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A critique of Marilyn Lake’s Progressive New World

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Lake Marilyn, Progressive New World: How Settler Colonialism and Transpacific Exchange Shaped American Reform. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press, 2019, pp.: 307, ISBN: 9780674975958, US$35.00 (hardback).

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Braham Dabscheck
Braham Dabscheck*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Australia
*
Braham Dabscheck, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Email: bdabsche@bigpond.net.au
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Abstract

This review article provides a critique of Marilyn Lake’s Progressive New World, a monograph that postulates that Australian/Australasian transpacific exchange shaped the development of American progressivism. The review outlines the major contours of her claim, notes her ambivalence concerning her overall position, and critiques her decision to not explain/examine differences in the political culture of the United States of America and Australia. The review seeks to overcome this problem by examining key differences in the cultural history of both societies and draws on the insights of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy and America. The review (a) develops a model which provides a means to understand how one society can impact another; (b) contrasts the origins of progressivism in the United States of America and Australia; (c) examines the work of the Australian scholar Michael Roe, who postulated that American progressivism was the independent factor impacting Australian developments; (d) distinguishes between two types of progressivism – racist conceit, pure and simple, and broader social reforms, which may or may not entrench racist conceit; and (e) examines various dimensions of progressivism which Marilyn Lake has used in developing her claim.

Keywords

B10B22Alexis de TocquevillearbitrationAustraliaAustralian ballotelectoral reformimmigrantsIndigenous peoplematernity and infant allowancesMichael Roeminimum wageNew Zealandracist conceittrade unionsUnited States of Americawomen’s suffrage
Type
Review Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 30 , Issue 3: Labour Standards: New International Cases of Erosion and Defence , September 2019 , pp. 441 - 451
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019

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