Young and Free: [Post]colonial Ontologies of Childhood Memory and History in Australia In her groundbreaking work, Young and Free, Joanne Faulkner delves into the complex and intricate relationship between childhood, colonial past, and the ongoing struggles of Australian society. Through a unique blend of philosophy, literature, film, and testimony, Faulkner sheds light on how anxiety about childhood has become a screen for deeper, more intractable issues that plague Australian social and political life. By examining these anxieties within the context of settler-colonial Australia's unresolved conflict with Indigenous Australians, Faulkner offers a new perspective on Australian community, one that challenges traditional notions of subjectivity, sovereignty, and knowledge. The book begins by tracing the evolution of childhood as an idea, from John Locke's and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's philosophical musings to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theories.

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