The racial ideologies of Pauline Hanson will be examined at a free public lecture at The University of Queensland on Thursday, May 24.
UQ's Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies has organised the lecture, the second in its 2001 program of public lectures by researchers from the Faculty of Arts.
Associate Professor Kay Saunders of UQ's School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics will discuss Racial Ideologues: Pauline Hanson's Heritage at the lecture at the Prentice Building, Lecture room 216 at 5.30pm.
Dr Saunders said the official demise of the White Australia Policy in 1966 signalled a change in official policies towards the issues of race in Australia. The Mabo decision in 1996 and the Wik decision in the High Court four years later also defined a new official attitude towards indigenous peoples.
"Clearly this change in official policy and practice was not matched in large sections of the community," she said.
"Rather than embracing the new multicultural Australia, many citizens wanted a return to the older forms of Australian -British privilege. They saw themselves as left behind in the new image of a progressive nation committed to an internationalist outlook.
"Coupled with the impact of a more globalised economy, many nativist Australians felt increasingly alien and alienated. This was to become the heartland of Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party."
Dr Saunders' lecture argues that rather than a massive shift in racial ideals through the post war period, there was a continuation of the older 19th century forms.
"Hanson's views were similar to those of William Lane, the socialist ideologue who led an experimental community devoted to white supremacy to Paraguay in 1893. It is not argued that Hanson is familiar with the intellectual underpinnings of her racial ideas but rather that she continues a form of folk racism that is almost identical with older forms of virulent notions of Anglo supremacy," she said.
Originally trained as an anthropologist, Dr Saunders AM, is currently a Reader in History at UQ. She has published widely in the fields of race relations, gender studies, Queensland history, federation and war and society. Dr Saunders is also on the Queensland Premier's Advisory Council for Women.
This lecture series aims to promote the research culture of the arts and humanities, in addition to showcasing the diversity of research currently being undertaken within the fields of critical and cultural studies.
The lecture will be chaired by Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies director Professor Graeme Turner. The public lecture program is supported by the UQ Alumni Association.
Enquiries to Ms Andrea Mitchell, Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, Phone: (07) 3365 7182, email: a.mitchell@mailbox.uq.edu.au a.mitchell@mailbox.uq.edu.au
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