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Keywords: Democracy

  • AUSTRALIA

    Reflecting on the year that was

    • David Halliday, Michael McVeigh, Laura Kings, Michele Frankeni, Andrew Hamilton, Julian Butler
    • 18 December 2024

    To close the year for Eureka Street, the editorial team are taking a step back to reflect on the character of 2024. What did it demand of us? What did it teach us about ourselves, and the world we inhabit?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Friendship in freefall: Unpacking a crisis of civic disconnection

    • David Halliday
    • 13 December 2024

    In 2024, a fifth of Americans reported having no close friends, and the number is growing, especially among those without college degrees. So what are the societal structures behind this crisis in loneliness, and how we can rebuild meaningful connections?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Is peace possible?

    • Justin Glyn
    • 10 December 2024

    Peace is hard to define, harder to achieve, and almost impossible to sustain. In a world obsessed with profit, simplistic narratives, and selective outrage, peace feels like a lofty ideal rather than a realistic goal. But what would it take to make peace more than a buzzword—and a true global reality?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    New immigration laws treat humans as parcels

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 04 December 2024

    Australia’s recent immigration detention laws reveal a stark shift in governance, prioritising power over human dignity. As families face indefinite separation and bureaucrats enforce policies with brutal efficiency, the High Court's rebuke offers a glimmer of ethical resistance. But can such laws truly claim legitimacy in a democratic society?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Housing is a human right. It's time it became law

    • Kevin Bell
    • 29 November 2024
    2 Comments

    With unaffordable housing pushing families into impossible choices,  homelessness affecting 120,000 people, and systemic inequities deepening, we must ask: What kind of society do we want to build — and for whom?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Don Watson's elegy for an imperfect union

    • Barry Gittins
    • 22 November 2024
    1 Comment

    Before the U.S. election, Don Watson predicted the electoral victory of Trump in his essay High Noon, an exploration of a divided America teetering on the edge. Dissecting the economic, racial, and cultural forces that led to a Republican landslide reveals an imperfect union at its most vulnerable.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Larrikins and lampoons have the last laugh

    • Ron Cerabona
    • 14 November 2024
    1 Comment

    For decades, Australian political satire has taken aim at the powerful with wit and irreverence, forging a distinct comedic tradition that holds up a mirror to society, revealing truths in the face of national absurdities. Now after 25 years, the iconic Wharf Revue takes its final bow, closing a celebrated chapter in the story of Australian satire. 

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  • RELIGION

    Pope Francis' challenge to become a synodal Church

    • Bruce Duncan
    • 14 November 2024
    14 Comments

    The Synod is possibly the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council. And despite its focus on internal Church reform and participation, can it effectively address broader social and moral issues in the world while still promoting a more inclusive and accountable Church?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The end of politics as usual

    • Julian Butler
    • 11 November 2024
    3 Comments

    As Americans confront the start of a second Trump presidency, the questions go deeper than policy. This victory, far from an anomaly, reflects deeper fractures and discontent in a polarized nation. How can a society move forward when politics seem unable to address, let alone heal, its divisions?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    How the Democrats relived Clinton's nightmare

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 11 November 2024
    2 Comments

    As election night unfolded, pundits and pollsters braced for a nail-biter. But within hours, the predicted deadlock vanished, with Trump surging past Harris in key battlegrounds, defying expectations. The Democrats’ reliance on identity politics and celebrity endorsements missed the mark with Middle America, leaving them to confront the hard lessons of a stunning defeat.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Race Mathews: A Life in Politics

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 08 November 2024
    1 Comment

      The story of Race Mathews’ career will be an antidote to despair about politics and politicians. It underlines the possibilities of politics, showing how it can be more than a job or a career. It can be a calling to imagine a more just society and ways of building it.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Anxious and depressed about the state of the world? Good for you

    • Mark Beeson
    • 04 November 2024

    The Doomsday Clock remains at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest it’s ever been to calamity. In addition to the atomic scientists’ original concern about nuclear war, now climate change and the possible dangers of AI are parts of a potentially combustible mix. In short, there is much to fret about for anyone paying attention. 

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