About this Event
Australian political thought is a neglected area of research. There are some excellent studies, but the impression lingers that there was little significant political thought in Australia. In this lecture I outline a new approach to Australian political thought, one which enables me to argue, with many detailed examples, that there was a vast amount of political thought in Australia, some of it original.
My argument has implications for a new understanding of Australian intellectual history.
When taken together with other recent scholarship, it implies that the Australian national imaginary needs to be revised.
About the Speaker
Wayne Hudson’s research addresses connections between utopianism, heterodoxy and social reform with reference to Europe, Asia and the United States. He studied at the University of Sydney and at Oxford University where he worked with the renowned Polish philosopher Leszek Kołakowski. He has held positions at Oxford and the University of Utrecht and. He has lectured at Oxford University, the Collège international de philosophie in Paris, McGill University in Canada, Georgetown University and the University of California in the United States, and at Foreign Studies University and the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and in 2025 was the Inaugural Colin Mackerras Professor of Australian Studies at Foreign Studies University in Beijing.
Wayne has published 24 books and 86 refereed articles and book chapters His recent sole-author publications include: Beyond Religion and the Secular: Creative Spiritual Movements and their Relevance to Political, Social and Cultural Reform (Bloomsbury, 2022); and Australian Religious Thought (Monash University Publishing, 2016). His Rudolf Steiner and Utopian Realism is about to go to press. Later this year he hopes to publish his first book of poems, Angels in the Surf, with an introduction by Stan Grant.
The Louis Green Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture on intellectual history or the social history of ideas, created in honour of the Monash University historian Louis Green. It is organised by the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics and the School of Philosophical, Historical and Indigenous Studies, and was endowed by the late Professor Wallace Kirsop FAHA and by Joan Lindblad Kirsop.
Doors open: 6 pm
Networking: 6 - 6.30 pm
Lecture: 6.30 - 7.30 pm
Special Offer: Louis Green's memoir Antipodean Renaissance
Attendees have the opportunity to purchase copies of Louis' two-volume memoir at a special discounted event rate:
- Paperback Set (Vols 1 & 2): $35
- Hardback Set (Vols 1 & 2): $45
How to Purchase:
- Pre-order for pickup at the talk: Email [Your Email Address] by November 10 to reserve your discounted set.
- Order online for direct delivery:
- Volume 1: Hardback Link|Paperback Link
- Volume 2: Hardback Link|Paperback Link
For preorders, please contact Karen Green at [email protected].
Event venue & nearby stays
Monash College City Campus, 750 Collins Street, Docklands, Australia
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