Dealing with class: orthodox public discourse and Australian trade unionism

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify and explain some of the processes by which alignments of language, power and knowledge, and their concrete manifestations, are transformed. This theoretical discussion is then applied to the history of Australian trade unions from the late nineteenth century, in order to gain an understanding of the process that led to the development of the Australian system of arbitration and conciliation. The article also includes the argument that the role played by trade unions within the Australian social world has been substantially configured in keeping with the discursive limitations of this system.