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Adam Shoemaker reviews 'In the Age of Mabo: History, Aborigines and Australia' edited by Bain Attwood

by
June 1996, no. 181

Adam Shoemaker reviews 'In the Age of Mabo: History, Aborigines and Australia' edited by Bain Attwood

by
June 1996, no. 181

Some of Australia’s most cogent historical analyses grow out of particular social moments: the close of World War II, the accession (and dismissal) of the Whitlam government, the bicentennial celebrations and protests of 1988. The High Court’s Mabo decision of June 1992 is just such a moment and it is no surprise to find another book which focuses on the aftermath of that landmark decision. Interestingly, In the Age of Mabo is also just as strongly the product of a certain time and political space: the 1991–96 prime ministership of Paul Keating. It is this framework which gives this varied collection of essays its sense of historical occasion; it is also this political underpinning which renders at least one of the contributions nearly obsolete.

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