Founded in 1963 by figures in Australia’s New Left as a forum to debate and develop new ideas about local and global change, Arena has occupied a unique place in Australian cultural and political life ever since.
At the heart of our project is a commitment to the creation of an engaged human and ecologically embedded condition for all. This is a commitment that draws on Left political traditions and a green revisioning of the world but goes beyond simple or entrenched versions of those ideas.
Arena is especially interested in how people and communities draw on complex cultural practices and life-ways that may defy the logic of cybercapitalism, and on which basis the social might be understood anew.
We produce two publications: Arena Quarterly, a regular magazine for critical comment and interpretation, and Arena Online, a fortnightly series of essays accessed through this website. Arena also organises public discussions, reading and research groups, and other activities. We invite you to become a subscriber and to attend our events. You will find many of our articles available through this website. For the full set of our publications, go to Informit.
Arena has never accepted government support of any kind. We remain completely independent, supported by an engaged community of writers, readers and volunteers.
Based on a concern about the displacement of human agency, Arena endeavours not to publish any image or text that has been generated by AI. We encourage our writers not to use AI in any stage of the written process.
Please consider making a donation via this website, or speak to John Hinkson about the Arena Foundation, which has been established to support Arena financially. Contact John on +613 8566 7274 or at .
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