Mateship. A Very Australian History

Cover Type: Softcover
Book Condition: Fine
Jacket Condition: None Issued
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Publisher Place: Australia
Publisher Year: 2015
Edition: First Edition

Description: 256 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout.

Publishers Description: A ‘mate is a mate, right Wrong, argues Nick Dyrenfurth in this provocative new look at one of Australias most talked-about beliefs.In the first book-length exploration of our secular creed, one of Australias leading young historians and public commentators turns mateships history upside down. Did you know that the first Australians to call each other ‘mate were business partners Or that many others thought that mateship would be the basis for creating an entirely new society, namely a ‘socialist one For some, the term ‘mate is ‘the nicest word in the English language; while for others it represents the very worst features in our nations culture: conformity, bullying, corruption, racism, and misogyny. So what does mateship really meanIn Mateship: a very Australian history, Dyrenfurth explains why Australians from all walks of life have been so fixated on mateship and repeatedly claimed it as a uniquely national value. He brings to life mateships extraordinarily rich and paradoxical history, showing how over more than 200 years of white settler history, shearers and soldiers, brickies and bankers, poets and politicians, and even the odd feminist, including the former prime minister Julia Gillard, have all identified with the national creed.As Dyrenfurth shows, if there is one aspect of Australian mateship that is unique in global terms, it is the inordinate time we have devoted to talking about it.

ISBN: 9781925106350