Peter Brett (1918–1975), Alice Erh-Soon Tay (1934–2004) and Geoffrey
Sawer (1910–1996) are key, yet largely overlooked, members of
Australia's first community of legal scholars. This book is a critical
study of how their ideas and endeavours contributed to Australia's
discipline of law and the first Australian legal theories. It examines
how three marginal figures – a Jewish man (Brett), a Chinese woman
(Tay), and a war orphan (Sawer) – rose to prominence during a
transformative period for Australian legal education and scholarship.
Drawing
on in-depth interviews with former colleagues and students, extensive
archival research, and an appraisal of their contributions to
scholarship and teaching, this book explores the three professors'
international networks and broader social and historical milieux. Their
pivotal leadership roles in law departments at the University of
Melbourne, University of Sydney, and the Australian National University
are also critically assessed.
Ranging from local experiences and
the concerns of a nascent Australian legal academy to the complex
transnational phenomena of legal scholarship and theory, Free Hands and Minds makes
a compelling case for contextualising law and legal culture within
society. At a time of renewed crisis in legal education and research in
the common law world, it also offers a vivid, nuanced and critical
account of the enduring liberal foundations of Australia's discipline of
law.
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