Robert Michael Manne (born 31 October 1947) is an Emeritus Professor of

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. He is a leading Australian public intellectual.

Background

Robert Manne was born in Melbourne to parents who were

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

refugees from Europe. His earliest political consciousness was shaped by this fact and that both sets of grandparents were victims of

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He was educated at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

(1966–69) (BA) (Honours thesis 1969, "George Orwell: Socialist Pamphleteer") and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(BPhil). He joined

in Melbourne in its early years. He served there as a professor in politics and culture until retirement in 2012. He is Vice-Chancellor's Fellow and Convenor of the Ideas & Society Program at La Trobe. Since 1983, he has been married to journalist and social philosopher Anne Manne (née Robinson). Manne's departure as chairman resulted in the editorial board's dissolution, with ''Monthly'' editor Ben Naparstek announcing, "We're not going to have one any more." Manne's blog, entitled ''Left, Right, Left'', had its first post on 12 September. Manne is also Chair of the ''

Australian Book Review ''Australian Book Review'' is an Australian arts and literary review. Created in 1961, ''ABR'' is an independent non-profit organisation that publishes articles, reviews, commentaries, essays, and new writing. The aims of the magazine are " ...

'', a board member of The Brisbane Institute, and a member of the board of the Stolen Generations Taskforce in Victoria.

Influences

Over the years, Manne has claimed a range of political, economic, philosophical, and academic figures as influences from across the political spectrum. These have included

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, Richard Pipes, Sven Lindqvist,

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. His best-known works include his tetralogy about what he called the "long 19th century" (''Th ...

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

and

Joseph Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, political activist, and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2 ...

Honours

* Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (1999). * In 2005 he was voted Australia's leading public intellectual in a survey conducted by ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''. * Festschrift volume: Tavan Gwenda (ed.). 2013. ''State of the Nation: Essays for Robert Manne''. Melbourne: Black Inc. * Shortlisted for the Melbourne Prize for Literature, 2012. * API Top Australian Public Intellectuals (number 1) *

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, 2023 Australila Day Honours, for "distinguished service to tertiary education, to political and social commentary, to public affairs, and to the Indigenous community"

Bibliography

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Quarterly Essays * ''QE01 In Denial: The Stolen Generations and the Right'' (2001) * ''QE13 Sending Them Home: Refugees and the New Politics of Indifference'' (2003) – With David Corlett * ''QE43 Bad News: Murdoch's Australian and the Shaping of the Nation'' (2011)

Essays and reporting

* * * * * *

Quadrant editorials

* * *

Book reviews

References

External links

Manne's profile at La Trobe University

Articles by Manne at ''The Monthly''

Articles by Manne at ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manne, Robert 1947 births Living people Australian political scientists Academic staff of La Trobe University Australian journalists Australian people of Jewish descent Alumni of the University of Oxford University of Melbourne alumni Quadrant (magazine) people Officers of the Order of Australia