Professional Historian and History Consultancy Services Brisbane
Category: 2016-future Public Cognition
-
Liberal Historiography and the Philosophy of Kay Saunders (1947-2026)
Liberal Historiography and the Philosophy of Kay Saunders HAPI Past Series Dr Neville Buch Series Abstract: For the past few years, I have been researching and writing about the defuncted Department of History, University of Queensland, 1911-2000. It will take a few more years before a tome on the subject may be published. In the…
-
Big Belief and Big Doubt. Navigating the Altar of Autocomplete
Abstract In the complex landscape of 2026, the concepts of “Big Belief” and “Big Doubt” emerge as the critical navigational anchors for the human mind. “Big Belief” refers to an “interpretive priority” where a comprehensive worldview—be it religious or naturalistic—orients a person’s engagement with every object and event in reality. Conversely, “Big Doubt” represents the…
-
An Australian Political Analysis. Queensland and Michael Macklin
Management Institute for Contributory Economy This essay examines the trajectory of Australian politics with a specific focus on the unique socio-intellectual landscape of Queensland and the pivotal role played by Dr. Michael Macklin. Utilizing his dual career as a philosopher of education and a Senator for the Australian Democrats (1981–1990), the analysis explores how Macklin’s…
-
Local Example of Progressive Theology in the late 1960s: The Logic of Analogy and the Leap of Faith
Dr Neville Buch Abstract Produced in 1967 by Michael Macklin (writing as Br. Ronald OFM), Analogy, Analysis and God represent a significant local example of progressive theological inquiry in Queensland during the late 1960s. This philosophical thesis navigates the “crisis of theological language” prompted by the rise of logical positivism and linguistic analysis. By evaluating…
-
The Cognitive Pedagogy of Choice and Living Freedom
Dr Neville Buch Abstract In the contemporary landscape of 2026, the dynamic of cognition for living freedom of belief is increasingly caught between the growing formalization of algorithmic education and the radical necessity for a pedagogy of choice. This essay explores how standardized machine-based routines risk modifying consciousness into “passive, dependent, filled” patterns, contrasting…
-
1986 Pentecostal Gathering. Faith and Power in the Queensland Deep North
Dr Neville Buch Abstract The 1986 Pentecostal Gathering at the Christian Outreach Centre in Mansfield represents a definitive moment in the intersection of Queensland’s political and religious sub-cultures, marking the peak of an alliance between the Bjelke-Petersen administration and neo-Pentecostalism. This essay explores how the state’s political culture—defined by a “Deep North” ethos of…
-
Pedagogy of the Oppressed and The Pedagogy of Choice: Freire & Illich and Convivial Learning
Dr Neville Buch Abstract As we navigate the educational landscape of 2026, the increasing formalization of online learning and the algorithmic character of machine-based education have resurrected the radical critiques of Paulo Freire and Ivan Illich. This paper provides the theoretical background for a Dimensions of Choice (DoC) analysis, contrasting the “banking system” of…
-
What is Sociology of Education?
Dr Neville Buch Abstract This essay defines the Sociology of Education today as a critical interdisciplinary field focused on the remediation of “denoetization”—the mechanical liquidation of the human capacity for judgment. Drawing on the Dynamic of Cognition (DoC) and Spiral Historiography frameworks, it argues that education is no longer merely the transmission of content…
-
The Architecture of Ethical Community and Cognitive Flourishing
Dr Neville Buch Abstract This essay explores the architecture of a healthy community through the lens of relational ethics and cognitive discernment. Drawing on the Management Institute for Contributory Economy (MICE) framework and The Community Builder’s Journal, it argues that communal health is not a static state but a dynamic process of caring correctly, recognizing…
-
Rightwing Empty Rhetoric. Defending Synthetic Historiography Against the Rhetoric of Forensic Dismissal
Dr Neville Buch Abstract This essay examines Sophia L. Corwin’s critique, “The Altar of Autocomplete and Buch’s Synthetic Historiography,” identifying it as a form of ultra-conservative academic rhetoric designed to gatekeep the boundaries of the traditional academy. Corwin’s analysis is characterized by a “combat concept” approach that utilizes forensic dismissal to delegitimize “synthetic” modes…