To Constitute a Nation: A Cultural History of Australia's Constitution

by Helen Irving

• ISBN13: 9780521668972
• ISBN10: 0521668972
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-06-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This imaginative and resonant book looks at the constitution as a cultural artifact. Irving looks beyond the well-known events, places and figures to locate federation and the constitution in the context of broader social, political and cultural changes. Despite its paradoxical construction, there is something uniquely Australian about the constitution, and it marked a utopian moment as the old century gave way to the new. Irving analyzes the background and outcomes of the recent Constitutional Convention and considers its significance for Australia's future. A new chapter covers the development of the constitution in the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Chronology	xii
Introduction	1	(5)
Colonial Nuptials	6	(19)
The Imaginary Nation	25	(21)
Imagined Constitutions	46	(16)
Models For a Nation	62	(17)
Things Properly Federal	79	(21)
White Australians	100	(19)
Australian Natives	119	(15)
The People	134	(22)
Citizens	156	(15)
Half the Nation	171	(25)
The Federal Compact	196	(16)
Conclusion	212	(4)
Epilogue	216	(4)
Appendix: Key Sections of the Constitution	220	(4)
Notes	224	(20)
Select Bibliography	244	(9)
Index	253