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THE SYMBOLISM OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA 1965 - 1975 Gabrielle Johnstone Master of Arts (Hons.) University of New South Wales. 1984. I hereby certify that the wD�k contained in this thesis has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution. I hereby declare that this is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree of diploma of a University or other Institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of this thesis . Gabrielle Johnstone ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Associate Professor Donald Horne for his valued guidance and experience, given generously, during the preparation of this thesis. SUHMARY In this thesis an attempt was made to examine the period 1965-1975, in Australia, in terms of the symbolic politics of social change in certain fields of "protest", viz the anti­ Vietnam movements, women's movements, enviromental movements, Aboriginal movements, "permissiveness" movements and (to a lesser extent) "ethnic consciousness" movements. There was a concern with both the instrumental and the expressive functions of these forms of protest. Particular reliance was placed on some of the concepts developed by Kenneth Burke, Hugh Dalziel Duncan, Orrin.E.Klapp, Murray Edelman, James Combs and Michael Mansfield. These concepts were used in an examination of pamphlets, petitions, editorials, letters to the editor of newspapers and magazines, books, badges, stickers, posters and contemporary accounts of the activities pursued by the movements referred to. This resulted in a classification of various forms of protest action. Within each of these classifications there was examination of both instrumental and expressive elements - and also with paradoxes of unintended consequences. The protest forms were seen to be capable of developing a "life" of their own. One of the main conclusions reached has been concerned with the need, on occasion, to use symbolic forms of protest/challenge in order to place new items on the agenda, or to re-define existing agenda items. However, the very theatricality of the techniques used not only attracts attention and gives reassurance to followers: it can also produce unintended consequences. The stu<iy of the theatricalities of agenda - changing merits closer attention Dy political scientists than it has traditionally received. There is a need to develop new methods of analysis. CONTENTS Page SYNOPSIS INTRODUCTION The Symbolism of Political and Social Change in Australia. 1965-1975. 1 CHAPTER ONE Widening the Issues of Debate Through Established Mechanism. 17 CHAPTER TWO A New Language 80 CHAPTER THREE Rituals 134 CHAPTER FOUR FESTIVALS 198 CHAPTER FIVE Dramatic Characters Within the Public Domain 245 THE INVESTIGATION OF SYMBOLIC FORMS 300 BIBLIOGRAPHY 304 SYNOPSIS The thesis is an attempt to look at the period 1965 to 1975 in Australia in terms of "symbolic politics". The meaning of "symbolic politics" is given through the use of wr:ttings dealing with theories of the use of symbolism in both political and social life. As a basis of this period, the thesis is concerned with the actions and activities pursued by a number of movements, namely: the anti-Vietnam movements, the permissive movements, the environmental movements, the women's movements, the Aboriginal movements, and the moves for a multi-cultural Australia. Each of these movements and the activities it pursued provided powerful displays within the public domain. The thesis attempts to show the way in which issues were forced onto the political agenda, the diversity of methods used and the resulting new constructions of political and social reality. In an attempt to force items onto the political agenda these groups provided a "language" of memorable images, of scenes in the public domain and dramatic characters. They provided new and diverse methods of becoming involved in political and social issues and of activating public awareness and individual conscience. These new and diverse methods of activating public awareness and individual conscience relied on the use of what will be referred to as "symbolic forms". The significance of such forms and their use is a major theme of the thesis. The examination of such forms serves to show that the style itself of protest/challenge used by many of the movements noted, was very much a part of such protest/challenge. The "symbolic forms" used became a part of the message being communicated, that is, these forms once created, then had the potential to be creative - they could take on a life of their own. Unusual "symbolic forms" as a means of affecting political and social life were not however, employed by all sections of Australian society. Some chose to use more orthodox modes of expression, forms of discourse more in line with commonly accepted standards of behaviour and established values~ and beliefs. Attention is also given to these sections of society and to the significance of the discourse employed. -1- INTRODUCTION THE SYMBOLISM OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN AUSTRALIA 1965 - 1975 "The use of symbolic forms of expression to develop theory and method in human studies is not new. The works of Fustel de Coulonges, W. Robertson Smith, Emile Durkheim, Bronislaw Malinowski, and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, as well as the work of Weber, Troeltsch, and Tawney, indicate how much social thought owes to the s~udy of symbolic expression in society. But these studies and indeed, almost the whole body of sociological thought of the social bond, are based on religious expression."1· However, more recent study has attempted to pay some attention to the use of symbolic forms as a means to include a wider version of human relations, and interaction within societies. Kenneth Burke stresses that "social interaction is not a process, but a dramatic expression, an enactment of roles by individuals who seek to identify with each other in their search to create social order. George Mead, too described such enactments as foTITis similar to those in play, games and drama."2 • According to Burke, one of the foremost advocates and analysts of political and social symbolism, "men build symbolic structures on nature."3 · 1. Hugh Dalziel Duncan. Communication and Social Order, p 7, (Bedminister Press, New York, 1962). 2. Ibid., p 5. 3. James E. Combs and Michael W. Mansfield (ed.), Drama in Life. The Use of Communication in Society, (Hastings House Publishers, 1976), preface xviii. -2- Burke argues that man is the orlly animal able to conceive (and act upon) negatives and can control and structure his "actions" upon the basis of symbolic meanings that are not reducible to "natural" motives. As an example Burke says, men do not simply kill for food, but for gods and countries. "Men are then separated from their 'natural condition' by their own creation of a symbolic world which overlays the natural one. " 4 · Burke insists that man is a, "symbol using, (symbol making symbol rrrrsus1ng. ) an1ma. 1 • .. 5. So that man and his experiences are based on the dominance of symbols in his life. Burke asks, "can we bring ourselves to realize ...• just how overwhelmingly much of what we mean by 'reality' has been built up for us through nothing but our symbol systems?"6 • He goes on to suggest, "however important the tiny sliver of reality each of us has experienced firsthand, the whole overall 'picture' is but a construction of our symbol systems."7• For Burke the inference is clear;." life is drama. Action means structured behaviour in terms of symbols, which implies choice, conflict and cooperation, which men communicate to each other. Society is a drama in which actions, in terms of social symbols, are the crucial events."8 • Such analysis comes from Burke's own paradigm, "things move, men act."9· Burke says, "the dramatistic approach 4. Ibid 5. Kenneth Burke, Language As Symbolic Action, p 16.(Berkeley and Los Angeles University of California Press, 1966). 6. Ibid., p 5. 7. Ibid 8. Combs and Mansfield, op.cit., preface xviii. 9. Ibid. -3- (into human relations and human motives) is implicit in the key term 'act·'. 'Act,, is thus a terministic centre from which many related considerations can be shown to 'radiate11'! 10 · From such a terministic centre, Burke is able to explore the possibilities. He stresses that in order "for there to be an 'act' there must be an 'agent'. Similarly there must be a 'scene' in which the agent acts. To act in a scene the agent must employ some means, or 'agency'. And it can be called an act in the full sense of the term only if it involves a 'purpose'. These five terms (act, scene, agent, agency, purpose) have been labelled the dramatic pentad; the aim of calling attention to them in this way is to show how the functions in which they designate operate in the imputing of motives."11 • In other words, for Burke these dimensions are what the "inquirer needs to understand action, whether it be in the context of a drama or in real life. Actions occur within the framework of a social scene or milieu, the action is conducted by an agent with a conception of an 'attitude', about what is 'appropriate' to the scene; the actor uses the means at his disposal to accomplish the action, and the action is done for some purpose."12 · Burke's system of "dramatism" is an attempt to show how symbols work in social behaviour. If we agree with Burke's concept that man is a symbol-using animal, "we must stress symbolism as a motive in any discussion of social behaviour."13 · 10.

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