Prof Jennifer Hocking - Researcher Profile

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Address

Monash University
Wellington Road, Clayton

Biography

Narratives of history

Professor Jenny Hocking is using the medium of biography to bring her academic research to a wide audience. The subject of her latest work is one of Australia's most intriguing and influential political figures, former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, the first instalment in this two volume biography, was published in 2008 by Melbourne University Publishing.

Jenny believes the field of biography offers researchers unique opportunities to make their work more accessible to the wider public. As Head of the Monash University School of Journalism, Australian and Indigenous Studies, she uses detailed histories of some of Australia's most prominent political figures to explore research interests in democratic practice, the rule of law and social justice.

"Biography is not so much a field of study as a way of transmitting your research," Jenny says.

"It is a wonderful way to convey academic research in a more readable and narrative-driven way than the more standard academic outlets might allow. The sort of audience we reach with an academic journal, for example, can be narrow. But to be able to work in a biographical format as well really opens you up to another audience.

"And I enjoy the writing, the creation of character and narrative and the construction of plot. It is a way of reaching out to people with something that actually is heavily researched and totally empirically based."

Jenny began her biographical career with a history of the life of former attorney-general and High Court judge Lionel Murphy in Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography. She has also documented the life of prominent Australian communist and author Frank Hardy, in Frank Hardy: Politics Literature Life. Both books were also short-listed for national literary awards.

 

Jenny's current work – the two-volume biography of Gough Whitlam – is her most ambitious to date. 

Although much has been written about the Whitlam Government and the events surrounding "the dismissal", few authors have used the man himself as the subject of a broader biographical work.

Jenny believes that this focus on the end of his Government's tenure frequently overlooks valuable discussion of Whitlam's family and heritage, his years in opposition, his work to reform the Australian Labor Party following the political split of the 1950s, and the lasting legacy of the policies his government introduced.

"Gough Whitlam is a most unusual man, a highly intelligent, erudite and well read person with a great passion for his sense of betterment for Australia and Australians," Jenny says.

"He came in to parliament shortly before the Labor party split and then spent the best part of 20 years as an overwhelming driver for change in the party itself, and so there's really an enormous untold story of Whitlam in opposition.

"And the landmark decisions that were made - including Medibank (now Medicare), legal aid, removing fees from tertiary education, ending conscription, the Family Law Act, removing the death penalty, one vote one value, and the Racial Discrimination Act (which would later prove pivotal to the success of the Mabo case) - were not just landmarks because they were a point of change, but because they have lasted.

"It is often forgotten that much of what we take for granted about modern Australia was actually imbedded during that time."

The Whitlam biography has been supported by two ARC Linkage Grants in cooperation with the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.

Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History was short-listed for The Age Non-Fiction Book of the Year, the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literature 2009 and the Magarey Medal for Biography and long-listed in the 2009 Walkley Awards Non-fiction Book Award. Volume Two of the biography, Gough Whitlam: A Living Democracy, will be published in 2012.

Qualifications

PHD
Institution: University of Sydney
Year awarded: 1990
B.EC: BACHELOR OF ECONOMICS
Institution: Monash University
Year awarded: 1979
B.SC. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
Institution: Monash University
Year awarded: 1975

Publications

Books

Hocking, J.J., 2012, Gough Whitlam: His Time, Miegunyah Press, VIC, Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2008, Gough Whitlam. A Moment in History, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., Lewis, C.H. (eds), 2007, Counter-Terrorism and the Post-Democratic State, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham UK.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Frank Hardy: Politics Literature Life, Lothian, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2004, Terror Laws: ASIO, Counter-Terrorism and the Threat to Democracy, University of New South Wales Press Ltd, Sydney NSW Australia.

Lewis, C.H., Hocking, J.J. (eds), 2003, It's Time Again: Whitlam and Modern Labor, Circa, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2000, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Book Chapters

Hocking, J.J., 2007, Academic freedom in Australia in an age of terror, in Free Speech in Fearful Times: After 9/11 in Canada, the US, Australia and Europe, eds James L Turk and Allan Manson, James Lorimer, Toronto Canada, pp. 216-234.

Hocking, J.J., 2007, Counter-terrorism and the politics of social cohesion, in Social Cohesion in Australia, eds James Jupp, John Nieuwenhuysen and Emma Dawson, Cambridge University Press, New York USA, pp. 182-190.

Hocking, J.J., Lewis, C.H., 2007, Counter-terrorism and the rise of 'security policing', in Counter-Terrorism and the Post-Democratic State, eds Jenny Hocking and Colleen Lewis, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham UK, pp. 138-152.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Frank Hardy and Power Without Glory: Prelude to the Split, in The Great Labor Schism: A Retrospective, eds Brian Costar, Peter Love and Paul Strangio, Scribe, Carlton North Vic Australia, pp. 97-113.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Liberty, security and the State, in Ideas and Influence. Social Science and Public Policy in Australia, eds Peter Saunders and James Walter, UNSW Press, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 178-197.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, history by numbers, in The Dismissal, eds Sybil Nolan, Melbourne University Publishing, Carlton Vic Australia, pp. 1-14.

Hocking, J.J., 2003, Counterterrorism domestic security developments and the challenges of the rule of law in Australia, in Meeting the Challenges of Global Terrorism: Prevention, Control and Recovery, eds Dilip K Das and Peter C Kratcoski, Lexington Books, USA, pp. 249-265.

Hocking, J.J., Lewis, C.H., 2003, Thirty years later: the Whitlam Government as modernist politics, in It's Time Again: Whitlam and Modern Labor, eds Jenny Hocking and Colleen Lewis, Circa, Armadale Vic Australia, pp. 1-9.

Hocking, J.J., 2001, Robert Menzies' 'fundamental authoritarianism': the 1951 referendum, in Arguing the Cold War, eds Peter Love and Paul Strangio, Red Rag Publications, Carlton North Vic Australia, pp. 47-59.

Hocking, J.J., 2000, Epilogue: Did Lionel Murphy Really Happen?, in Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 315-333.

Journal Articles

Hocking, J., 2011, It's a ripping good yarn! Political biography and the creative imagination, Adelaide Law Review [P], vol 32, issue 1, Adelaide Law Review Association, Adelaide SA Australia, pp. 69-82.

Hocking, J.J., 2007, Post-war reconstruction and the new world order: the origins of Gough Whitlam's democratic citizen, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol 53, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Carlton Vic Australia, pp. 223-235.

Hocking, J.J., 2006, Australian terror laws target ideas, debate and dissent, Academic Matters: The Journal of Higher Education in Canada, vol Fall, issue -, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association, Ontario Canada, pp. 10-12.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, The Anti-terrorism Bill (No 2) 2005: When scrutiny, secrecy and security collide, Democratic Audit of Australia, vol Nov 2005, Australian National University. Research School of Social Studies, http://democratic.audit.anu.edu.au/Canberra, pp. 1-4.

Hocking, J.J., 2004, National security and democratic rights: Australian terror laws, The Sydney Papers, vol 16, issue 1, The Sydney Institute Publications Ltd, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 89-95.

Hocking, J.J., 2004, Protecting democracy by preserving justice: 'even for the feared and the hated', The University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol 27, issue 2, The University of New South Wales Law Journal, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 319-338.

Hocking, J.J., 2004, The end of dissent: counter-terrorism and the politics of repression, Arena Journal, vol 0, issue 22, Arena Printing and Publishing, Fitzroy Vic Australia, pp. 11-19.

Hocking, J.J., 2003, Counter-terrorism and the criminalisation of politics: Australia's new security powers of detention, proscription and control, Australian Journal of Politics & History, vol 49, issue 3, Blackwell Publishing Asia, Carlton Vic Australia, pp. 355-371.

Hocking, J., 2002, Homophobes, hypocrites, Heffernan and Howard: Australia's new authoritarianism, Overland, vol 0, issue 167, O L Society Limited, Footscray Vic Australia, pp. 63-68.

Hocking, J., 2001, Marketing Frank Hardy: the revival of biography as scandal, Journal of Australian Studies, vol 68, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia Qld Australia, pp. 146-153.

Hocking, J., 2000, A.W. Martin's Incomplete Menzies: No Aboriginals, No Women, Labour History, vol issue 79, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 213-220.

Conference Proceedings

Lewis, C.H., Hocking, J.J., 2004, Abuse of power in policing and security: keeping the exceptional accountable, Integrated Governance: Linking Up Government, Business & Civil Society, 25 October 2004 to 26 October 2004, Monash Governance Research Unit, East Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 1-18.

Hocking, J., 2001, Recontesting the cultural cold-war: Frank Hardy, Power without glory and criminal libel, Work.Organisation Struggle: Papers from the Seventh National Labour History Conference, 19 April 2001 to 21 April 2001, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Canberra ACT Australia, pp. 156-161.

Other

Hocking, J.J., 2008, Two Moments in History, Extracts from Jenny Hocking, Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History, Herald Sun/News Ltd, Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2007, Murphy, Lionel, The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, vol A-Z, issue -, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 351-352.

Hocking, J.J., 2007, Whitlam, Gough, The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, vol A-Z, issue -, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 638-639.

Hocking, J.J., 2006, Invited submission to the International Commission of Jurists Panel, Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, The International Commission of Jurists, The International Commission of Jurists, Geneva Switzerland.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Research without glory, Extracts from Jenny Hocking. Frank Hardy: Politics Literature Life, John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee inquiry into proposed 'terrorism' offences and executive proscription powers, Parliament of Australia: Senate Committees, Parliament of Australia, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2005, Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee on and Anti-Terrorism Bill (No 2) 2005, Parliament of Australia: Senate Committees, Parliament of Australia, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2004, 'Power, Glory and Myth'. Review of James Griffin-John Wren: A Life Reconsidered, Scribe Publications, 2004, The Age, John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2003, 'ASIO Bill needs thorough review'. (Opnion piece on ASIO Bill.), The Canberra Times, The Canberra Times, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2003, 'Flawed view of security power hits democracy'. (Opinion piece on ASIO Bill.), The Canberra Times, The Canberra Times, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2003, 'Past Imperfect, Present Tense'. Review of Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clark, the History Wars, Melbourne University Press, 2003, The Age, John Fairfax Holdings Ltd, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2002, Submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD inquiry into proposed detention powers for ASIO, Parliament of Australia: Joint Committees, Parliament of Australia, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J.J., 2002, Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee inquiry into proposed 'terrorism' offences and Executive proscription powers, Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee inquiry into proposed 'terrorism' offences and Executive proscription powers, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Is health a commodity?, The Republican, Sydney NSW Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, Curtin University Radio, Petra O'Shaughnessy Show, Perth WA Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, ABC Radio with Richard Glover, Sydney NSW Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, ABC Radio Morning Show, Adelaide SA Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, ABC Radio with Jon Faine, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, The Canberra Times: Saturday Magazine, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, ABC Radio National. 'Terry Lane: The National Interest', Melbourne Vic Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, Speech to the National Press Club, Canberra ACT Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Lionel Murphy: A Political Biography, ABC Radio Morning Show, Perth WA Australia.

Hocking, J., 1997, Well May Our Leaders Learn from Whitlam, The Age, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Autobiographical Writing of Australian Women 1939-1945 Using Letters and Diaries.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main), Anderson, F (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Don McLeod of the Pilbara.
Supervisors:
Russell, L (Main), Hocking, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(MASTER'S BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Progressive Rebels or Boy's Own Adventure? The 1935 Australian Cricket tour of India; breaking down social and racial barriers.
Supervisors:
Reeves, K (Main), Hocking, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Tangled up in Black: a study of the activist strategies of the Black Power movement through the life of Gary Foley .
Supervisors:
Bradley, J (Main), Hocking, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
The story of dairy deregulation in Australia, 1970-2000 .
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main), Baker, A (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:
Cinque, T.
Program of Study:
Adapting to political, social and technological change: a study of the public interest obligations of the ABC and SBS. (PHD) 2007.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main), Strangio, P (Associate).
Student:
Jarvis, J.
Program of Study:
Beyond the billion dollar backpackers: the strategic implications of the development of backpacker tourism to Australia 1989-2005. (PHD) 2007.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main).
Student:
Mcginn, I.
Program of Study:
Commonwealth Aboriginal policy in the Northern Territory: 1911 - 1939. (PHD) 2012.
Supervisors:
Gunstone, A (Main), Hocking, J (Associate), Judd, B (Associate).
Student:
Nolan, S.
Program of Study:
THEMES IN THE EDITORIAL IDENTITY OF THE AGE NEWSPAPER. (Masters) 2001.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main).
Student:
Ranganathan, M.
Program of Study:
NURTURING NATIONS ON THE NET: AN EXPLORATION OF NATION BUILDING ON THE INTERNET. (PHD) 2004.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main).
Student:
Vasilopoulos, O.
Program of Study:
Singapore and Democracy in the Information Age. (Masters) 2005.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main).
Student:
White, L.
Program of Study:
Official and commercial nationalism: images of Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. (PHD) 2008.
Supervisors:
Hocking, J (Main), Quartly, M (Associate).
Student:
Young, G.
Program of Study:
MAN AMONGST MEN: AN EXAMINATION OF IMAGES OF AUSTRALIAN MASCULINITY ACROSS TIME. (PHD) 2002.
Supervisors:
Rickard, J (Main), Hocking, J (Joint).