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Cruel Care

A History of Children at Our Borders
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Cruel Care by Jordana Silverstein explores the complex history of Australia's child welfare policies and practices. It delves into the systemic structures and ideologies that have influenced governmental decisions regarding child care, with a particular focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. By highlighting these historical frameworks, the book provides insights into the impacts and long-lasting legacies of these policies.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3999
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in exploring the historical and political dimensions of migration policies, particularly how nations handle caring for or being indifferent to people in vulnerable situations. Through an examination of historical context and current events, the author delves into the complexities of state care, offering insight into how government actions impact individuals on a personal and systemic level.

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Cruel Care

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Australia has long grappled with how to treat refugees, particularly children, who come to our country. Cruel Care asks why Australia pursues such unforgiving immigration policies, and why successive Australian governments say that the cruel acts they perpetrate are a form of care.

This is a story of government: of the politics and emotions that drive national policy. Meticulously researchedβ€”drawing on interviews with key Australian policymakers, along with a rich set of archival sourcesβ€”this book explores how legislation, ministers, political parties and the public service have combined to create a narrative of compassion while pursuing repressive policies. It details the weaponisation of rhetoric such as β€˜best interests of the child’ and the histories of raceβ€”and racismβ€”that influence Australian discourses of national security.

Cruel Care asks provocative questions about how policymakers are shaped by, and in turn shape, their histories, communities and the nation. It is a clarion call for better treatment for all who arrive on our shores.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Cruel Care by Jordana Silverstein receives praise for its insightful and powerful critique of Australian immigration policies and their impact on refugee children. Reviewers describe it as a groundbreaking work that confronts and reveals the violence masked as care wielded by the state. Through meticulous research and interviews, Silverstein draws connections between the treatment of refugees and First Nations peoples, urging readers to question state benevolence and push for systemic change. The book is lauded for its intellectual depth, engaging narrative, and urgent call to rethink Australia's colonial legacy and its implications for justice today.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781922633873

Publisher: Monash University Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 May 2023

Country: Australia

Imprint: Monash University Publishing

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 320

About the Author

Jordana Silverstein is a senior research fellow at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne. She has also been a visiting scholar at the ANU’s Humanities Research Centre and a three-time judge of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Jordana has a History PhD and is the author of Anxious Histories (2015), on narrating the Holocaust, and co-editor of Refugee Journeys (2021). Her criticism and essays appear widely, including in The Conversation and Overland, and she appears regularly in the media.

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