Young and Free

[Post]colonial Ontologies of Childhood, Memory and History in Australia

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Political
Cover of the book Young and Free by Joanne Faulkner, Rowman & Littlefield International
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joanne Faulkner ISBN: 9781783483082
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International Language: English
Author: Joanne Faulkner
ISBN: 9781783483082
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International
Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International
Language: English

Tracing the complex yet intimate relationship between a present-day national obsession with childhood and a colonial past with which Australia as a nation has not adequately come to terms, Young and Free draws on philosophy, literature, film and testimony. The result is a demonstration of how anxiety about childhood has become a screen for more fundamental and intractable issues that vex Australian social and political life. Joanne Faulkner argues that by interpreting these anxieties in their relation to settler-colonial Australia’s unresolved conflict with Aboriginal people, new ways of conceiving of Australian community may be opened.

The book engages with philosophical and literary characterizations of childhood, from Locke and Rousseau, to Freud, Bergson, Benjamin Agamben, Lacan, Rancière and Halbwachs. The author’s psychoanalytic approach is supplemented by an engagement with contemporary political philosophy that informs Faulkner’s critique of the concepts of the subject, sovereignty and knowledge, resulting in a speculative postcolonial model of the subject.

Cover artist credit: Lyndsay Bird Mpetyane

Artwork title: Ahakeye (Bush Plum)

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Tracing the complex yet intimate relationship between a present-day national obsession with childhood and a colonial past with which Australia as a nation has not adequately come to terms, Young and Free draws on philosophy, literature, film and testimony. The result is a demonstration of how anxiety about childhood has become a screen for more fundamental and intractable issues that vex Australian social and political life. Joanne Faulkner argues that by interpreting these anxieties in their relation to settler-colonial Australia’s unresolved conflict with Aboriginal people, new ways of conceiving of Australian community may be opened.

The book engages with philosophical and literary characterizations of childhood, from Locke and Rousseau, to Freud, Bergson, Benjamin Agamben, Lacan, Rancière and Halbwachs. The author’s psychoanalytic approach is supplemented by an engagement with contemporary political philosophy that informs Faulkner’s critique of the concepts of the subject, sovereignty and knowledge, resulting in a speculative postcolonial model of the subject.

Cover artist credit: Lyndsay Bird Mpetyane

Artwork title: Ahakeye (Bush Plum)

More books from Rowman & Littlefield International

Cover of the book Materialities of Sex in a Time of HIV by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Arendt, Levinas and a Politics of Relationality by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Exploitation by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Taming an Uncertain Future by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Extraterritorial Citizenship in Postcommunist Europe by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book The Moral Psychology of Pride by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Institutionalisation of Political Parties by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Workers' Movements and Strikes in the Twenty-First Century by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book The Risk of Freedom by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Citizens in Europe by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Technotopia by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Mandela by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book The Philosophy of Theatre, Drama and Acting by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book The Political by Joanne Faulkner
Cover of the book Supporting Investors and Growth Firms by Joanne Faulkner
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy