The first act of imagination required of any social change activist is the vision of a better world. The next challenge is to imagine ways to convey this vision to others. In its broadest sense, political theatre is the act of conveying this imagined better world to the everyday onlooker. Understood in this way, theatre is not just a technique that ‘may’ be used in protests but is indispensable.

Ricketts, A 2006, ‘Theatre of protest: the magnifying effects of theatre in direct action’, Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 89, pp. 75-87.

Ricketts, A 2006, ‘Threshold concepts in legal education’, Directions: Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 2-12.

The ideological chasm between environmentalism and a profit driven corporate agenda at times seems insurmountable.

Bielefeld, S; Higginson, S; Jackson, J & Ricketts, A 2005, ‘Directors duties to the company and minority shareholder environmental activism’, Company and Securities Law Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 28-50.

The atmosphere of moral panic over issues of crime and policing that pervades New South Wales (NSW) particularly in the lead up to state elections, has led to a steady increase in police powers for most of the last decade. In the past five years in particular there has been a noticeable acceleration in this trend, especially in relation to highly emotive campaigns such as “the war against drugs” and “the war
against terror”.

Ricketts, A 2004, ‘Police powers in the premier state, or the premiers police state’, Southern Cross University Law Review, vol. 8.

Combined effects of new and proposed legislation in response to perceived security concerns following the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, highlights the vulnerability of democratic values and rights of political participation in the face of anxieties over issues of national security.

Ricketts, A 2002, ‘Freedom of association or guilt by association: Australia’s new anti-terrorism laws and the retreat of political liberty’, Southern Cross University Law Review, vol. 6, pp. 133-150.