From Subject to Citizen
Australian Citizenship in the Twentieth Century

This important, theoretically sophisticated work explores the concepts of liberal democracy, citizenship and rights.

Alastair Davidson (Author)

9780521459730, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 May 1997

356 pages, 13 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.528 kg

'… wonderfully broad-ranging … this is a book with which any serious scholar of Australian citizenship will need to engage.' Australian Historical Studies

This important, theoretically sophisticated work explores the concepts of liberal democracy, citizenship and rights. Grounded in critical original research, the book examines Australia's political and legal institutions, and traces the history and future of citizenship and the state in Australia. The central theme is that making proofs of belonging to the national culture a precondition of citizenship is inappropriate for a multicultural society such as Australia. This becomes an object lesson for the multicultural regional politics throughout the world.

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. From Subject to Citizen 1901–1996: 1. Civis Romanus Sum
2. From subject to citizen I: to 1948
3. Nationality and the citizen II: 1948–1986
4. From subject to citizen III: 1983–1996
Part II. Discourses of Exclusion: 5. Discourses of exclusion, silencing the migrant voice
6. Aborigines and citizenship: discourses of exclusion
Part III. The Active Citizen and Beyond: 7. The active citizen and direct democracy in Australia
Conclusion
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]