Political Psychology

Theory, Method and British Political Life History

“…To compound this antipathy, there was no school of biography, no wellspring of political life history like Australia's Melbourne School, to act as a stimulus for innovation. This school may have been ‘evanescent’ but it lasted from 1970 to 1990 and its diaspora can be traced to this day (Walter and ‘t Hart, 2009, p. 364). Such a school could have developed around, for example, Ben Pimlott at Birkbeck College.…”

“…For example, Australian political scientists did not dismiss the insights from political psychology as 'psychobabble'. The Melbourne School and its diaspora took psychosocial life history seriously, producing important work (for a review see Walter and 't Hart, 2009). Others turned to a broader definition of the political that encompassed the 'forgotten lives' of women and indigenous people, and to prosopography or the collective study of lives; of the shared characteristics of a historical group when there are no individual life histories because there are too few historical documents with which to construct an individual life (for a survey see Walter, 2009).…”

“…Their intellectual roots are in political psychology and the Melbourne School. See Walter and ‘t Hart (2009, pp. 360–4) for a brief history of the Melbourne School, and Walter (2009, pp.…”

Engaging with Asia: Three lives

“…Much the same story has been told about the psycho-social school of thought that flourished in the Department of Political Science at the University of Melbourne from the 1970s to the 1990s. Pioneered by Alan (Foo) Davies and Graham Little, together with their associates and students, it received international recognition but had limited influence on the discipline in Australia, even being ridiculed in some quarters (Walter and 't Hart 2009).…”