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.

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.

Change Makers (Text on orange background)

ChangeMaker Chat with Ernie Cortes: Community Organising

A chat with one of the biggest names in US community organizing, Ernie Cortes, including history, Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) & Saul Alinksy.

Four women dressed up in hats, pearls with a 'prim' look.

Humorous Political Stunts: Nonviolent Public Challenges to Power

An exploration of how creative activists combine humour with seriousness via stunts to create change, including case study – John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club.

Tasmanian Wilderness Society blocks dam construction (Franklin River Campaign) 1981-83

Tasmanian Wilderness Society activists blockaded the Tasmanian Franklin below Gordon Dam site, proposed by the Hydro Electric Commission.

Australian Rainforest Action Groups boycott Malaysian rainforest timber, 1988-1994

Australian Rainforest Action Groups blockaded ships bringing rainforest timbers logged in Sarawak, Malaysia.

International groups boycott Nestle products to end indiscriminate advertising, 1977-1984

Nestle artificial baby milks infant formula marketing Third World International Baby Food Action Network.

Hazara asylum seekers hunger strike on Nauru, 2003-2004

Hazara refugee asylum seekers engaged in hunger strikes to protest their continuing detention by Australia on Nauru.

World Peace Day March near the Hotel Australia, King William Street, North Adelaide, 1969. People have signs, which read, "End Conscription", "Save our Sons", and "Bring our boys back".

Australian women protest conscription during Vietnam War [Save Our Sons (SOS)], 1965-1972

Save Our Sons opposed military conscription for Australia’s role in the United States invasion and occupation of Vietnam.

Crowd of strikers in Market Square, Brisbane

Australians general strike for right to unionize, Brisbane, Australia, 1912

Brisbane unionists organised a general strike in 1912 to protect and enhance the rights of tramways workers to organise.

Photograph of a billboard advertising Winfield cigarettes. The billboard advertising reads 'Anyhow... Winfield 25s'. Graffiti has been inserted so it reads 'Anyhow buga up a Winfield 25'.

Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA UP) campaigns against tobacco advertising, Australia, 1978-1994

Civil disobedience actions reversed tobacco advertising messages to show the negative health effects of cigarettes.