(no subject)
It's been just over half a year, and the first (well, that I've seen) academic journal paper on the Cronulla riots has been published in British journal Race & Class a few days ago:
http://xalciene.tripod.com/cronulla.pdf
(Yes, it's a mirror, and not sure on the legality. If it's immorally wrong, let me know and i'll take it down).
If the name sounds familiar, thats Scott Poynting from Newtown, who is also a resident of the SMH letters page.
The most striking thing about this paper (well, the second most, after its brevity) is the title: 'What caused the Cronulla riot?' It's a valid question, but unfortunately, A/Prof Poynting doesn't make any serious attempt to answer it. As far as one-sided, cliche-ridden accounts of news events go, this is a great feature article (publishable perhaps in the Herald, although they might find it a bit one-sided). Now, by 'one-sided' I'm certainly not saying I disagree with all he says and that I agree with Iemma/Debnam/Jones etc. What I mean is that this paper is so quick to jump to conclusions of blame that it neglects a thorough analysis of the underlying causes of the riots. What about demographics, Mr. Poynting? What about more details on 'discrimination' and about the Cronulla beach culture?
To be honest, I'm surprised this was published by Race & Class. I admit I haven't read many of their articles, but what I've read before this has been of quite a high standard and intellectually rigorous. This paper, however, reads somewhat like an article from New Left Weekly or Socialist Alternative (no, I don't read those publications, but I'm basing that claim on my impressions of them). If we really want to have a productive discussion on the Cronulla riots, what caused them, why they were so abrupt and destructive and, most importantly, what can be done in the future to effectively prevent a re-occurence, there is a need for detailed, objective, straighforward analysis of the background to the incident, the demographic nature of Southern and South West Sydney, and constructive comparisons/contrasts to previous events both in Sydney and worldwide (and, of course, the role of the state/politics).
Let's hope someone else does a better job of addressing this topic in an academic manner.
http://xalciene.tripod.com/cronulla.pdf
(Yes, it's a mirror, and not sure on the legality. If it's immorally wrong, let me know and i'll take it down).
If the name sounds familiar, thats Scott Poynting from Newtown, who is also a resident of the SMH letters page.
The most striking thing about this paper (well, the second most, after its brevity) is the title: 'What caused the Cronulla riot?' It's a valid question, but unfortunately, A/Prof Poynting doesn't make any serious attempt to answer it. As far as one-sided, cliche-ridden accounts of news events go, this is a great feature article (publishable perhaps in the Herald, although they might find it a bit one-sided). Now, by 'one-sided' I'm certainly not saying I disagree with all he says and that I agree with Iemma/Debnam/Jones etc. What I mean is that this paper is so quick to jump to conclusions of blame that it neglects a thorough analysis of the underlying causes of the riots. What about demographics, Mr. Poynting? What about more details on 'discrimination' and about the Cronulla beach culture?
To be honest, I'm surprised this was published by Race & Class. I admit I haven't read many of their articles, but what I've read before this has been of quite a high standard and intellectually rigorous. This paper, however, reads somewhat like an article from New Left Weekly or Socialist Alternative (no, I don't read those publications, but I'm basing that claim on my impressions of them). If we really want to have a productive discussion on the Cronulla riots, what caused them, why they were so abrupt and destructive and, most importantly, what can be done in the future to effectively prevent a re-occurence, there is a need for detailed, objective, straighforward analysis of the background to the incident, the demographic nature of Southern and South West Sydney, and constructive comparisons/contrasts to previous events both in Sydney and worldwide (and, of course, the role of the state/politics).
Let's hope someone else does a better job of addressing this topic in an academic manner.