Fighting Back: The Politics of the Unemployed in Victoria in the Great Depression

Work for the Dole is not a new idea. It was introduced in Victoria in 1932 and became one of the battlegrounds of unemployed politics. The provision and administration of sustenance, relief work, eviction of tenants from their homes, the issue of free speech—these were the major issues confronting unemployed workers and their families and organisations, and they fought successive governments over each one.

Written in a pleasingly clear and accessible style, this absorbing work shows how com...