Across the globe, many polities are currently marked by the eruption of ‘direct action’ campaigns: for environmental protection; for peace; and  against racial, gender, and class inequality. People march, demonstrate, disrupt, occupy, and boycott. They typically justify these actions as a legitimate response to the failures of political authorities. They also present their actions as an authentic form of ‘direct’ or ‘participatory’ democracy. Political elites sometimes tolerate these campaigns and selectively incorporate their demands. Increasingly, however, they seek to restrict the scope for ‘direct action’, and to portray ‘direct action’ as a threat to legitimate order, and as a violent assertion of minority interests.

Conflicts around ‘direct action’ and ‘democracy’ have a long history, seldom referenced in contemporary political argument. In this lecture, I trace that history, from the 1890s until the present. This helps to establish that the tension between insurgent protest and formal authority is not new. It also establishes that the prevailing meanings of ‘direct action’ and ‘democracy’ have changed over time, as each has shaped the other. An historical perspective also suggests a practical conclusion: attempts to limit and restrict protest threaten the vitality of democracy, along with its capacity for renewal.

Our speaker:

Sean Scalmer is a Professor of History at the University of Melbourne, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

He is the author of seven books, including, most recently, A Fair Day’s Work: The Quest to Win Back Time (2025). He is also the co-editor of six books on social movements, labour history, and democracy.

Sean’s research for this lecture draws partly upon prize-winning studies of direct action and democracy, Gandhi in the West (2011) and On the Stump (2017). It also draws upon current research supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.

After the lecture we will be awarding our two annual prizes; the Lynette Russell Prize for First Peoples’ Histories in Schools and the Jane Hansen Prize for History Advocacy.

Bookings are now open! 

General Public: $20 in person/$10 live stream
Friends of the HCV: $10 in person/$5 live stream

The Past is Your Future: Careers in History, September 11, 2pm

Are you a university student studying history and wondering what to do once you graduate? The History Council of Victoria has the event for you!

“The Past Is Your Future – Careers in History” will feature expert panellists from various areas of the history sector who have taken their tertiary studies in history and applied them to their post-university careers. The panel will include a Q&A and you can meet the panellists over afternoon tea.

This free event will be held at the Public Record Office, Victoria. As a special bonus, you are invited to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Public Record Office archives, and can explore the current exhibitions and displays.

Join us in-person or via livestream! 

History comes to life in our 2026 VCE History Roadshow 

Our VCE Roadshow has taken place in one form or another since the 1970s—a day-long program intended to complement student’s in-class learning in advance of end of year VCE history exams.

This August, VCE students from Warrnambool, Shepparton and Traralgon, regional locations often unable to access similar opportunities in the Melbourne metropolis, recieved a tailored program of presentations from renonwned expert historians from Melbourne University, Monash University, Australian Catholic University, and more.

The events in Warrnambool, Shepparton and Traralgon hosted 260 students from 18 schools. 

Participating students were affirmed that history matters in a myriad of ways, with comments such as ‘the program provided me with fresh perspective’, was ‘very informative’, ‘inspiring’, and ‘opened up wider questions’.