AustLit

'In February 1902 the Victorian suffragist Vida Goldstein helped establish the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) in Washington, D.C. Four months later, the Commonwealth Franchise Act gave white women unprecedented political privileges. Despite these pioneer achievements, Australian women struggled to achieve prominence within the international suffrage movement before the First World War. Discounting traditional explanations that expense and distance kept Australians on the IWSA’s margins, this article reconsiders the concept of national representation – a central tenet of liberal internationalism. In the wake of Federation, deep colonial loyalties persisted and women remained ambivalent about assuming the responsibilities of national and international citizenship.'  (Publication abstract)

'John Hirst was a singular historian – a scholar of incisive intelligence and originality, never satisfied with conventional wisdom; a public commentator and controversialist of strong civic conscience; and a gifted teacher and generous colleague who remained steadfast in his calling. He cared little for honours and awards, and rejected all invitations to become a professor. Yet his influence on the profession as a graduate supervisor, head of his department at La Trobe University, and editor of this journal for six years, was profound. He did much more than his share of examining theses, reading manuscripts, and promoting shared endeavours.' (Introduction)

'This well-researched volume documents the experiences of the more than thirty Australasian women who worked as war reporters for the Australian and overseas press between 1900 and 1975. It focuses on the challenges they faced as females working in the undeniably masculine realm of war correspondence. Some of these, such as restricted access to combat zones, were physical. However, the main challenge they faced was attitudinal, particularly the prevailing view that women were unsuited to war reporting and should confine their efforts to the ‘softer side’ of war news given their assumed inherent affinity with the domestic sphere. The theme is introduced with a comment from Sydney journalist Iris Dexter who in 1941, in response to an invitation to write a war-related column, exclaimed, ‘I suppose they want what is rather loosely known as the woman’s angle … and there’s nothing I hate more than the woman’s angle on anything’ (1).'  (Introduction)