Against Paranoid Nationalism

This book addresses very topical issues being raised in the public agenda and the media - relating directly to our government and its obsession with security and border control and the more global effect of capitalism and the social consequences of this trend. Socio-political thesis explores the effects of politically induced neo-liberal anxiety on White Australian society.

'White paranoia' is placed in the context of such contemporary events as the Tampa situation, border protection, mandatory detention of asylum seekers, delayed reconciliation with the Aborigines, and Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. Promotes the notion of a 'caring society' that generates citizens who support and nurture each other

Hage brings insights from political economy and psychoanalysis, defining societies as mechanisms for the production and distribution of hope. He argues that the rise of paranoid nationalism throughout the world is linked to the shrinking of western nation-states' ability to distribute hope among their citizens. Neo-liberal policies have loosen social bonds, diminish our hopes for a better life and make us anxious and worried.