Topic

History

This topic focuses on Australian social movement history. There is so much to learn from the stories of past collective action for social and ecological justice. Learning social movement history can provide insights about strategy, a vast toolbox of potential tactics, and abundant inspiration.

Two protestors have chained themselves to the railway line.

Frontline Action on Coal FLAC: Ten Years on the Climate Frontline

Frontline Action on Coal (FLAC) have used blockades and non-violent direct action to oppose new fossil fuel projects in Australia.

Australian Campaign Case Study: Divestment Campaign 2013 – 2021

Learn about the Divestment campaign case study in Australia which aimed to secure commitments from institutions to divest from fossil fuels.

Draftmen Go Free: A History of the Anti-Conscription Movement in Australia

An in-depth account of the hundreds of campaigns and actions that were carried out across Australia against the war and conscription.

Vida Goldstein, a woman wearing a hat and a black coat holding pieces of paper. The main one at the front resting on the lower half of her body reads Votes Women. Torture! In order of Home Secretary

Changing The World: The Women’s Political Association

The story of Vida Goldstein & the Women’s Political Association through their own words via a series of excerpts from speeches & publications.

ten dvd covers of movies about social movements struggles and leaders

Films and Documentaries about Social Justice, Movements, Victories and Leaders

Be inspired with this list of movies and documentaries about social movement struggles, victories and leaders – Selma, Milk, Silkwood, Norma Rae, Gandhi and more.

A 89 year old woman wearing a hat, knee length coat and dress stands in bare feet in the water of a bay holding an umbrella standing in front of a pile of dumped sand being tipped out of a truck

Fighting for the Foreshore: The Campaigns to Protect Mounts Bay and Kings Park

Read an account of Perth’s first two major conservation campaigns, the preservation of Kings Park bushland and the survival of Mounts Bay.

Strikers walking along a rocky beach next to the water holding signs. One reads Equal rights for all workers.

Defending Unionism: The Weipa Dispute, 1995

Learn how workers in Weipa forced a mining company to accommodate collective bargaining by combining strike action and a port blockade.

Brave Enough to say ‘No’: William White and the Fight against Military Conscription during the Vietnam War

Learn about the teacher’s, William White, fight against Military Conscription during the Vietnam War in Australia.

Women Fighting Back in the Depression Years

Read about the role that women played in unemployed movements during the Depression Years in Australia in this book excerpt by Janey Stone.

Campaign Case Study Template

A campaign case study template to get you started in capturing the details of your campaign to capture lessons for others and the future.

Learning from Peers and the Past: Writing Case Studies

This article provides tips and template for writing activist case studies that provide campaigners with opportunities to learn from peers and the past.

an old black and white photo of a procession of people walking along a street outside a hotel with text on their roof that reads Royal Hotel

Beer Strikes: A History of Hotel Boycotts in Australia, 1900-1920

Watch this video presentation about beer strikes and the history of hotel / pub boycotts in Australia in the early 1900s.

black and white photo of two police dragging one person along the ground and accompanying another woman off a sports oval

Australian Actions at the Point of Assumption

Points of Assumption – A list of Australian examples of tactics and actions that have reframed debates and beliefs and made social change.

a group of people protesting on the street wearing face masks and holding their fists in the air. There is a banner in the back reading Black Lives Matter. The person at the front wearing an Australian Aboriginal flag is holding their phone.

Australian Actions at Different Points of Intervention

Australian examples of actions that intensify impact in terms of ensuring visibility, challenging opponents, and disrupting narratives.

screenshot of book cover called Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1985. There is a collage of various book covers.

Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950 to 1986

Radical Science Fiction – Watch videos from a symposium held in 2022 focused on the links between sci-fi and forms of activism.

workers sitting on steps outside Opera House

The 1972 Sydney Opera House Work-In

Learn about the Sydney Opera House ‘work-in’ carried out by construction workers who expelled management & continued work under workers’ control.

a group of men in work clothes covered in coal dust wearing hard hats with miners lamps on the hats

The Nymboida Coal Mine Takeover, NSW, 1975–1979

How workers at the Nymboida coal mine in NSW resisted mass sackings by taking over and running the mine themselves in 1975. firstly through an occupation and then via union ownership.

Lines of Resistance: What can the Old Left offer today’s creatives?

Lines of Resistance: A Symposium on Media, Arts & Activism that profiles research on the role of media and visual arts in activist movements.

an illustration of a pair of scissors opened up to cut under the title which reads The Barber who read history

A Shelf of Reds: Neglected Radical Historians

Australian radical historians and activists, Rowan Cahill & Terry Irving, share a selection of books about radical Australian history.

Anti nuclear poster. Text says For a nuclear-free and independent Pacific. Stop French tests, US out, USSR Stay Out! The image is a nuclear symbol overlaying an illustrated aerial view of land and clouds. Text in other language is - Kia toituu te mana o te Moana-niu-aa-Kiwa: raahuitat kia waatea i ngaa Nuukrina whakahaehae whakamootii. La matua fa'asaina le fa'aaogaina o aupega malolosi e ai le nuclear bomb i le pasefiak atoa

From Protest to Politics: The Effectiveness of Civil Society in shaping the Nuclear-free Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand

A case study about what made anti-nuclear activism successful in Aotearoa New Zealand between the 1960s – 1980s.