The Postmodern Left

Niall Lucy; Steve Mickler

doi:10.5130/csr.v15i1.2062

PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v15i1.2062

Keywords:

postmodernity, Australian politics, the left

Niall Lucy

Curtin University of Technology

Steve Mickler

Curtin University of Technology

Abstract

A certain version of the political left is at one with conservatives in misrepresenting ‘postmodernism’ in order to denounce it. For this ‘left’, which recoils from the left’s historically indivisible association with Marx, the purpose of politics is simply to win government for itself. Our argument here is that, ironically, such a purpose mirrors the very lack of purpose that conservatives define ‘postmodernism’ to represent. Hence the recent call by Clive Hamilton for the left to turn to the churches for moral guidance, in the absence of any meaningful political convictions.

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2009): Homefronts

Section

Provocations (Peer Reviewed)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed undera Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (ie. a copy of a work which has been published in a UTS ePRESS journal, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the UTS ePRESS publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.

d) Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.

Author Biographies

Niall Lucy, Curtin University of Technology

Niall Lucy is a Research Fellow in the Humanities at Curtin University of Technology and a member of the consultancy board of Derrida Today. His books include A Derrida Dictionary, Beyond Semiotics: Text, Culture and Technology and (with Steve Mickler) The War on Democracy: Conservative Opinion in the Australian Press.

Steve Mickler, Curtin University of Technology

Steve Mickler is Head of the School of Media, Culture & Creative Arts at Curtin University of Technology and author of Gambling on the First Race: Racism and Talk-Back Radio, The Myth of Privilege: Aboriginal Status, Media Visions, Public Ideas and (with Niall Lucy) The War on Democracy: Conservative Opinion in the Australian Press.

Article Sidebar

Main Article Content

Abstract

Article Details

Niall Lucy, Curtin University of Technology

Steve Mickler, Curtin University of Technology