181: INTELLECTUAL ACTIVISM
ISBN 0 9750837 8 3
SUMMER 2005
published 7 December 2005

A favoured punching bag of the media is the stereotype of the passive, insular, cloistered intellectual – out of touch with the society they inhabit, hopelessly elitist, and unwilling to put thought into action. This issue of Overland interrogates the myth by asking what it means to be an intellectual activist in the current climate. As editor Nathan Hollier points out, “genuine intellectual work and political activism have never been harder to practice”.

A highlight of this issue is our publication of a conversation we hosted between PATRICIA CORNELIUS and CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS, about the major themes of his recent work DEAD EUROPE. It’s entitled ‘Politics, Faith & Sex’. JEFF SPARROW, ANDREW McCANN, and CHRISTEN CORNELL provide incisive commentary on the novel in our special DEAD EUROPE symposium.

ROWAN CAHILL interviews American intellectual activist MARCUS REDIKER about his attempt to fuse a concern for social justice with scholarly research. Three of Rediker’s books are then reviewed by MICHAEL McDONNELL, who draws parallels between the current “War on Terror” and its previous incarnations.

PETER HOLDING exposes the wilful neglect of New Orleans by the US government. HEATHER MERLE BENBOW dissects the pseudo-feminism of the hijab debate gripping Australia. LUCY SUSSEX looks at recent Australian fiction, and KEN GELDER and JOY DAMOUSI examine the current state of the humanities and labour history, respectively.

RW CONNELL profiles Antonio Negri, perhaps the prototypical activist intellectual, and reminds us of his enduring contribution to radical thought.

There is also new work from LINDA JAIVIN and VIJAY MISHRA, and TONY KEVIN j’accuses the Howard government once again, as a postscript to his brilliant exposé A CERTAIN MARITIME INCIDENT.

Enquiries to Nathan Hollier or Karen Pickering on
+61 3 9919 4163.

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