A Monash University expert is available to provide comments in response to the Federal government’s plans to introduce a national ban on Nazi symbols.
Associate Professor David Slucki, Director, Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash Faculty of Arts
Contact: +61 432 866 041 or david.slucki@monash.edu
Read more of Associate Professor Slucki’s work at Monash Lens
The following comments can be attributed to Associate Professor Slucki:
“The ban on Nazi symbols and on the trade in Nazi memorabilia by the federal government is a welcome, albeit limited, intervention into curbing the spread of Nazism in our communities.
“The bigger concern, however, is the persistence of Nazism in our society, which is not the result of the display of Nazi symbols in public. There is excellent work being done by researchers and activists to identify the causes of this, and the methods through which the far right recruits disaffected members of our society, particularly young men.
“Much more work needs to be done in this area. Bans are not a silver bullet and do not address the root causes. We only need to look to the past to understand how and why people are attracted to extremist political ideas and movements.
“Ultimately, those groups will find new symbols and new ways to circumvent these bans and taboos, as they have done in other countries where Nazi symbols and Holocaust denial are banned.
“We must continue to work towards understanding the root causes of such hatred and violence, rather than focus on band-aid solutions.
“Legislative approaches are a part of this, even more so the expansion of education and awareness in schools, universities, and in our communities more broadly. And we must continue to investigate the conditions in which violent ideologies ferment and spread.”
For more Monash media stories visit our news & events site: monash.edu/news
For any other topics on which you may be seeking expert comment, contact the Monash University Media Unit on +61 3 9903 4840 or media@monash.edu
