"Nowhere Else to Work": Advertising and the Left in Australia. (1st May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dickenson, Jackie
• Is Part Of: Labour history. Volume 108(2015)
• Page Start: 17
• Page End: 36
• Publication Date: 2015-05-01
• Subjects: Labor -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; Labor unions -- Australia -- History -- Periodicals; 331.0994
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0023-6942

Abstract

Abstract : From the late 1930s to the early 1970s, a noticeable cluster of left activists (both women and men, and all, at some point, members of the Communist Party) could be found working in the Australian advertising industry, using their artistic and writing skills to support themselves and pursue their political goals. The article explores the complex relationship between left politics and consumer culture in this period by examining the careers of a handful of these activists. It finds that the shift away from revolutionary politics in the late 1930s to mobilisation around anti-fascism made it possible for left activists to work in advertising without attracting significant criticism from their fellow party members. With the rise of a radical critique of consumer culture from the early 1950s, however, it became increasingly difficult for those who remained committed to left activism to justify working in an increasingly despised industry.