Historiography and its Discontents: The Windschuttle Gambit

This paper focuses on the allegations of malpractice launched against Australian historians by Keith Windschuttle in The Fabrication of Aboriginal History. The paper explores in particular Windschuttle's interpretation of the practices and protocols of historical scholarship. It argues that this issue is crucial to assessing the validity of the claims advanced in The Fabrication. The paper's immediate objective is twofold: to determine what scholarly standards Windschuttle is applying to the works he subjects to close scrutiny; and to ask whether the standards he applies are up-to-date, appropriate, and widely shared by the international community of practising historians.