'Political correctness': Pauline Hanson and the construction of Australianidentity

In Australia there has been a great deal of discussion in recent years of s omething called 'political correctness'. This term is an insidious phrase a pplied to academic humanists, who, it is frequently said, do not think inde pendently but rather according to noons established by a cabal of 'correct- thinking' leftists. These norms are supposed to be overly sensitive to raci sm, sexism and the like, instead of allowing people to debate in what is su pposed to be an 'open' manner (Said 1994:58). This article asks why Austral ia has witnessed a backlash against 'political correctness' at this point o f ti,ne. Why has Hanson been able to mount a sustained attack on 'political correctness' and why has John Howard's response been muted? The article su ggests notions of identity and difference are at the centre of the recent d ebate - the rhetoric has highlighted the politics of division while obsurin g the issues of those marginal to the mainstream.