Dimensions
153 x 235 x 31mm
From firebrand to conservative, or something else entirely? Up from the Mission charts the life and thought of Noel Pearson, from his early days as a native title lawyer to his position today as one of Australia's most influential figures.
This is writing of great passion and power, which introduces a fascinating man and a compelling writer. Many of the pieces included have been hard to find until now. Gathered together in a cohesive, broadranging book, they show a key Australian thinker coming into being.
Pearson evokes his early life in Hopevale, Queensland. He includes sections of his epoch-making essay Our Right to Take Responsibility, which exposed the trap of 'passive welfare' and proposed new ways forward. There are pieces on the apology; on Barack Obama and black leadership; on Australian party politics - Keating, Howard and Rudd; and on alcoholism, despair and what can be done to mend Aboriginal communities that have fallen apart.
'Noel Pearson is beyond classification as a political theorist and commentator: for his historical sense, plain style and power of argument, he simply knocks spots off everybody else in the country.' - Clive James
