eCite Digital Repository
Nuclear migrants, radical protest, and the transnational movement against French nuclear testing in the 1960s: The 1967 Voyage of the Trident
Citation
Harvey, K, Nuclear migrants, radical protest, and the transnational movement against French nuclear testing in the 1960s: The 1967 Voyage of the Trident, Labour History, 111 pp. 79-98. ISSN 0023-6942 (2016) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2016 Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
DOI: doi:10.5263/labourhistory.111.0079
Abstract
This article explores the origins and early years of the Australian movement against the French
nuclear testing program in the South Pacific, which ran from 1966 to 1996. In particular,
it looks at the transnational frame of Australian activism by focusing on an early example
of direct action, the Committee Against Atomic Testing (CAAT). Established in Sydney
in 1964, CAAT was conceived as a vehicle for organising the Trident protest voyage that
sailed from Sydney towards French Polynesia in 1967. Although the voyage only travelled
as far as the Cook Islands, it is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, it illuminates the
role of British and American migrants in radicalising the Sydney Left in the early to mid1960s.
Many of these, especially those from the United States, were self-described "nuclear
migrants," fleeing radioactive fallout, Cold War propaganda, and the excesses of materialism
back home. Several were involved in CAAT, helping to radicalise its ideas and its place in
broader, international trends of direct action and radical pacifism. Secondly, the campaign
of the Trident and its evolution is illustrative of a broader trend of experimentation with
radical protest in opposition to French nuclear testing that was garnering interest among
many on the Left in Australia in the mid to late 1960s.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | history, peace movement, pacifism, migration, protest, nuclear weapons |
Research Division: | History, Heritage and Archaeology |
Research Group: | Historical studies |
Research Field: | Australian history |
Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
Objective Group: | Understanding past societies |
Objective Field: | Understanding Australia's past |
UTAS Author: | Harvey, K (Dr Kyle Harvey) |
ID Code: | 127430 |
Year Published: | 2016 |
Deposited By: | College Office - CALE |
Deposited On: | 2018-07-27 |
Last Modified: | 2018-08-30 |
Downloads: | 0 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page