Review essay: The social sciences in Australia and the experience of law

This essay reviews Stuart Macintyre's recent political history of the symbiotic relationship between the Australian social sciences and the federal government, and considers whether this captures the position and experience of the discipline of law. Macintyre has provided his readers with a thought-provoking account of how, over the past 60 years, various personalities and organisations (principally the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia) have unsuccessfully endeavoured to raise the profile of the social sciences. He invites higher education policymakers and disciplinary leaders to pause and consider how to devise initiatives that reward what is truly unique and valuable within individual disciplines. In addition to reviewing Macintyre's book and testing its prescriptive qualities. this essay considers the insights this work may provide to those in the legal academy.