John Wear Burton

Infobox Person
name = John Wear Burton


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caption =
birth_date = 2 March 1915
birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
death_date =
death_place =
education = Newington College University of Sydney London School of Economics
occupation = Public Servant, Author, Academic
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spouse =
parents = Rev. John Wear Burton
children =
nationality = Australian
website =
Dr John Wear Burton AM (2 March 1915 – ) is a retired Australian public servant, High Commissioner and academic.

Early life

Burton was born in Melbourne, the son of the Reverend John Wear Burton Methodist Minister. [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070501b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography ] He was educated at Newington College (1924-1932) [Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp26] and the
University of Sydney.

Public Service

In 1937 he became a member of the Commonwealth Public Service from where he was granted a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue a doctorate at the London School of Economics. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1941 and served as private secretary to Herbert Vere Evatt. In 1947 he became Secretary of the Department of External Affairs and held that position until mid-1950. At the beginning of 1951 he took up the position of Australian High Commissioner for Ceylon, but resigned to return home and contest the Federal election of that year in the electorate of Lowe. As ALP candidate he was beaten by William McMahon, a future Prime Minister of Australia.

Academic career

While writng his first book, "The Alternative", Burton farmed outside Canberra and in 1960 was awarded a fellowship at the Australian National University. Two years later the Rockefeller Foundation awarded him a grant to study neutralism in Africa and Asia. In 1963, while a Reader in International Relations at University College University of London, he established the Centre for the Analysis of Conflict. He has since held fellowships at numerous universities and now lives in Canberra. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms8405 National Library of Australia ]

Legacy

In introducing Burton as a guest on Radio National, Phillip Adams said; "John Burton was probably the most controversial and visionary public servant of the 20th Century. Branded a "pink eminence" of the Labor Party by conservative critics, he was clearly one of the most important intellectuals and policy-makers associated with the Curtin Labor Government of the 1940s. As a close associate of 'Doc' Evatt and head of the department of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs) he did more to shape Australian foreign policy towards Asia and the Pacific than any other person before or since." [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2004/1136848.htm ABC Radio National ]

cholaships, Fellowships & Grants

* Scholarship - London School of Economics (1941)
* Fellowship - Australian National University (1960)
* Grant - Rockefeller Foundation (1962)
* Fellowship - University of South Carolina (1982)
* Fellowship - University of Maryland (1983)
* Fellowship - George Mason University (1982)

Honours

* Member of the Order of Australia 1981

Biography

* From Power Politics to Conflict Resolution: The Work of John W Burton - David J Dunn (Palgrave Macmillan, Lond., 2004) [http://www.labshop.com.au/dougcocks/BURTONREVIEW.htm Review ]

Publications

* "The Alternative" (1954)
* "Labour in transition" (1957)
* "International relations: a general theory" (1965)
* "Controlled communication" (1969)
* "World society" (1972)
* "Internationale politiek" (1974)
* "Deviance, terrorism & war: the process of solving unsolved social and political problems" (1979)
* "Resolving deep-rooted conflict: a handbook" (1987)
* "Conflict resolution as a political system" (1988)
* "On the need for conflict prevention" (1989)
* "Conflict resolution: its language and processes" (1996) [http://www.nla.gov.au/find/books.html National Library of Australia Catalogue]

References