Carolyn Holbrook, Lyndon Megarrity and David Lowe
Historians are experienced time travellers. They have shown that we orient ourselves in the world by building narratives that frame meaning, that paint human endeavours on vibrant canvases, that suggest bigger stories in which we come and go. They also remind us that what might, at first glance, appear to be unquestionable interpretive themes, such as ‘progress’ or ‘development’, are in fact highly specific to circumstances and often overshadow other important concepts and behaviours we are prone to forget. To not question these apparently immovable paradigms is to invite only narrow possibilities for change. And to not question also risks what some in this collection have reminded us are the dangers of ‘path dependency’. It is easier and usually cheaper in the short term to continue down paths that are well marked, despite the social, economic and emotional costs that may already be evident to thoughtful observers.
The power of good historical writing is something we believe in firmly and hold dear. Yet, right now, this is not enough. Globally, nationally and locally, ‘wicked problems’ defy solution: environmental degradation, the decline of neoliberalism without a clear public policy model to take its place, the frequently tenuous link between public policy and the values of citizens, the dangerous pursuit of endless economic growth on a planet of finite resources, to name just a few of our contemporary crises. The question needs to be asked: what can historians do to help society understand and address the challenges of the here and now?
The contributors to Lessons from History have responded in different ways. They include early, mid-career and senior historians with a healthy diversity of personal backgrounds, opinions and approaches to the discipline of history. Nevertheless, several recurring themes emerge. One is the importance of history as a means of ensuring that officials are accountable to the people they serve. The use, misuse, or inadequate use of history by politicians is something that concerns contributors. Being unscrupulous with history, or claiming that no precedent exists for current circumstances, are short cuts open to politicians wanting to be less accountable.
A growing sense of necessary activism – for historians to mobilise better than previously, in order to address more squarely the challenges of our time – is present, either directly or indirectly, in most of the works here. Authors make recommendations that go both to current policy settings and the process of policy debate and formation. Recommending policy has not been a traditional part of the academic historian’s toolkit, but the chapters here show that it can be added, and in ways that promote the public good.
How historians engage better with the policy process is a work in progress – and we hope that this book is evidence of progress. Historians should go further and down new roads connected to policy. British historian Alix Green has argued that historians need to relax their protection of their disciplinary boundaries, and find ways to engage in ‘collective puzzling’
with policymakers.1 Can this occur more systematically than policymakers joining academic workshops or guest historians appearing at departmental briefings? This book does not offer a definitive answer to the question of whether historians are better to recommend to, or partner with, policymakers, but it seeks to keep the question to the fore in how we work.
Indeed, at its most basic, the chapters here demonstrate the virtues of writing to be read by a wider public. Writing rigorous work for publication in specialist outlets is a focus which historians can retain, but they can also work on distillations and summaries of their research that reach an interested public. Is there time to do both? The overwhelmingly positive responses we had when we approached contributors to this book suggests that academics are determined to make the time. Given the state we are in, with some of the biggest policy challenges we have ever faced in front of us, and with the humanities subject to undermining efforts by recent governments around the world, perhaps it was not surprising that the contributors here relished the chance to join.
Making time, and facilitating opportunities for exchanges and/or collaborations between historians and policymakers goes both ways. The decline in policy capacity in the public service in recent decades has been well documented, as has the increasing and expensive reliance on consultancy firms for policy advice. Government needs to rebuild its inhouse capacity for long-term policy development and optimise mechanisms through which the public service draws on the academy. Instead of starving the tertiary sector of funding and forcing universities to seek money in ways that distort their civic purpose, government could resource them adequately. Imagine the benefits if government worked collaboratively with universities, rather than acted punitively, to encourage academics to more explicitly link their research to the public good.
Despite the rise of disciplines that cater more directly to contemporary tastes, history has endured, because thinking about the past is a fundamental and profound exercise. Lessons from History adds to a chorus of literature demonstrating our failure to deal with a range of formidable problems. As some of the fundamental assumptions of the Western way of life come under question, so must the sources of knowledge that have justified and sustained them. We urge policymakers to turn to history, not least for its versatility, its embrace of uncertainty and its fundamental humanity. Like a soft but insistent bass, history thrums the rhythm of human experience. Now, in the midst of a global pandemic and climate crisis, historians must play their role in writing the history of the future. And policymakers must listen.
Acknowledgments
As we put the finishing touches to this manuscript, there is war in Europe, and freakishly high flood levels have again devastated parts of Queensland and New South Wales. Dozens of people continue to die from COVID-19 each week in Australia, but the pandemic has slipped from the headlines. The sense of crisis and policy paralysis that motivated us to compile this volume shows no signs of abating.
Lessons from History extends the work of Australian Policy and History; a network that connects historians with politicians, policymakers, journalists and the wider public. The book arose partly from a conference and workshops sponsored by Australian Policy and History and the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University in 2019–21. We thank Deakin University for continuing to support historical research that informs and enriches.
The editors would like to thank all our contributors for their hard work and enthusiasm for the project. We could not have done it without you! We would also like to acknowledge the great support of the NewSouth Publishing team, especially Elspeth Menzies and Paul O’Beirne. Thank you to our copy editor Briony Neilson for working so closely with us to get the manuscript in tip-top shape.
Carolyn Holbrook thanks her colleagues in the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin University, as well as Anthony Forsyth, Catherine Forsyth and Sarah Forsyth. Thank you also to Jodie Hamilton and Kerry Humphries for the invaluable wi-fi hot-spotting in Lennox Head during the final stages of copyediting. Lyndon Megarrity would like to thank L.P. Megarrity, R.G. Megarrity, Rod Sullivan and Frank Bongiorno. David Lowe thanks his colleagues in the Contemporary Histories Research Group at Deakin, and Andrea Shimmen, Ben Lowe and Tristan Lowe.
Stuart Macintyre was planning to contribute a chapter to this volume, but had to withdraw due to the ill-health that took his life in November 2021. Stuart was the emblematic ‘citizen historian’. His historical writing was deeply rooted in questions about the contemporary world, and how we could make it better. We dedicate this volume to Stuart’s memory.