Australian Economic History: Transformations of an Interdisciplinary Field

Abstract

This previously untold story of economic history in Australia exposes the centrality of economic thought and scholarship to Australian intellectual and political life. Deftly positioning economic history in an innovative institutional, place-based and person-focused narrative, Claire Wright entangles economics with the history of education to produce a tale of university interdisciplinarity, influence and impact. Written with vitality and bursting with both data and anecdote, this book makes an exceptional contribution to the intersecting fields of history, economics and higher education studies.' -Hannah Forsyth, author of A History of the Modern Australian University 'Few readers would expect to find a classical tragedy in the story of an academic field. Yet that is what Claire Wright shows us in this study of Economic History, as it has been practiced in Australia. She traces the field from legendary beginnings to triumphant growth to organizational collapse -and renaissance on other terms. Carefully researched and vigorously written, this book raises questions about disciplines and interdisciplinary fields, universities and markets, and social bases of intellectual work, that are relevant to all fields today.' -Raewyn Connell, author of The Good University 'Australia proved a pioneer in the study of economic history, nurturing a discipline with innovative data and understanding of material trends. Yet by the 1990s economic history departments closed as senior scholars retired and the field was subsumed by conventional economics. In this absorbing study, Dr Claire Wright challenges the conventional account. She is tough-minded about financial and institutional pressures on the field, but cautiously optimistic about the future. It is a mistake, she argues, to see institutional representation as the benchmark of influence. Instead, the interdisciplinary nature of economic history has encouraged new research and teaching across the humanities and social sciences. With close attention to individual scholars and their university xiii List of abbreviations

A portent of academic upheaval: The story of John McCarty, W. A. ‘Gus’ Sinclair and the Chair of Economic History at Monash University, 1967–1993

“…Today, we might be surprised at the informality of the selection process by which both McCarty and Sinclair were appointed, given their slender publication records. But, this was how it was at the time; Wright (2022) provides further proof of such hiring decisions at other Australian universities.…”

“…McCarty would later be described by his obituarists as the ‘quintessential social scientist’ and an early pioneer in interdisciplinary approach intent on ‘bridging the widening gap between the disciplines of economics and history’ (Isaac & Sinclair, 1999, 74). The term ‘God Professor’ is a quaint Australian term for a leading senior academic at the top of a hierarchical‐based department, recruiting staff, extending patronage, and so forth, (Wright, 2022, 57). Looking every inch the God Professor, McCarty put together a team to teach a sequence of economic history pass and honours units at Monash.…”

“…His predecessor, Seymour Broadbridge, who had been the foundation professor of economic history but was only at Flinders for a brief period and had failed to deliver a suite of units in the subject. Sinclair redressed the situation and, like McCarty, recruited exceptional staff to teach the program (Wright, 2022, 80–81). It was at Flinders that Sinclair produced his classic work The Process of Economic Development in Australia (1976).…”

“…Recent contributions by Claire Wright and others chronicle the evolution of economic history research and institutions in Australia (Meredith & Oxley, 2016; Wright & Ville, 2017a, 2017b; Wright, 2022). Research, teaching and entire departments of economic history expanded dramatically between 1965 and 1975 at a number of Australian universities.…”