In gender politics recently there has been a ‘turn to men’: an increasingly visible emphasis on the role of men in building gender equality. What then is the role of men in ending systemic gender inequalities? I will start with “Engaging Men 101” – with some self-evident points, some basic truths, about men, patriarchy, and feminism. After these, I will move to some harder questions.
On the 1st July 2015, the Australian government instigated Border Force, its then new customs agency to work alongside the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, as per Operations Sovereign Borders. Such agencies and operations reflect part of the new architecture of national border integrity, tasked to maintain what I argue is the ‘illusion’ of sovereignty, best articulated as, “we will keep them out.” At the same time, new laws enabled the prosecution of workers employed within offshore detention centres for speaking out about conditions there. These new measures, designed to cement a securitised and militarised border protection model, signify that avenues for much-needed scrutiny and respect for human rights – for asylum seekers and workers alike – are fast dwindling, contributing to what Savitri Taylor terms the ‘thickening cloak of secrecy.’
