Political economy is most influential when it links academic analysis with practical participation in processes of social change. Concurrently, the enthusiasm and growing expertise of a younger generation of political economists is crucial. Both features are evident in the latest issue of the Journal of Australian Political Economy. Its contents range from the analysis of the federal budget to the political economy of Antonio Negri; and from the Albanese government’s new industry policies to the ongoing controversy over building seawalls to protect coastal real estate. The authors range from political economy newcomers to veterans; while the implicit sub-text is about relevance and regeneration.
The quest for relevance pervades Australian political economists’ long-standing concern to connect with the interests of the labour movement and activists in progressive social and environmental organisations. Concurrently, regeneration requires encouragement of younger political economists to push towards the frontiers of knowledge. The JAPE editors’ decision to introduce an annual Young Scholars Award reflected the latter ambition; and the most obvious indicator of its effectiveness is the quality of articles by Award winners in this journal during the last decade. Articles by more of the applicants and awardees are a particularly strong feature of the latest issue, alongside contributions by more established political economists.
JAPE Young Scholar winner Phoebe Gawin leads the way with her article on the political economic consequences of the increasingly destructive storms and tidal surges that have been impacting on valuable coastal residential properties. It provides a fascinating interdisciplinary analysis of the environmental, legal, economic, political and public policy issues arising from the volatile clash between the forces of nature and private economic interests.
The second article in the latest issue of JAPE scrutinises the more general challenges for housing policy. It is by Mike Berry who has been working in this field throughout the half century since writing his PhD thesis on the political economy of housing. In this latest of his many contributions, he takes Brett Christophers’ controversial work on ‘rentier capitalism’ as the basis for a deeply reconsidering, from a Marxian political economic perspective, how to engage more fundamentally with the ongoing crisis of housing affordability.
The third article, written by an applicant for the most recent JAPE Young Scholar Award, focuses on how the Hunter Jobs Alliance is addressing the political economic challenges currently facing businesses, workers and communities in the area abutting Newcastle, NSW. The Hunter region needs to make an economic transition from reliance on coal mining and coal-based electricity generation to a different industry mix that is more economically and environmentally sustainable. Dylan Ferguson’s article probes the nature of this challenge and the case for putting more emphasis on economic democracy and workers’ control during the transition.
The following article addresses the broader question of how industry policies can be developed to realise the ambitions of the Albanese government’s recently-announced strategy for a Future Made in Australia. Written by Mark Dean and Lance Worrell, it draws on the lessons – both positive and negative – from the historical experience of industry policies in South Australia, using a ‘social structures of accumulation’ framework of analysis to show the need for policies to be socially embedded.
Shifting to a higher level of abstraction, the next article assesses Hardt and Negri’s controversial book Empire in the light of developments during the two and a half decades since its original publication. Alex Nagy, another former JAPE Young Scholar awardee, reconsiders the book’s arguments, the critiques that have been written from Open Marxist perspectives, and how it relates to subsequent changes within global capitalism. His article concludes by outlining his preferred analytical approach to understanding biopolitical production.
Importantly, this new issue of JAPE also blends the contributions by emerging and established scholars with contributions from authors working within the Australian labour movement. This is exemplified by the article on the federal budget written by the Centre for Future Work’s team of researchers, providing a thorough assessment of both the budget’s macroeconomic aspects and its implications for specific sectors such as care work and universities. The article is followed by an ‘open letter’ (signed by 67 political economists) which explains the rationale for the interventionist industry policy approach outlined in the Albanese government’s Future Made in Australia strategy, defending it against the predictably adverse knee-jerk reactions by economic conservatives.
Lots of recent books are also reviewed in the latest issue of JAPE. An interesting review article contrasts Techno-Feudalism, the latest book from former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, with The Shortest History of Economics by Andrew Leigh, assistant minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury in the current Australian government. Written by former ACTU economist Grant Belchamber, it considers the classical political economic and neoclassical economic frames adopted in the two books, showing that what you see depends on the lens through which you look. A range of other recent books are reviewed with comparably careful consideration by Riki Scanlon, Stuart Rosewarne, Franklin Obeng-Odoom, Harrison Read, Thomas Klikauer and Brett Heino.
Overall, this is a big meal of new political economic material to digest. It is expected that the next issue of the journal, due for publication in December of this year, will have similarly diverse content. Political economists – whether newcomers or veterans – are welcome to submit articles for peer review and possible inclusion. There’s still time to do so, but all submissions will need to be in by early September.
Then, for the first issue of 2025, JAPE will publish a special theme issue on 50 years of political economy in Australia. This will mark the half-century since the first full course in political economy was won by student-staff struggle at the University of Sydney. Submissions for potential inclusion in this special issue can address activism for political economy, issues relating to teaching and research in political economy, or possibilities and prospects for future developments. The style of articles can be even more varied than usual, ranging from full length analyses to much shorter personal observations. Submissions should be made before the end of this year. More information about the submission process is available in the current issue of JAPE; and potential contributors are welcome to contact the journal’s coordinating editor for further information by emailing frank.stilwell@sydney.edu.au.
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