The 18 May election has ended any sense in which Australia can feel apart from the political stresses and upheavals that over the past decade have come to characterise much of the West. Certainly what has been called the revolt against the elites has now been confirmed here. Of course it is a particular kind of leadership that is being rejected, one associated with globalisation, immigration, education and inner-city life-differentiated from, and a parallel universe…
Reflections on the social form of the scientific age. The fear of the power of nuclear weapons since 1945 has been widely shared by publics everywhere. Suddenly, after the unrelenting horrors of six years of world war, people were confronted by destructive powers they had no way of comprehending: previous forms of warfare were not comparable and this new power seemed to come from nowhere - it was entirely mysterious, except for the known fact…
The drama of the GFC is unforgettable for those who lived through it. It was as though the whole world was on a precipice, not for a day or a week but for months, with radical uncertainty about who and what could be trusted financially, an issue that remains to this day. Globally, some of the largest banks were closing. In the United States property prices were falling dramatically. Exporters and importers could not get…
Though a significant minority across the world enjoy the gross material benefits of a prodigiously productive global economy, our planet is at the same time beset by escalating system-level crises. Deep economic inequality is intensifying both between and within national polities. Ecological degradation is calling into question the future of the earth as we know it, with disruptive climate change only the most prominent issue. Global (dis)order is stoking increased militarisation, including the possession of…
This section is composed entirely of an essay written by Geoff Sharp. The essay was not finalised before Geoff died in 2015. It contains some unfinished sections, and has been edited by the 'Arena Journal' editors so that it is largely complete. Needless to say, if Geoff had had more time he may well have taken this contribution a further stage.
