Cappello, Anthony (2009) To be or not to be an Italian: BA Santamaria, culture, descent and the social exclusion of Italian-Australians. PhD thesis, Victoria University.

Abstract

B.A. Santamaria is perhaps Australia's best-known thinker who happens to be of an Italian descent and culture. While much has been written about this important thinker, very little of this writing has focused on his background and the Italian descent and culture from which he originated. This doctorate is an historical exploration into the person of B.A. Santamaria, with a strong focus on his Italian descent and culture. This thesis looks at the question of Social Exclusion that applied to Italians in general, and in particular to B.A. Santamaria. While mentioning the Australian Labor Party split of 1954-1955, this doctorate is more concerned with episodes pertaining to Santamaria's background: Italian migrants, the Aeolian Community, fascism, anti-fascism, the internment of Italian migrants, the land settlement schemes of the National Catholic Rural Movement and Santamaria's own admission later in life that his ideas were a product of his Italian background. When looking at the ideas and organizations in Australia started by B.A. Santamaria, this doctorate looks closely at this connection to his Italian background. Finally the question is asked if B.A. Santamaria was our Italian-Australian hero. Overall, this doctorate hopes to portray a more complete picture of B.A. Santamaria by including and emphasizing his Italian background and the problems he may have encountered in his work because of this background. It also highlights the social exclusion of Italians in Australia by focusing on B.A. Santamaria.

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