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Keywords: Scapegoat

  • AUSTRALIA

    How Sam Kerr sparked a national conversation on racism

    • Joel Hodge
    • 27 March 2024

    Sam Kerr’s alleged comment to a UK police officer has divided opinion as to whether it constitutes racism. The central question involves whether a structural understanding of racism should supersede a universal, neutral sense of racism of the kind that is enshrined in law.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    End of year thoughts in the Endarkenment 2023

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 20 December 2023

    It’s becoming an age of Endarkenment. Was it ever thus? So many going mad with one half of the facts? Moved by ignorance and targeted misinformation, compassion becomes corrupted into a rage for vengeance, and our streets heave with mobs who chant hate. It’s made me worried and sad. But I won’t give up on Christmas.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Being disinterested in Djokovic

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 20 September 2023
    3 Comments

    Novak Djokovic's on-court triumphs are undeniable, yet off-court controversies spark widespread debate. Navigating the complex interplay of admiration, critique, and understanding becomes essential in grasping the narrative of this unparalleled yet enigmatic champion. Can we disentangle his sporting prowess from off-court controversies?

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  • RELIGION

    Culture and conspiracy: In conversation with Fr Gerald Arbuckle

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 09 June 2023
    5 Comments

    Known for incisive insights into societal issues like fundamentalism, loneliness, and abuse, theologian and cultural anthropologist Fr Gerald Arbuckle is now examining the rise of conspiracy theories. In conversation with Michael McVeigh, Arbuckle discusses his work, cultural anthropology, and the impact of 'cultural trauma'.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Scapegoats of war

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 27 April 2023

    With the prosecution of low-level soldiers like SAS trooper Oliver Schulz for war crimes in Afghanistan, we should consider: what is the scope of accountability for war crimes under international and Australian law, and how does it apply to commanders who should have known about the crimes?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The book corner: The Escape Artist

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 11 October 2022

    Jonathan Freedland’s book is an extremely harrowing tour de force: at one stage I could read only a chapter at a time. But by the end I had been reminded of the power of the human spirit, and of the way in which some people, those with a sense of mission, can endure almost any trial. Resilience is a great gift.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The pity of war

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 26 May 2022
    11 Comments

    In the photo I have just seen Vadim Shishimarin is in the dock, hanging his head. He is 21, but looks about 15 as he stands there in the polycarbonate box, the first Russian soldier to be charged and tried in Ukraine for a war crime. He holds the rank of sergeant and was a tank commander. At 21? (I’m embarrassed to recall how immature I was at 21.) It is likely he has a mother: I wonder how she is feeling right now, but think I can make a good guess.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The trouble with God powers: The Novak Djokovic case

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 08 February 2022
    5 Comments

    It should be troubling for anyone, religious, secular or agnostic, to be told that a human being wields anything approximating to ‘God like’ powers. That very suggestion implies a power unreviewable, unaccountable and at odds with the earthly rule of law.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    United by our national scapegoat

    • Joel Hodge
    • 20 January 2022
    14 Comments

    It is unusual when political enemies unite. We should take note of them. The spectacular deportation of Australian Open tennis champion, Novak Djokovic, is one such unusual moment. Feeling had risen to a mob-like fervour. One is left wondering why?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Blaming and buying

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 18 May 2020
    13 Comments

    Nothing in the world is single, as Shelley said, and we have proof of this in the general reaction to COVID-19. That spirit, however, seems to have its limitations. For some politicians are set on dividing people, rather than on uniting them.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A royal commission for the land

    • Kate Galloway
    • 20 January 2020
    16 Comments

    For our society to function responsively to what is now a dynamically changing context, we urgently need differently oriented governance. This will, no doubt, be unpalatable for some — both in government and in the general public. But without re-setting how we are governed, our land and our society will suffer further destruction.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    El Paso shooting and the rise of eco-fascism

    • Jeff Sparrow
    • 07 August 2019
    4 Comments

    The widespread despair about climate change, and the seeming inability of progressives to offer a solution, provides fertile soil for ecofascism to grow. In a sense, given the scale of the crisis, their apocalyptic vision of an environmental race war can sound more realistic than the pallid centrist nostrums that everyone knows won't work.

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