Hugh Mackay

Hugh Mackay is a social psychologist with a 60-year career in social research. He is the author of 22 books including his latest, The Kindness Revolution.

Hugh's recent articles

How liars and bullies can win elections

How liars and bullies can win elections

Ive met them; youve met them. You can find them in the corporate world, in academia, in the public service, in publishing, the media, the church and, of course, in politics. The bullies who get away with it because of their capacity to turn on the charm when required. The barefaced liars who mask their mendacity with a disarming grin.

How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better.( A repost from November 4, 2021)

How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better.( A repost from November 4, 2021)

Voters disillusionment is much deeper than the current crop of leaders. There is something wrong with the system itself.

How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better

How an influx of independents could change parliament for the better

Voters disillusionment is much deeper than the current crop of leaders. There is something wrong with the system itself.

Who cares what the focus groups say?

Who cares what the focus groups say?

As we brace ourselves for a looming federal election campaign, its likely were going to be treated to another unedifying demonstration of why politics should not be treated like the marketing of commercial brands.

Scott Morrison-No compassion, and no marketing skill either?

Scott Morrison-No compassion, and no marketing skill either?

When Scott Morrison became prime minister, two dimensions of his persona seemed potentially positive: a Christian faith that might have illuminated his leadership with kindness and compassion, to say nothing of integrity, and a widely-touted marketing background (Scotty from Marketing) that might have lifted the standard of political communication and inspired some brilliance in government advertising. Whatever hopes might thus have been raised have long since been dashed.

What if climate change is merely seen as Gods will?

The line between faith and fatalism can be blurry, but it raises an important question for a Pentecostal prime minister leading a nation that is fast becoming a global outlier on the subject of energy policy.

HUGH MACKAY: How will widespread social isolation change us?

Social isolation is hardly a new problem for us: it has been high on the list of concerns for social scientists and health professionals for many years. But the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to confront the potential for loneliness on an unprecedented scale.

HUGH MACKAY. What kind of society do we want to become?

Australia Day is widely regarded as a chance to celebrate what it means to be Australian. Perhaps, this year, we might turn the national day into a time of sombre reflection, and ask: are we the kind of society we want to be?

HUGH MACKAY. A Culture of Compassion (Edited extract of Australia Day Address)

We humans are, by nature, social beings who need each other. We need the sense of belonging to communities that sustain, nurture, support and protect us and even give us our sense of personal identity you cant make sense of who you are without a social context.

HUGH MACKAY, FRANCES RUSH. Is the Australian solution catching on?

The US president is indifferent to human rights. That was the banner headline on the front page of Frances Le Monde newspaper last week, as if it were news. Donald Trump has amply demonstrated that indifference, and not only in the context of his fantasy wall along the Mexican border. But he is now being joined by the new Italian government and by the growing body of populist and right-wing agitators across Europe.

TONY DOHERTY. Review of Hugh Mackay's "Australia Reimagined - Towards a compassionate, less anxious society".

Hugh Mackay has spent almost his entire working life asking Australians about what makes us tick, what are our basic concerns, what gives us hope and meaning, why do we do what we do?His acute observation, honed by the skills of solid social research, has illuminated his readers for at least fifty years. His analysis has been unfailingly optimistic, accessible, crystal-clear and frequently provocative. His latest book, Australia Reimagined: Towards a more compassionate, less anxious society, is no exception. It extends his study of who we are and who we may become, challenging the better angels within us to...

SUSANNE ROBERTS. Hugh Mackay reimagines a more compassionate Australia (Book Review)

Esteemed social researcher Hugh Mackays latest book Australia Reimagined: Towards a more compassionate, less anxious society is exquisitely timed. As the daily headlines tell of bank and church scandals and failures in the health, education and housing systems, many of us are asking what went wrong and are increasingly preoccupied with searching for solutions. We have little faith that governments of either colour will cease their pointless political manoeuvrings, sever their murky allegiances and muster the bottle to come up with solutions.

HUGH MACKAY. Another kind of deficit

Heres a quick Christmas quiz. (Warning: its not a very merry quiz.)

HUGH MACKAY. What the Census really said about religion.

When the 2016 Census results were released, anti-religionists and anti-theists worked themselves into a lather of excitement about the apparent increase in the number of Australians ticking the No religion box. In the five years since 2011, that figure rose from 21.8 to 29.6 percent. Or did it?

HUGH MACKAY. The days of political stability and vision are gone.

From 1949 to 2007, Australian federal governments were defeated at the polls on only five occasions. Voters' reluctance to rock the political boat over those six decades was not necessarily a reflection of great satisfaction with politics. Rather it was a symptom of their desire for, at least, stability. A one-term government was unthinkable then. Governments were generally regarded as committed to nation-building and governing in accordance with a set of transparent political values. Leaders were not embarrassed to talk about their sense of vision and purpose; political idealism was expected.

HUGH MACKAY. A policy that diminishes us all

Occasionally in a nations history, horror over past events triggers a kind of national shame. Germany went through it - is still going through it - in the wake of the Third Reich. South Africa has not yet healed the wounds of apartheid. The US continues to struggle with the evil legacy of white supremacism. In Australia, we havent had a Holocaust. We havent institutionalised racial discrimination (though weve come close). But there have been periods in our short history that have cast very dark shadows across our national psyche, evoking entirely appropriate feelings of shame.

HUGH MACKAY. Its time for a national conscience vote

Whatever this ill-conceived double-dissolution (double disillusion?) election is about, it is clearly not addressing the issue that, more than any other, is redefining what it means to be Australian.

Hugh Mackay. The Art of Belonging.

We need communities to sustain us, but if those communities are to survive and prosper, we must engage with them and nurture them, writes Hugh Mackay. Arent you tired of being told that the deepest truth about human beings is that we are hopelessly selfish by nature? That even acts of apparent altruism are really just intended to make us feel better about ourselves and to look better in the eyes of others? That we are ruthlessly competitive creatures, so intent on satisfying our own needs that we are capable of aggressive and even violent behaviour towards anyone who...

Hugh Mackay. Does every moral lapse make the next one easier?

The political decline of the Abbott government has been remarkable. No other federal government in recent history has fallen from favour so soon after an election, nor languished in the polls so intractably (consistently trailling Labor 47-53 for more than six months). The question is: why? There are at least two answers. The obvious one is political incompetence: in particular, the governments blindness to the reality of its situation. By its situation I dont just mean its challenging relationship with the Senate; I mean the fact that, like many oppositions coming to power, it had less to crow...

Hugh Mackay. Immoral acts - that's one way to stop the boats.

No boats have arrived for 36 days! That was the recent proud claim of our immigration minister, Scott Morrison, delivered in a tone that suggested we should all cheer such a wonderful accomplishment. In fact, given the strategies employed to achieve this result, we should hang our heads in shame. We are living through a dark period in our cultural history where politicians like Morrison are actively encouraging a dulling of our moral sense by appealing to that most dangerous moral principle of all: The end justifies the means. Its not just this government, of course: the stain...

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