Research Project
Researchers: Associate Professor Patrick Laughren (Managed by) , Professor Ross Woodrow (Managed by)
Brief description Stories from the Split formed one of two key elements in an ARC supported research project undertaken in conjunction with Professor Ross Fitzgerald and drawing on the visual/written history methodology explored in two earlier collaborations by the co-investigators. Stories from the Split : Memories, Confessions and Evaluations of a Political Struggle set out to document and analyse the events and issues surrounding the split in the Australian Labor Party in the 1950s. While this political and social upheaval had been covered in works primarily based on archival documents and journalistic sources, the approach of the project was grounded in substantial reflective oral history interviews and the gathering of memorabilia and visual records from participants from a range of political institutions and perspectives. The key outcomes of the project were Professor Fitzgerald's book length study The Pope's Battalions : Santamaria, Catholicism and the Labor Split and the oral history documentary Stories from the Split: the Struggle for the Souls of Australian Workers. The primary aims of this project were to produce a comprehensive analytical written and audiovisual history of the clash of ideologies, individuals, organisations and events which culminated in 'the Split' in the Australian Labor Party in the 1950s; and to assess the continuing impacts of its legacy. This contributed to the understanding of the process and outcome of these events and to wider debates concerning the roles and the effects of extra-parliamentary political organisations and the relations between Communism and Catholicism.
Notes Project Status: Completed, Funded By: ARC Discovery Projects (including Fellowship),
