The Public Sphere and Party Change: Explaining the Modernisation of the Australian Labor Party in the 1960s

The history of the modernisation construct

“…In this revision, he juxtaposed the presumed exploitation of labour in the early capitalist industrial society against a possible future utopia of equality offered by communism. Maine (1861) also suggested the distinction of whether a society is modern or traditional society was based on a change in individual obligation either to the family and community or to one’s own self interests. In Status to Contract , Maine posited that in traditional societies, individuals are ascribed social status, and thus, could gauge social power mostly based on their family origin, so any change is slow to occur because wealth and privilege remain contained with a circle of few families.…”

“…Modern society, according to Maine, is not governed effectively by maintaining the status quo but by the fulfilling of contracts. Throughout his work Ancient Law , Maine (1861) offered several examples supporting this claim, including the view of marriage as a contract between a man and woman that involves the potential exchange of family resources. As a final note, Maine highlighted the institutionalisation of the court system as a way to differentiate modern from traditional.…”

“…Articles in Labor History (Ricciardi, 2010) and Labour History Review (Irving and Scalmer, 2000) attempted to unpack the modernisation of a steel plant and the role of the Australian Labour Party, respectively. Specifically, Irving and Scalmer suggested the Australian Labour Party transformed from traditional to social democracy through efforts to become more centralised and professional.…”