In the backblocks of capitalism: Australian student activism in the global 1960s

Recent histories of 1960s student power in Europe and elsewhere have embraced the transnational turn, investigating crossborder connections between student groups and the diffusion of protest frames and styles. This article calls for Australia to be drawn into this historical narrative. It argues that a new history of student activism in Australia focusing on the complex functions of transnational influences could assist in deconstructing key mythologies of the sixties, such as the idea that students were simply imitating overseas events. Using student activism at Monash University as a case study, it also illustrates how the transnational context shaped establishment responses to student unrest. (c) 2015 (c) 2015 Taylor Francis.