Presentation- Beyond Colombo: Aust Colonial and Foreign Policy in the Age of International Development, 1945-1975. 15 August

Beyond Colombo: Australian Colonial and Foreign Policy in the Age of International Development, 1945-1975

Wednesday 15 August 2018 11:00am – 12:pm
Burwood: C.205 Waurn Ponds: ic3.108 or VMP ARTSED 2 36917

Between 1945 and 1975, the concept of development emerged as a significant feature of international affairs. Academic experts and policymakers conceived of the best ways to promote development in poorer parts of the world, becoming part of what has been referred to as the international “age of development”. This period coincided with the rise of the United States as the dominant global capitalist power, yet the newfound emphasis on development drew upon many of the assumptions and practices of earlier European colonial policies. Australian experts, policymaking bureaucrats, and politicians were deeply engaged in this process.

This paper examines Australian policy towards Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia between 1945 and 1975 through the lens of development. Through this, it extends the history of Australian aid beyond the Colombo Plan, by bringing foreign aid and colonial policy into conversation. Developmental discourse provided the connection between Australia’s postwar engagement with Southeast Asia and its colonial administration in Papua New Guinea. By tying Australian policy to global intellectual and political trends, this paper sheds new light on policies that have previously been considered in isolation from one another. This in turn reveals the importance of following the postwar Australian engagement with transnational flows of developmental discourse, in order to gain a greater understanding of Australia’s place in its geographical region.