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orumCentre or Citizenship, Development and Human Rights

Edition 63, September, 2010

Strengthening Indonesian Research

Indonesian research has been a key ocus o the Centre or Citizenship, Development and Human Rights since its establishment in

1994. Over the past sixteen years we have witnessed proound changes in Indonesia. These have included the all o the Suharto

regime, the reinvigoration o civil society, unprecedented democratisation, the embrace o regional autonomy, and urther opening-

up o international engagement, alongside the resurgence o some orms o religious conict. We can learn much rom analysing

all these changes, and many o them have been studies by our researchers.

As part o its commitment to research partnerships, the Centre or Citizenship, Development and Human Rights is working with

the Faculty o Arts and Education to co-sponsor an international conerence, Governance and Development, which will be held

in Padang rom 14-16 December, 2010. Several Indonesian Universities, the Indonesian Ministries o the Interior and National

Education, and Bank Indonesia (West Sumatra) are part o the sponsoring team.

The Conerence has arisen out o a general interest in discussing new ideas o governance in the context o changing politicalcongurations in our region. The ocus o the conerence is Indonesia, where changes in the processes o democratisation and

regional autonomy have been marked. Papers will explore relationships between changes in governance and ideas and projects

or development.

The Conerence program is organised around a number o themes. These are:

• Regional autonomy

• Education

• Community development and Local economies

• Post-disaster reconstruction

• Migration and economic development

• Technology and development• Conict and dialogue

• Issues of sustainability

• Democracy

The Conerence will provide a orum or launching an Australian Indonesian Research Institute. Planning or the establishment

o this Research Institute is now underway. The Institute will identiy key questions and investigate current issues concerning

governance and development, ocussing on areas where there is a lack o inormation. Current research questions will be drawn up

by a team o Australian and Indonesian researchers, and these questions will orm the basis o a detailed research agenda.

For urther inormation o the Governance and Development Conerence, please contact Anne O’Keee at CCDHR (anne.okeee@

deakin.edu.au)

ISSN 1323-6806

Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human RightsFaculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Burwood, Melbourne 3215

Postal address—Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217

Telephone (03) 5227 2113 (03) 9244 6274, Facsimile (03) 5227 2018, Email [email protected], www.deakin.edu.au/ccdh

Director Deputy Director Centre Administration Editorial Board Editor

Professor Sue Kenny Dr Kevin Brown Anne O’Keefe Professor Sue Kenny Linette Hawkins

Proessor Fethi Mansouri

Linette Hawkins



Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore Grant

Decentralization and Urban Change in Indonesia

Chie Investigator: Dr Michelle Miller, Deakin University

Co-Chie Investigator: Associate Proessor Tim Bunnell,

National University o Singapore.

This project assesses the impact o decentralisation on

our Indonesian cities: Jakarta, Banda Aceh, Padang and

Sidoarjo. The project considers the relationship between

decentralisation and urban transormation within these cities

as units o analysis in their own right, as well as the networks

and linkages orged between cities as a result o the devolutiono state power and resources.

Researcher of the Month

Proessor Fethi Mansouri

Proessor Fethi Mansouri holds a

Chair in Migration and Intercultural

Research and is the Director o Centre

or Citizenship and Globalisation and

Co-Director o the strategic research

centre ‘Alred Deakin Research

Institute-Citizenship, Globalisation and

Governance’. Proessor Mansouri’s interdisciplinary research

agenda is underpinned by a undamental commitment to

social justice, human rights and inter-cultural understanding.

A number o research projects he is currently conducting are

at the cutting edge o empirical research into acculturation,

cultural citizenship and multicultural policies (applied in key

case studies such as orced migration, education and local

governance).

Professor Mansouri is the author of many books including ‘Lives

in Limbo: Voices of Refugees under Temporary Protection’

(UNSW Press, Sydney 2004, with MP Leach), ‘Australia and

the Middle East: A Frontline Relationship’ (I.B. Tauris, London/

New York 2006); and two edited volumes on ‘Political Islamand Human Security’ and ‘Islam and Political Violence: Muslim

Diaspora and Radicalism in the West’, (I.B. Tauris/Palgrave:

London/New York, 2007).

His most recent books are ‘Identity, Education, and Belonging:

Arab and Muslim Youth in Contemporary Australia’ (2008), MUP,

Melbourne with S Wood and ‘Youth Identity and Migration:

Culture, Values and Social Connectedness’ (2009), Common

Ground Publishers, Melbourne.

His orthcoming books include ‘Globalisation and thePolitics o Forced Migrations’ and ‘Migration, Citizenship and

Intercultural Relations’ (Ashgate, 2010).

Research

New Releases

Rebellion and Reorm in Indonesia.

Jakarta’s Security and Autonomy

Policies in Aceh .

Michelle Miller. Routledge, London and New York.

Cultural Citizenship and the

Challenges o Globalization

Edited by Wenche Ommundsen, Michael Leach,

and Andrew Vandenberg. Hampton Press, USA.

i .

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QuestioningCosmopolitanism

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Edited byStan van Hoo

Wim Vandekerckhove

Questioning Cosmopolitanism

Stan Van Hooft, & W. Vandekerckhove. Springer.

This book aims to provide cutting edge essays by

leading scholars on cosmopolitanism.

Challenging Capacity Building:

Comparative Perspectives:

Rethinking International

Development

Edited by Sue Kenny and Matthew Clarke.

Palgrave Macmillan.

Where Are You From? Voices in Transition.

Edited by Margaret Kumar, Heather D’Cruz and

Niranjala Weerakkody. Published by The Social Sciences



Views

The Tree Project

“These leaves were made by me. I am 17 years old and live in St.

Andrews. I watched the res pass our house on the other side o

the road and head to Kinglake when the wind changed. I taught

mysel blacksmithing rom books,”

writes James, a young blacksmith

rom a community aected by the

Black Saturday res. Accompanying

the letter are a pair o slender stainless

steel gum leaves that James has

orged, two o hundreds being sent to

Victoria rom blacksmiths around the

world.

Since February, 2009, shortly ater the

Black Saturday res, orged leaves have arrived in Victoria rom

over 20 countries including Canada, the USA, the UK, France,

Germany, the Ukraine, Finland, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and

Belgium. Collecting, photographing and preparing the leaves

or assembly into a stainless steel and copper gum tree are

volunteers rom the Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria).

The Association is made up o dedicated men and women who

preserve, promote and teach the art o orging metal. Formed

in 1989 ollowing the discontinuation o the blacksmithingcourse at RMIT, their work is all the more important now that

there is talk o terminating the blacksmithing trade course at

Ultimo TAFE in Sydney— the last nationally accredited course

let in Australia.

This unique project o creating a metal tree rom hundreds

o orged leaves is a major ocus o the Association this year.

Known as the Tree Project, it started o humbly as a post on an

online blacksmithing orum, one week ater the Black Saturday

res, asking blacksmiths to contribute a lea or a small tree

which would be a git to the communities aected by thehorric disaster. The response was overwhelming. Within hours

many blacksmiths pledged to make and send leaves. As the

online discussion progressed, it was decided that an Australian

gum tree would be the most appropriate tree to orge and the

leaves should all be made o stainless steel to inhibit corrosion,

or copper which would develop a green patina over time and

represent new growth.

As the weeks passed, blacksmithing groups rom across

Australia and around the world came to hear o the project.

Collection points in London and California were established,courtesy o the British Artist Blacksmiths Association and

the Caliornian Blacksmiths Association, or blacksmiths in

those countries to send their leaves. Qantas Freight delivered

these leaves rom the collection points to Australia recently.

The Caliornian Blacksmiths Association organised many

blacksmiths to contribute leaves and ran classes or young

people in lea orging. The youngest blacksmith to orge a lea

or the tree is 9 year old Nathan rom Caliornia who is obsessed

by blacksmithing and has been known

to sleep clutching his hammer. The

oldest blacksmith who has orged

leaves or the tree is Bill Bunting, a

ounding member o the Australian

Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) who,

sadly, passed away in April this year

aged 91.

The Ukrainian Union o Artist Blacksmiths

is one o the most enthusiastic

groups supporting the Tree Project. They run an international

blacksmithing estival in the city o Ivano-Frankivsk every year

to which over 300 blacksmiths rom throughout Europe attend.

During this estival, blacksmiths create a collaborative steel

sculpture which is donated to the city. Ivano-Frankivsk, already

adorned with wrought iron balustrades, window grilles and

gates rom centuries o ironwork, is ull o these remarkable

contemporary sculptures. Last year, in May, the blacksmiths

were encouraged to bring hand orged leaves or the tree inAustralia. Tree Project coordinator and blacksmith, Paul Mills

was invited to attend the estival. In an emotional ceremony,

he was presented the leaves rom the blacksmiths o Europe

under the previous year’s sculpture, which happened to be a

tree; the Tree o Happiness.

A month ater the project started, a local community member

suggested that people who wanted to help the project could

sponsor a lea to help pay or materials. Up until this time, local

blacksmiths were paying or the steel, copper and welding

consumables or leaves and branches themselves. The tree atthis time was estimated to be about 2m tall and have a ew

hundred leaves when nished. The blacksmiths liked the idea

o involving the community and decided to stamp the name o

the sponsor into each lea, which would then be photographed

and later attached to a branch o the tree. This is the point at

where the project changed into something extraordinary.

For the next ve months blacksmiths travelled to markets

and estivals in Kinglake, Marysville, St. Andrews and other

communities in or close to the re area with portable anvils and

orges to demonstrate lea orging. Many locals came to watchand many shared their stories with the blacksmiths. Some even

joined the Association in order to learn to orge a lea or the

tree. Kids were ascinated. At the Whittlesea Rebuilding Expo,

a boy, around 8 years old, watched the blacksmiths or nearly



Views

three hours. Eventually he dragged his mother across to

sponsor a lea. He chose to have his best mate’s name stamped

on the lea, a boy who was killed in the re in Kinglake.

It was this sponsorship idea that started to involve people with

the creation o the tree. For many people, choosing a name

or a message to have stamped on a lea was an important

way to express their grie, sorrow, compassion and hope or

the uture. Instead o having their own name stamped in

their lea, many chose to have the names o loved ones lost

to the re, survivors, riends, dogs, cats, horses and kangaroos

that perished in the res, reghters, CFA divisions, recovery

organisations and names o properties destroyed. In this way,

the community began to own the tree. Over 1000 peoplehave sponsored leaves and, at an estimated 9m with possibly

3000 leaves when nished, this is a sculpture that has literally

grown rom the community’s desire to honour lives lost and

to commemorate the eorts o those who ought to save

others.

Unlike most sculptures which have a designer, a plan and

an impression o the nished piece, the tree is a product o

discussion and response. No one person is designing the tree.

In act, there is no illustration o what the tree might look

like. And although this may sound like a recipe or chaos, ithappens to suit the blacksmiths very well. During a weekend

workshop attended by 30 blacksmiths in August last year, the

blacksmiths organised themselves into lea makers, branch

makers and welders. The less experienced blacksmiths learned

rom the experienced smiths how to orge a good lea, how

to use a veining tool and how to handle the stainless steel in

the orge. Every so oten branch makers would become lea

makers or a while and vice versa. With local people providing

ood or the two days and an Irish band sitting themselves

amongst the anvils to play music, the process was harmonious

and productive. When large branches were completed,

experienced blacksmiths Paul Mills and Doug Tarrant, (known

within the project as the ‘Leaf Master’ for his brilliantly forged

leaves and his speed,) meticulously heated and bent each lea

to give a natural ow to the branch and create a sense o the

leaves bending to gravity.

As the project progresses, larger and larger branches will

be ormed, the size and number dependant on how many

leaves are nally collected. At last count there were over 2600

leaves attached or ready to be attached to the tree. Eventually

large billets o stainless steel will be purchased or the largest

branches and the trunk. The tree is to be completely orged.

The large branches and the trunk will be sent to an industrial

orge in Melbourne where a team o about eight blacksmiths

will use a 4 ton steam hammer to shape the main body o the

tree. The hammer is over 100 years old and still runs on steam.

Forges such as this are usually used to orge large pieces o machinery or ships and trains, pieces which need to take a

signicant amount o stress that cast steel cannot.

Joining the project have been people who have never orged

steel beore. Some have lost homes and loved ones and ound

the process o creating leaves healing. CFA reghters have

been among the people learning to orge or the rst time.

“I am a CFA volunteer rom Diamond Creek. I was at the

Whittlesea Operations Point during the re on the 7th and then

was one o the rst re crews in Arthur’s Creek, Strathewen

and Kinglake the day ater the re— and it was the worst twodays o my lie. I believe that art has a huge role to play in

disaster recovery. I have seen painting, poetry and song come

out o adversity and assist communities to recover and rebuild.

Through my work, I have come across a project that aims to

recognise the loss, bravery and recovery o bushre aected

communities in Victoria. I have also been very ortunate to be

able to participate. It is called The Tree Project. I you are a

blacksmith, i you know a blacksmith or i you ever wanted to

be a blacksmith please consider contributing to the project.”

—Cli Overton, CFA reghter

The steel tree is a demonstration o the raternity that exists

in the worldwide blacksmithing community and, or many,

an introduction to a ascinating crat. More than that, the tree

continues to be a source o interest and excitement to the

people who sponsored its creation. It is hoped that the tree

will be nished and installed around November this year. It

will go in a quiet area in the community o Strathewen, a place

where many people lost their lives on February 7. Far rom

being a tourist attraction, the tree will serve the communities

by providing a place o reection and contemplation.

“My mother’s house was in Marysville, she built it by hand 20

years ago by hersel, it was a beautiul mud brick house next to

the orest, with a wonderul peaceul garden. It was our amily

home or 20 years and now it is gone… thanks or this project,

it gives us an artistic healing ocus which is wonderul, and I

also love the aspect o turning the element o re to creativity

and beauty, it’s not just about destruction.”

—Marina Anderson, who made a special copper lea to

remember Marysville

Follow the creation o the tree on the website:www.treeproject.abavic.org.au

Amanda Gibson, Tree Project Co-ordinator

Ph. 0431 795 099 Email: [email protected]



Book reviews

This edited volume is a collection o essays drawn rom the

Oxford Amnesty Lectures, a registered charity whose purpose

is to raise unds or Amnesty International and raise awareness

o human rights in the academic and wider community. The

lectures contained here are essentially supportive o the

human rights doctrine championed by Amnesty International,

oering critical explorations o thorny issues surrounding the

so-called War on Terror.

The book contains eight essays, ollowed by a response that

challenges aspects o and/or adds urther considerationsto the arguments presented in each o the essays. The

volume concludes with a atwa against terrorism by Shaykh

Muhammad A al-Akiti. The atwa is the most original

contribution o this volume, and it will be relevant to students,

scholars and members o the general public interested in a

systematic and sophisticated analysis o the ethics o war and

terrorism according to Islamic Law. The author explores this

theme, paying particular attention to the targeting o civilians

by suicide bombing, using verses o the Qur’an and other

sources of Islamic Law. Signicantly, most of the principles

considered (i.e. sel-deence, legitimate authority, last resort,

military necessity, proportionality and non-combatant

immunity) can also be ound in Just War Theory, an ethical

doctrine whose origins are associated with Christianity. In

other words, the atwa illustrates the undamental similarities

between the ethics o war across religious traditions, in this

case Islam and Christianity, and in doing so it illustrates the

universal values that underpin the human rights doctrine

championed by Amnesty International.

There is also an essay by Khaled Abou El Fadl which examineshuman rights rom the standpoint o Islam. This particular

contribution oers interesting insights into the impact o

colonialism, realpolitik and national interests on human rights.

However, there is no mention o the War on Terror in the text.

Indeed, there is no clear rationale to include this essay, other

than to be inclusive, that is, to urther the presence o Islam in

the debate. But without an explicit connection to the book’s

central theme the chapter eels, at best, out o place, and, at

worse, tokenistic. In contrast, the atwa on terrorism oers a

solid and sophisticated engagement with aspects relevant to

the War on Terror rom an Islamic perspective.

The other seven essays provide a comprehensive and

sophisticated analysis o the ethics and politics o the War

on Terror. Charles Miller’s introductory notes on terror ocus

on state terrorism and wrongs perpetrated by the West. This

approach is both provocative and thought provoking insoar

as it challenges popular accounts o terrorism –accounts that

dene terrorism as political violence perpetrated by non-state

actors, at present associated almost exclusively with radical

Islamic organisations such as al Qaeda. This critical approach is

also at work in those essays which explore the language o the

War on Terror. The contributions by Ahda Souei and Conor

Gearty are particularly eective in their exploration o the War

on Terror as a powerul narrative and ideological construction

that serves to legitimise the political and economic interests o the United States, principally in the Middle East. The narrative

aspect o the War on Terror is also examined by Joanna Burke.

Her essay analyses the practice o torture rom a cultural

studies approach: torture as an erotic spectacle o sadism, one

that provokes pain and pleasure, outrage and arousal. She

explores the expressive (rather than the instrumental) aspect

o torture in the War on Terror, exemplied by the inamous

abuses carried out in Abu Ghraib, which made torture a public

spectacle and produced some o the most iconic images o

the 21st century.

The contributions by Michael Byers, Thomas Pogge, Bat-

Ami Bar On, and Je McMahan oer insightul analyses o

the legal and moral dimensions o the practices involved in

the implementation o the War on Terror. Not surprisingly,

these authors present strong condemnations o the use o

torture, enhanced interrogation techniques, secret prisons

and extraordinary rendition. But their arguments are based

on solid ethical oundations and thus are worthy o special

consideration. Yet, in some cases, the conclusions reached

are challenging, even surprising, as is the case with the

ethical justication o the pre-emptive killing o members o

active terrorist groups articulated by Je McMahan. Equally

challenging is Bar On’s discussion o the ethical dierence

between war and terrorism. Bar On points out the essential

similarity between realism (a political doctrine that views war

as a legitimate political tool) and terrorism, insoar as they

both share a belie in the efcacy (and legitimacy) o violence

in politics. Still, she concludes that there is an important

distinction between the political violence conducted by

states and that conducted by terrorists; the distinction being

accountability –insoar as politicians, military strategists,military ofcers and soldiers can all be held accountable

by the people, whereas terrorist cannot. This conclusion is

challenged by Thomas Dublin, noting that accountability is

War on Terror: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2006, edited by Chris Miller. Manchester and New York: Manchester

University Press (2009). 292pp. ISBN 9780719079757, paperback ($49.95)



Book reviews

oten lacking when it comes to political violence perpetrated

by the state. Insoar as Dublin is correct, this re-instates the

undamental similarity between war and terrorism, betweenrealist and terrorist political violence.

Amnesty International is ounded on the notion that the price

o reedom is eternal vigilance. In this vein, a response by Elleke

Boehmer states that: “We must never stop scrutinizing the

narratives that generate our central hates and resentments”

(page 43). This book contributes to this endeavour by oering

ethical inroads and intricate insights into what is arguably the

oremost narrative o the rst decade o the 21st century, the

War on Terror.

Dr Benito Cao

School of History and Politics

The University of Adelaide

Australia: The State of Democracy. By Marian Sawer,

Norman Abjorensen and Phil Larkin. The Federation

Press, Leichhardt, NSW. 2009.

This book is about the state o democracy in Australia. It

represents a monumental task, which the authors havehandled in a very accessible and engaging way.

Australia is one o the oldest democracies, and perormance

on government policies, rights and reedoms has not escaped

severe criticism especially in relation to the treatment o

Aborigines and asylum seekers. This book oers a welcome

humanitarian perspective on these and other social justice

issues.

The Democratic Audit, upon which this book is based, began

in 2002 and it continues to serve as a major evaluation o

our institutions and practices using internationally tested

indicators. These indicators are based on our basic principles;

political equality, popular control o government, human

rights and civil liberties, as well as the quality o deliberation.

The book is presented in our parts. [1] Citizenship, law and

rights. [2] Representative and accountable government. [3]

Civil society and popular participation, [4] Democracy, beyond

the state and ederalism. The ormat is very clear and concise,

which makes it useul or students and anyone who likes toread about politics. It also makes an excellent reerence book

containing number o useul graphs and tables.

There are no great surprises in the Democratic Audit. The

dissatisaction with the democratic processes in Australia is

well reected in the Ombudsman’s ofce, which the authors

tell us, received 40,000 complaints in 2007-2008 making itone o the busiest Ombudsman’s ofces in the world. The

plight o asylum seekers in particular has put Australia in

the spotlight with no long term solution in view. In addition

the United Nations Human Rights Committee handed down

adverse ndings against Australia in 14 cases o Human Rights

violations between 1998 and 2008. Not quite so visible, but

equally worrying are the incarceration rates or indigenous

people and the apparent inability to signicantly improve this

situation.

Indeed, the Audit indicates concerns with the legal system in

its entirety with issues ranging rom an under representation

o women in the judiciary to the role o the media. There are

discussions relating to how the High Court should interpret

the Constitution as well as numerous problems with the

Family Court, which like every other government service

sector remains drastically under-unded. Notably, there are

also problems with the way the judiciary is nanced. The

Audit reveals a perceived lack o accountability and judicial

independence and there are questions about the time taken

or reaching judicial outcomes, which does not meet with the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Overall, the Audit demonstrates a strong lack o condence in

the legal system, and this underscores other political processes.

Insucient Legal Aid funding calls into question the level of

legal justice. The writers single out problems or a number o

minority groups including the disabled who are particularly

vulnerable due to a lack o services. They also draw attention

to the act that minority groups are not well represented in the

parliaments. Outside the Northern Territory there is a distinct

absence o Indigenous Australians in government.

Women are especially impacted by a lack o unding or

domestic violence issues and women ace a double jeopardy

i they are sent to prison because the system is simply not

geared or women. This would indicate some old stereotyping

that only men commit real crimes, women are wayward. Such

a view harks back to another era, but it would appear little has

changed even though the numbers are rising.

Reading through the democratic ‘strengths’ and ‘weakness’,

which are listed at the end o each chapter the conclusions

have a amiliar ring to them. Australia has no national charter

o rights, this in turn rebounds in inadequate protection

continued on page 8



Democracy: A Reader. Eds Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 2009.

Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework. David Estlund, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008.

decisions made by people who are not most amiliar with the

questions.

Throughout, Estlund reers to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ decision making.

The quality o political decisions is, o course, important. But

what is more important is the political value systems that

inorm those decisions, which Estlund completely overlooks.

Thus a ‘good’ decision or one might be seen as a ‘bad’ decision

by another.

What Estlund neglects is that many people are content to live

with their own poor decisions, but not those made by others

without their agreement. This then raises the issue o political

legitimacy, which escapes much o Estlund’s book. He reers

to it, but not as a centrepiece o his thinking. Yet this is what

democracy, ully conceived, is supposed to deliver.

Estlund concludes by opting or a ‘deliberative democracy’

approach by way o improving the quality o political decisions

while retaining public ownership o them. It is easy to agree

that greater inormation and local consultation will producesomewhat better, i still contested, outcomes, even i more

difcult to organise in large, complex societies. But this is not

a satisying conclusion to a book that seems to miss many

o the key points, in particular that not only is substantive

democracy broadly desired when people are given the chance

to embrace it, but that a substantive democratic process

produces accountability as a mechanism to produce the type

o ‘good’ decision making Estlund seems so concerned about.

Much more satisying, then, is the collection o essays gathered

by Diamond and Plattner, including contributions rom

luminaries in the eld including among others Schmitter, Elklit,

O’Donnell, Sartori, Putnam, Stepan, Lijphart, Horowitz and, of

course, the editors. And then, as icing on this tasty political

cake, we have Sen, Fukuyama, the Dalai Lama and Anwar

Ibrahim, among others, discussing democracy’s universalist

attributes.

This is pretty much a stellar cast o contributors, any one o

which would anchor a book o this type with their political

knowledge and experience. Not surprisingly, one could

engage with the debates raised by each o the contributors,or note that the homilies o a religious gure are perhaps less

substantive than the rigorous analysis o a ormally trained

scholar. But what is important about this collection is that

it engages with just about all the critical issues in debate

Book reviews

It is air to say that the word ‘democracy’ is the most over-used

and misapplied term in the whole o the global political lexicon.

The term is used as a descriptor or states that are clearly not

that, to identiy processes that have more in common with

eudal afrmation or generalised political corruption, and to

capture both the simple process o voting as well as the more

substantive qualities that give voting situated meaning. So,

when two new books come out on the subject, one hopes the

term is to be rescued.

Larry Diamond in particular has been analysing democratic

process or some decades and, despite his sometimes culturally

particular understanding o the subject, is perhaps the best

known exponent in the eld. A book edited by Diamond,

with Plattner who is another leading authority, promises to

at least oer another substantial contribution to the debate.

In short, their book largely satises this requirement, i

towards the end with less consistent rigor than might have

been hoped or noted theorists. What is lost, at least in some

places, in intellectual rigor and consistency is made up or by

the substance o the non-academic contributors – peoplewho are leaders and who have lived on the sharp edge o the

democratic process.

This then compares with Estlund’s attempt to understand and

redene democratic authority via a philosophical approach.

As a single author volume, Estlund’s work is more consistent,

but much less rewarding or that. In short, while asking how

democracy could be improved, he seems to miss the point.

Estlund’s book comprises in large part revised versions o

papers that he has previously written on democracy, in which

he debates with himsel the adequacy o the democratic

process. Unortunately, Estlund does not adequately discuss

what he means by the term, so the reader is in some doubt

as to what orm o democracy he means. One assumes, or

the sake o convenience, that as an American academic, he is

reerring to the American model or something like it.

For a philosopher concerned with democracy, Estlund does

not engage with some o the bigger philosophical debates,

in particular those that arose during democracy’s early revival,e.g. by Mills, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Bentham, Rousseau, Kant

and so on and only touches lightly on its earlier historical

precedents. I there is a main point to Estlund’s work, it is

his ocus on democracy’s inherent weakness to produce



Book reviews

Australia: The State of Democracy (continued)

o human rights. The lack o rights has become worse with

higher levels o street violence and the anti-terror laws. There

is a persistent gender gap, and a seventeen year dierence

in lie expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenousAustralians; added to this are housing aordability problems

and homelessness. We also seem to have a shrinking electoral

role; no surprises there. Australia is rie with corruption and the

writers are orthright in saying so, albeit by world standards

we appear to be doing well.

One gets the eeling that or these writers the lists o ‘positives’

were actually quite difcult to create. Most o the good aspects

o Australian democracy are things that we take or granted.

Creating policy does not necessarily coincide with reaching

satisactory outcomes. One example is climate change. While

the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

was adopted in 1992, like the United States, Australia ailed

to ratiy the Kyoto Protocol to that Convention, which was

starting by asking the airly obvious i much debatedquestion: ‘What is Democracy?’, then asking what sustains

it, what institutions work best (and to what purpose), the

issue o procedural democracy where there are elections

but not necessarily ull democratic outcomes and, as noted,

‘Democracy as a Universalist Value?’

I there is one section that is likely to engage the most debate,

at least among Western scholars, it is the section on ‘Elections

Without Democracy?’ The debate here revolves around issues

o cultural imposition, arguments or substantive compromise

and, ultimately, the ways in which ‘democracy’ is sometimes

not that. This then segues neatly into the aorementioned

‘universalist’ section, which provides an upliting conclusion

to the book.

Importantly, the two chapters on the compatibility between

Islam and democracy are signicant contributors to the

debate, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the

contemporary political challenges aced by the ‘war on terror’

and the rise o religious determinism. In all, this is an excellent

book or students o politics, and would also be a great benet

to many o democracy’s practitioners.

Professor Damien Kingsbury

School of Internation and Political Studies, Deakin University

adopted in 1997 and subsequently ailed to establish bindingtargets o greenhouse emissions. As the Audit suggests

while the problems o climate change have been difcult to

reconcile polling in 2008 showed the environment needed to

be high on the agenda in the minds o the Australian people.

Since the Rudd Labour Government was elected in 2007 a

staggering number o people have indicated no condence

in politicians and the government. 30 percent believe that

politicians rort the system; 60 percent had no condence in

ederal parliament, but this is also representative o a global

trend. The Audit also reveals how an increase o bureaucracyhas created a loss o aith.

Finally, out o 195 countries surveyed or the Freedom House

media independence survey [2008] Australia only ranked 35th.

Not a good outcome. Can we do better? At least knowing

where we stand is a beginning.

I cannot help eeling that this book will only have a specialist

readership, which is a pity, it should be read by everyone.

Chris James, Deakin University

Books available for review

Intellectual property and human rights: A paradox . (Ed) Wille

Grosheide

Making Capitalism Safe: Work safety and health regulation in America

1880-1940. Ronald W Rogers

Debt Management for Development: Protection of the poor and the

millennium development goals. Kunibert Raer

Comparing Democracies 3: Elections and voting in the 21st century. Ed.

Lawrence LeDuc, Richard G. Niemi & Pippa Norris.

Sweden and Ecological Governance: Straddling the fence. (issues in

environmental politics), Lennart J Lundqvist

Multinational Enterprises and Emerging Challenges of the 21st Century .

(ed) John Dunning & Tsai-Mei Lin

Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan. A critical reader. Salahm.

Hassan & Carina E.Ray (Eds)

Democracy & Human Rights for Europe: The council of Europe’s

contribution. Jean Petaux

When the Labor Party Dreams: Class politics and policy in NSW 1930-32.

Geo Robinson

Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development , Ricardo Melendea-

Ortiz and Pedro Roe

* to obtain a copy, please contact the Centre

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