Public Policy
Book Details

The Origins of Multiculturalism in Australian Politics 1945-1975

Mark Lopez

This is the first systematic study of the historical origins of multiculturalism in Australian politics.

Opinion

'(Lopez) is a historian not an advocate. But he is also a writer. Anyone who knows little about his topic will be riveted to the page as they find out what really went on behind the scenes. Those who come to his book with no prior knowledge will learn a great deal about a key turning point in Australia's history and they will also enjoy the experience.' Katherine Betts, People and Place, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2000

'If histories of revolutions are written, necessarily, when they are over, then the passing of a quiet revolution called 'multiculturalism' will be marked by Mark Lopez's 'The Origins of Multiculturalism in Australian Politics'.'
'authoritative and lengthy'.
'a valuable standard for future scholarly work in this area'.
Robert Wolfgramm, The Age, 11 November 2000)

About this Title

This is the first systematic study of the historical origins of multiculturalism in Australian politics. It answers such fundamental questions as: what is multiculturalism; how did it originate; and how did it become a basis for the Australian government's ethnic affairs policy?

Researched from primary evidence -- much of it made available to the author exclusively -- it is an essential and solid foundation for future research and policy work in this field.

Multiculturalism continues to stir emotions and excite passionate public debate. This work presents new, accurate, ideologically neutral, historically based definitions of multiculturalism. It also provides accurate and analytically useful definitions and explanations of assimilationism and integrationism, thus establishing a valuable framework for analysis and debate.

Table of Contents

Foreword by The Honourable Sir James Gobbo AC
Preface
Abbreviations

Introduction: An Approach to Understanding Multiculturalism
Part One
1 Assimilationism, Integrationism and Anti-assimilationism: 1945-1965
2 International and Domestic Influences: 1960s and early 1970s
3 Proto-multiculturalism: 1966-1970
4 The Emergence of the Ethnic Rights Movement: 1969-1972
5 From Proto-multiculturalism to Multiculturalism: 1971-1972
Part Two
6 The New Political Environment: The Whitlam Government: December 1972 - June 1973
7 The Beginning of the Multicultural Era: July 1973 - May 1974
8 The Multiculturalist Presence: December 1972 - May 1974
9 The Dismemberment of the Department of Immigration and its Consequences: May - December 1974
10 The Culmination of the Early Formative Phase of Multculturalism: 1975
Conclusion: A Typology and History of Multicultural Ideology

Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Dr Mark Lopez gained his PhD at Monash University in 1997. He has been a factory hand, a labourer, a storeman, a dishwasher, a nightclub DJ and a university tutor, and currently runs a private tutoring business called Competitive Advantage.

978-0-522-84895-3