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“The Spirit of Sturdy Independence”: Robert Menzies' Language of Citizenship, 1942–52 *
Author(s) -
Dyrenfurth Nick
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8497.2005.00415.x
Subject(s) - citizenship , legitimation , explication , ideology , independence (probability theory) , politics , ideal (ethics) , linguistics , sociology , political science , law , epistemology , philosophy , statistics , mathematics
Empirical and theoretical studies have shown the development of both the idea and practice of Australian citizenship to be incremental and ad hoc. However, insufficient attention has been placed on the role political language has historically played in the formation and legitimation of such an ideal of citizenship. I contend that language has, in the absence of definition and explication, vastly shaped our past and present imaginings of the citizen. Within this superstructure, Australian Liberals have contingently and ideologically fashioned a language of citizenship emphasising duties and obligations. Robert Menzies provides the great example and it is his construction and use of language which I want to examine in detail as a coherent philosophy of citizenship as well as pointing to the historical limitations of language.