SAANZ Conference 2019

Chair: Kiri West 

Edgar A Burns, Annette D Pyatt and Elizabeth Mackie: Banal Terrorism: Melbourne’s Concrete Bollards—Activism, Aesthetics and Cigarettes

Racism, white supremacy, and fascism are terms increasingly used in popular discourse today. This liberal usage has come at the cost of political effectiveness and clarity around defining these terms. Without clear definitions, these three terms can be conflated and misused, creating unhelpful binaries such as racist and nonracist. White supremacy for example, has been embodied exclusively as a mass shooting, or a white-hooded individual in middle America. This association understood in everyday language takes away the everyday production and reproduction of white domination, essentially describing everything in between “racist” and “nonracist” as acceptable day-to-day behaviour. These terms need to be interrogated and recontextualised in order to make clear and effective definitions that open up nuanced conversations about racism, white supremacy and the resurgence of fascist ideology, rhetoric and leadership in the 21st century. This paper will focus on unpacking these concepts and searching for more appropriate definitions. This work will be used as a beginning point for my doctoral research, which analyses whiteness to understand the everyday practices of racism and their connections with white racist extremism.


Byron Williams: Redefining the language of hate: Racism, white supremacy, and fascism

Racism, white supremacy, and fascism are terms increasingly used in popular discourse today. This liberal usage has come at the cost of political effectiveness and clarity around defining these terms. Without clear definitions, these three terms can be conflated and misused, creating unhelpful binaries such as racist and nonracist. White supremacy for example, has been embodied exclusively as a mass shooting, or a white-hooded individual in middle America. This association understood in everyday language takes away the everyday production and reproduction of white domination, essentially describing everything in between “racist” and “nonracist” as acceptable day-to-day behaviour. These terms need to be interrogated and recontextualised in order to make clear and effective definitions that open up nuanced conversations about racism, white supremacy and the resurgence of fascist ideology, rhetoric and leadership in the 21st century. This paper will focus on unpacking these concepts and searching for more appropriate definitions. This work will be used as a beginning point for my doctoral research, which analyses whiteness to understand the everyday practices of racism and their connections with white racist extremism.


Hannah Rossiter: The Eichmann Trial and Banality of Evil

Hannah Arendt’s book on the Eichmann Trial, has defined how we understand the ordinariness of those who perpetuated the holocaust. Yet, Arendt’s thesis does not recognize that Eichmann was a true believer in Nazi Ideology and plans for the Jews. Rather Eichmann showcases Robert Caro’s thesis on the way of power, as it shows how corrupted power that once Eichmann got enough power. Especially when he used power to punish and eliminate the Jews of Europe. Thus, this presentation will challenge the ordinariness of Eichmann. Also discuss how Arendt missed crucial aspects of Eichmann’s life. Along with her own issues towards non-German Jews impacted how she engaged with the court case.


Each presentation will be allocated 20 minutes. Additional time for questions and discussion will be available in each stream.