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2021 | Book

Australian Imperialism

The Geopolitical State

Author: Dr. Erik Paul

Publisher: Springer Singapore

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About this book

In his critical study of Australian imperialism, Erik Paul analyses the making, character and contours of the geopolitical state from the time of the British invasion and colonisation to the present, expanding the country’s continental political and economic power. War is the crucible for its hegemonic power, nationalism, and politics. The book exposes and dissects capitalist imperialism to control and manage a growing population and to impose the grand strategy of a US client state. The geopolitics in the partitioning of the earth and the exploitation of people and the biosphere continue to create major conflict, inequality, and human suffering. Australia plays an important role in the intensification of the struggle among major powers and in the outcome of an expanding global ecological and hegemonic crisis. But the existing Australian state of exception constitutes a major obstacle to a reconciliation with China and to a peaceful regional and world order.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The State of Exception
Abstract
Neocolonial sovereignty is embedded in the expanding power of the geopolitical state and the violence structured in its relations with society and the rest of the world. Australia’s imperialist state is structured in the existence of the state of exception, exercising power over bare life. The imperialist nature of the state dominates and manages the life of a growing population. The power of the state of exception is largely captured by an expanding and secretive national security state in alliance with the private domestic and foreign power of corporations. These frame the matrix for the profitable operation and reproduction of an unsustainable capitalist mode of production and consumption, expanding military engagement in the US imperial project. It creates contradictions between the state’s democratic and egalitarian claims and a deepening ecological crisis. These generate tensions and anxiety between claims of freedom and democracy against the reality of rising authoritarianism, creating subjects and human capital, and an inegalitarian society prone to violence at home and overseas.
Erik Paul
Chapter 2. Australian Imperialism
Abstract
A narration of the processes in the evolution and the making of Australia’s geopolitical state. The state began in a crime of aggression against Aboriginal nations, stealing their land. Colonization established the state and the consolidation of its power. It evolved in wars against Aborigines and people overseas on behalf of British imperial power. State power further advanced in the domination of a growing society embedded in a capitalist colonial economy, inscribing state violence based on racist fears of Asians and communism and the colonization of the mind, creating an imagined white nation. Expansion of the Australian state relies on global war, shifting the fulcrum of power from British global rule to the rising power of the US Empire. The Americanization of Australia’s political and economic regime constitutes a final phase in the expansion of state power, leading Australia to the present environmental and pandemic crisis. In their demands for a new green deal, Australians are confronted with an increasingly repressive emerging authoritarian state.
Erik Paul
Chapter 3. Human Nature, Global War and Justice
Abstract
An ontological query on human nature constitutes an indispensable consideration on the viability of the nation states’ global system and the violence that prevails and structures international relations, posing an imminent threat to human existence and survival. Global war is a major process in the evolution of the world system of nation states. The violence built in the evolution of the human species continues to unfold in a global civil war mobilized in the struggle among major powers, highlighting the need for global justice as an essential requirement for world peace. Global justice confronts imperialism and the state of exception. International law should prevail against crimes against humanity. Australia’s state of exception remains unaccountable to its population and the rest of the world for geopolitical crimes. Along with the United States, it dismisses the role and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, claiming immunity for their crimes against humanity. A colonial mindset and the war on China challenges Australians’ struggle for a genuine participatory democracy.
Erik Paul
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Australian Imperialism
Author
Dr. Erik Paul
Copyright Year
2021
Publisher
Springer Singapore
Electronic ISBN
978-981-16-1916-8
Print ISBN
978-981-16-1915-1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1916-8