Racism, popular culture and Australian identity in transition: a case study of change in school textbooks since 1945

Since the second world war, significant changes have come about in senses of Australian identity and historical self-consciousness. The nature and extent of these changes can be seen in an analysis of racism and conceptions of culture, particularly in the definition of ‘us’ and the ‘them’ of history: how ‘we’ define ourselves through a delineation of ‘others’ who are different.