Labour Governs, p. 55, and chs 2 and 3.
53. Ibid., pp. 160-161.
54. The phrase is borrowed from Marilyn Lake, The Divided Society: Tasmania During World War I (Melbourne, 1975).
55. "Who Are the Working Class?", Barrier Daily Truth, 2 September 1920, p. 3.
56. Barrier Daily Truth, 15 and 19 March, 1910.
57. V.G. Childe to Reg Byrne, 14 March 1919, Meanjin Archives, in University of Melbourne Archives.
58. L.J. Villiers, The War on the Workers (Melbourne, 1919).
59. W.P. Earsman to Secretary, Victorian Labor College, 11 September 1910, University of Melbourne Archives, Victorian Labour College Papers, folder marked 1920.
60. Christian Jollie Smith to Esmonde Higgins, 2 May 1922, ML, E.M. Higgins papers, MSS 740/11/169.
61. "The Human Factor", The Communist, 1 July 1921.
62. Ibid; also The Australian Communist, 11 March and 12 August 1921.
63. Ibid; also The Australian Communist, 11 March and 12 August 1921.
64. Childe to Reg Byrne, 14 March 1919, Meanjin Archives, University of Melbourne. Childe had also joined trade-union officials in deputations to the governments of NSW and Queensland about the rights of "political" prisoners.
65. Childe, speech to the WEA conference, Brisbane, Daily Standard, 25 March 1919.
66. Childe's review of G.K. Heydon, Wage-Slavery (London, 1924), Plebs, July 1924, p. 288.
67. Childe's review of G.K. Heydon, Wage-Slavery (London, 1924), Plebs, July 1924, p. 288.
68. Greg Patmore, "Employee Representation Plans in North America and Australia, 1915-35: An Employer Response to Workplace Democracy", unpublished paper, delivered at Holme Conference Centre, University of Sydney, 1 June 2001.
69. Terry Irving, "Early Views of Industrial Democracy: Australia, 1914-1921", unpublished paper delivered at Holme Conference Centre, University of Sydney, 1 June 2001.
70. Constance Lamour, "The Y Club and the One Big Union", Labour History, 19 (November 1970), pp. 26-36.
71. Daily Standard, 6 May 1919, p. 6.
72. The Communist, 17 June 1921.
73. Common Cause, 15 July 1921.
74. Ibid., 28 July 1922; on "control" as an object of research see The Communist, 17 June 1921 and Common Cause, 15 July 1921.
75. Ibid., 28 July 1922; on "control" as an object of research see The Communist, 17 June 1921 and Common Cause, 15 July 1921.
76. Ibid., 28 July 1922; on "control" as an object of research see The Communist, 17 June 1921 and Common Cause, 15 July 1921.
77. Labor Daily, 12 March 1925 (Higgins); Labor Daily Supplement, 12 December 1925 (Voigt).
78. Labor Daily, 12 March 1925 (Higgins); Labor Daily Supplement, 12 December 1925 (Voigt).
79. A.C. Willis, Social Insurance (Sydney, 1926); Voigt may have written this - his ideas are discussed in ch. 4.
80. E.R. Voigt, "Wireless: Its Worth to Workers", Labor Daily Supplement, 19 December 1925.
81. M. Roe, "The New Outlook", in P. Gathercole, T. Irving, and G. Melleuish (eds), Childe and Australia: Archaeology, Politics and Ideas (St Lucia, QLD, 1995), pp. 51-66.
82. M. Roe, "The New Outlook", in P. Gathercole, T. Irving, and G. Melleuish (eds), Childe and Australia: Archaeology, Politics and Ideas (St Lucia, QLD, 1995), pp. 51-66.
83. "A National Newspaper", reprint of proposal, The Australian Communist, 22 April 1911.
84. The proposal was not received well in some labour circles. See "Telling 'the People' the Truth", The Australian Communist, 22 April 1921.
85. Lamour, "The Y Club and the One Big Union"; Frederick Macartney, Proof Against Failure (Sydney, 1967), pp. 78-79; A.W. Foster to F. Sinclaire, 29 October 1918 (contains publishing proposals of the Y Club), intercepted by censor; Australian Archives, Victoria, CIS, 95/1 Intelligence Reports, file 169/49-55.
86. Lamour, "The Y Club and the One Big Union"; Frederick Macartney, Proof Against Failure (Sydney, 1967), pp. 78-79; A.W. Foster to F. Sinclaire, 29 October 1918 (contains publishing proposals of the Y Club), intercepted by censor; Australian Archives, Victoria, CIS, 95/1 Intelligence Reports, file 169/49-55.
87. Lamour, "The Y Club and the One Big Union"; Frederick Macartney, Proof Against Failure (Sydney, 1967), pp. 78-79; A.W. Foster to F. Sinclaire, 29 October 1918 (contains publishing proposals of the Y Club), intercepted by censor; Australian Archives, Victoria, CIS, 95/1 Intelligence Reports, file 169/49-55.
88. "Radix", Ability and Labour, Ross's Book Service (Melbourne, 1918).
89. Bede Nairn, The "Big Fella": Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party, 1891-1949 (Melbourne, 1986). On the socialization units, see Robert Cooksey, Lang and Socialism: A Study in the Great Depression (Canberra, 1976).
90. Bede Nairn, The "Big Fella": Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party, 1891-1949 (Melbourne, 1986). On the socialization units, see Robert Cooksey, Lang and Socialism: A Study in the Great Depression (Canberra, 1976).
91. The "minority movement" strategy began earlier than the Comintern's "third period", but in Australia at least, because of the peculiar position of the ACTU and the Sydney Labor Council as affiliates of the RILU, it was not possible to endorse it in a major way until 1929. See Stuart Macintyre, The Reds, ch. 8.
92. Connie Healy, Defiance: Political Theatre in Brisbane, 1930-1962 (Mt Nebo, QLD, 2000), ch. 1.
93. Brian Fitzpatrick, A Short History of the Australian Labor Movement (Melbourne, 1968, reprint of the 1944 2nd edn), p. 251.
94. Carole Ferrier, Jean Devanny: Romantic Revolutionary (Melbourne, 1999), ch. 5.
95. For detailed discussion of this process, see Sean Scalmer, "The Career of Class: Intellectuals and the Labour Movement in Australia, 1942-56", (Ph.D., Department of Government, University of Sydney, 1997). A specific example is the case of Lloyd Ross; see Stephen Holt, A Veritable Dynamo: Lloyd Ross and Australian Labour 1901-1987 (St Lucia, QLD, 1996), ch. 8.
96. Margo Beasley, Wharfies: A History of the Waterside Workers' Federation of Australia (Sydney, 1996), p. 115.
97. Communist patriotism first appeared in the 1930s popular-front movement. See Macintyre, The Reds, pp. 316-318; for the 19405 and 1950s see Boris Frankel, From the Prophets Deserts Come: The Struggle to Reshape Australian Political Culture (Melbourne, 1992), ch. 1; J. Docker, "Culture, Society and the Communist Party", in Ann Curthoys and John Merritt (eds), Australia's First Cold War: vol. 1 1945-1953, (Sydney, 1984), pp. 183-212.
98. Communist patriotism first appeared in the 1930s popular-front movement. See Macintyre, The Reds, pp. 316-318; for the 19405 and 1950s see Boris Frankel, From the Prophets Deserts Come: The Struggle to Reshape Australian Political Culture (Melbourne, 1992), ch. 1; J. Docker, "Culture, Society and the Communist Party", in Ann Curthoys and John Merritt (eds), Australia's First Cold War: vol. 1 1945-1953, (Sydney, 1984), pp. 183-212.
99. Communist patriotism first appeared in the 1930s popular-front movement. See Macintyre, The Reds, pp. 316-318; for the 19405 and 1950s see Boris Frankel, From the Prophets Deserts Come: The Struggle to Reshape Australian Political Culture (Melbourne, 1992), ch. 1; J. Docker, "Culture, Society and the Communist Party", in Ann Curthoys and John Merritt (eds), Australia's First Cold War: vol. 1 1945-1953, (Sydney, 1984), pp. 183-212.
100. Communist patriotism first appeared in the 1930s popular-front movement. See Macintyre, The Reds, pp. 316-318; for the 19405 and 1950s see Boris Frankel, From the Prophets Deserts Come: The Struggle to Reshape Australian Political Culture (Melbourne, 1992), ch. 1; J. Docker, "Culture, Society and the Communist Party", in Ann Curthoys and John Merritt (eds), Australia's First Cold War: vol. 1 1945-1953, (Sydney, 1984), pp. 183-212.
101. Derek Whitelock, The Great Tradition: A History of Adult Education in Australia (St Lucia, QLD, 1974), ch. 7; Ken Dallas to Esmonde Higgins, 11 August 1944, ML, E.M. Higgins Papers, MSS 740, vol. 13, f. 133.
102. Derek Whitelock, The Great Tradition: A History of Adult Education in Australia (St Lucia, QLD, 1974), ch. 7; Ken Dallas to Esmonde Higgins, 11 August 1944, ML, E.M. Higgins Papers, MSS 740, vol. 13, f. 133.
103. Bob to Esmonde Higgins, September 1943, ibid. f. 83.
104. Bob Corcoran, "The Manifold Causes of the Labor Split", in Peter Love and Paul Strangio (eds), Arguing the Cold War (Melbourne, 2001), pp. 91-100.
105. For "generalship" in the leadership of social movements, see Alan Johnson, "Leadership and Historical Materialism: Reading Christopher Hill", paper presented at "Making Social Movements: The British Marxist Historians and the Study of Social Movements" conference at Edge Hill College of Higher Education, 26-28 June 2002. See also Colin Barker, Alan Johnson, and Michael Lavalette (eds), Leadership and Social Movements (Manchester, 2001).
106. Bradon Ellem (ed.), The Great Labour Movement Split in New South Wales: Inside Stories (Sydney, 1998).
107. John Murphy, Imagining the Fifties: Private Sentiment and Political Culture in Menzies' Australia (Sydney, 2000), particularly part 2.
108. The history of these movements is narrated in Verity Burgmann, Power, Profit and Protest: Australian Social Movements and Globalisation (Sydney, 2003).
109. On the Communist Party, see David McKnight (ed.), Moving Left: The Future of Socialism in Australia (Sydney [etc.], 1986). On the Labor Party, see Gough Whitlam, The Whitlam Government, 1972-1975 (Ringwood, VIC, 1985), chs 13-15; Graham Richardson, Whatever It Takes (Sydney, 1994), ch. 16.
110. On the Communist Party, see David McKnight (ed.), Moving Left: The Future of Socialism in Australia (Sydney [etc.], 1986). On the Labor Party, see Gough Whitlam, The Whitlam Government, 1972-1975 (Ringwood, VIC, 1985), chs 13-15; Graham Richardson, Whatever It Takes (Sydney, 1994), ch. 16.
111. On the Communist Party, see David McKnight (ed.), Moving Left: The Future of Socialism in Australia (Sydney [etc.], 1986). On the Labor Party, see Gough Whitlam, The Whitlam Government, 1972-1975 (Ringwood, VIC, 1985), chs 13-15; Graham Richardson, Whatever It Takes (Sydney, 1994), ch. 16.
112. This is detailed in Sean Scalmer, Dissent Events: Protest, the Media and the Political Gimmick in Australia (Sydney, 2002), ch. 3.
113. Kevin McDonald, "After the Labour Movement: Strategic Unionism, Investment, and New Social Conflicts", Thesis Eleven, 20 (1988), pp. 30-50.
114. For example, through the Art and Working Life projects, funded by the Australia Council in the 1980.
115. On the rise of experts, see James Walter, Ministers' Minders: Personal Advisers in National Government (Melbourne, 1986); S. Scalmer and Terry Irving, "The Rise of the Modern Labour Technocrat: Intellectual Labour and the Transformation of the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union, 1973-85", Labour History, 77 (November 1999), pp. 64-82.
116. On the rise of experts, see James Walter, Ministers' Minders: Personal Advisers in National Government (Melbourne, 1986); S. Scalmer and Terry Irving, "The Rise of the Modern Labour Technocrat: Intellectual Labour and the Transformation of the Amalgamated Metal Workers' Union, 1973-85", Labour History, 77 (November 1999), pp. 64-82.