2024 Fay Gale Lecture: Presented by Professor Pam Nilan

'Youth, Masculinity and the Far Right in Australia'

This lecture considers the nexus of youthful masculinity and far right discourse in Australia. It constitutes a gendered reflection on data collected from a range of men for an Australian Research Council Discovery-funded research project titled Far Right in Australia: Intellectuals, Masculinity and Citizenship. In the data, digitally-networked younger informants frequently articulated the discourse of white male victimhood. They felt stigmatised for being white. They were nostalgic for the idealised traditional gender roles of a previous generation; feeling that young women had gained so much while they, as young men, had lost out. They expressed conservative attitudes on contentious socio-political issues and reported relatively high levels of stress. Exploring the concept of aggrieved entitlement, Professor Nilan will discuss the project findings, supplemented by examples from far-right groups in Australia that specifically target young (white) men for recruitment.

Professor Nilan was previously Conjoint Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Science, University of Newcastle. During her tenure at the University of Newcastle, Prof Nilan held the roles of Assistant Dean for Research and Research Training and Deputy Director, Research Institute for Social Inclusion and Well-being. Professor Nilan’s research interests include the far-right, youth, masculinities, popular culture, Australia, and Indonesia. She is currently working with ADI colleague, Dr Joshua Roose, on the ARC-funded research project, ‘The Far-Right: Intellectuals, Masculinity and Citizenship’. Professor Nilan is an experienced youth researcher, who has worked in Australia, Vietnam, Fiji, and Indonesia. In the youth research field, she focuses on school-to-work transitions, gender, class, and popular culture. Her current research endeavours are focused on Indonesia. She has published numerous articles in refereed journals and contributed many book chapters to edited collections. She has been a co-author on four books.

The Fay Gale Lecture is named in honour of the late Professor Gwendoline Fay Gale AO (1932–2008), the first female President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1997–2000) and an eminent human geographer, well-known for her contributions to academia, the advancement of women within academia, Indigenous studies and juvenile justice. The lecture, inaugurated in 2010, is presented annually by a distinguished female social scientist and is open to the public.

Please register for either in-person and online live streaming (if you register for live streaming but cannot attend, you will still be sent the recording). The lecture will commence at 5.30pm and conclude at 6.30pm, followed by refreshments.

A final email will be sent with details to join the Zoom meeting one hour before the event. If you do not receive this, please check your junk folder, or email anna.dennis@socialsciences.org.au.