AustLit

'The neoliberal revolution is not only an economic but also a sociopolitical project that requires institutional and cultural changes to support and legitimize it. The “adaptive capacity of neoliberalism itself” (Bergeron 67) has not only enabled a refoundation of its project during each crisis, but has especially made possible its reinforcement in terms of both accumulation and symbolism. Despite the threats and social disaffection faced by neoliberalism, it continues to be a “hegemonic project” (Hall 728), deeply and thoroughly normalized, even though it actually represents a denaturation and dehumanization of the economy and its goals and threatens the sustainability of life in all its forms. The evident conflict between capitalism's logic of accumulation and the logic of care in human lives makes it difficult to assume the premise that neoliberal legitimacy requires people's rational support or sympathy for its project, as Marie Moran has shown. On the contrary, the reason for people's (eminently inertial) acceptance of it lies in the ability of the capitalist and neoliberal social logic to “saturate” ordinary spaces, dilute in habituality (69), and, especially, ingrain itself in “the hearts and souls” of people, as one of its major creators, Margaret Thatcher, once expressed it (qtd. in Butt).' (Publication summary)

'By framing salvation - both of the self and of Earth - through childbirth and Earth cultivation, Miller suggests that no such redemption is possible. Because human consumption and apocalyptic disaster have produced this population crisis, bearing more children will only heighten the tension between the people and their Earth. (74) Before entrepreneurs appropriated the land, women were considered to have been 'closer' to the Earth than men by their mere proximity to it on a daily basis, as well as their trust in nature to provide food, succour and income. [...]ecofeminists explain that privatisation of the land - especially in third-world countries - is seen as a direct assault on women's bodies, because women are seen as being both more responsive and more nurturing of nature/5 Women delegated to subordinate roles that make them subservient to men and not the Earth thereby find themselves unable to effect the necessary social changes that preserve their environment and society/6 Within a religious context, then, ecofeminism highlights the ways in which spirituality, the Earth and humankind's fate are impacted by dystopian disasters. Ecofeminism highlights the problems of gender inequity and damage wrought to the Earth, but it attempts to head off the 'if this goes on' scenario that Booker describes as typifying dystopian literature/8 Fury Road demonstrates that unchecked environmental crisis leads to death and destruction that cannot be undone even by the best theories and practices of equality and preservation. [...]Miller's contrast of ecofeminist principles demonstrates that no matter how mindful the spiritual practice, even the best intentions cannot undo the irreversible damage that kills the Earth and its inhabitants. Just as Miller criticises Immortan Joe's patriarchal religious practice for its inability to transcend a painful death brought on by suffering in a ravaged Earth, he also suggests that death and destruction will similarly plague the Vuvalini and their matriarchal faith. Because ecofeminism is dependent on gender parity to restore balance, the death of both women and men leaves the film's supposedly happy ending in question.40 While Furiosa, the wives, Max and Nux seek the Green Place, their roles are equal.' (Publication abstract) 

'An event known as 'Wasteland Weekend', held annually in the Southern California desert since 2010 and billed as 'the world's largest post-apocalyptic festival', allows attendees to 'live for four days in a world pulled straight out of the Mad Max movies and other post-apocalyptic films and games, beyond the grip of so-called civilization? Because it resonated so deeply throughout American culture, The Road Warrior powerfully affected depictions of convincing post-catastrophe scenarios. [...]Brin's novel undermines the very concept of a super-powerful (male) saviour to whom a community would owe its survival. The familial ethos is drowned in the awesome spectacle of individual heroic carnage. [...]in spite of Miller's narrative intentions, the Max that achieved nearly ubiquitous cultural acclaim was a tough, clever, resourceful mercenary, not an administrative middleman. [...]while the Postman occasionally tips his cap to the Road Warrior, Costner's nutty folksiness and clunky dialogue, exhibiting neither economy nor eloquence, betrays his unsuitability as a heroic saviour.'  (Publication abstract)