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Changing the date : Local councils, Australia Day and cultures of national commemoration
Busbridge, Rachel
Busbridge, Rachel
Author
Abstract
In recent years, a small but growing number of Australian local councils have emerged as major actors in the movement to change the date of Australia Day by electing to replace or cancel local events held on 26 January. This article draws on Lyn Spillman’s analysis of the 1988 Australia Bicentenary to make sense of these developments and their implications for cultures of national commemoration in Australia. For Spillman, the Bicentenary marked a shift towards a thinner conception of national identity which was intended to increase buy-in for Australia Day but risked fostering fragmentation. Arguing that local council actions to ‘Change the Date’ can be understood within these fragmentary dynamics, the article shows how the federal politicisation of Australia Day has seen these councils present local vernacular commemorations as preferable to official ones and promote an alternative moral vision of the place of Indigenous peoples in the nation.
Keywords
Australia day, indigenous recognition, local councils, national days, nationalism
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Sociology
Book
Volume
59
Issue
2
Page Range
403-420
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
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Relation URI
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled