Australian multiculturalism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

What is often described today as neo-nationalism or nationalist-populism today arguably looks like the old nationalism. What is emerging as genuinely new are the identity-based nationalisms of the centre-left, sometimes called ‘liberal... more

What is often described today as neo-nationalism or nationalist-populism today arguably looks like the old nationalism. What is emerging as genuinely new are the identity-based nationalisms of the centre-left, sometimes called ‘liberal nationalism’ or ‘progressive patriotism’. I offer my own contribution to the latter, which may be called ‘multicultural nationalism’. I argue that multiculturalism is a mode of integration that does not just emphasise the centrality of minority group identities but argues that integration is incomplete without re-making national identity so that all can have a sense of belonging to it. In this respect, multiculturalist approaches to national belonging have some relation to liberal nationalism and a majoritarian interculturalism. It makes not just individual rights but minority accommodation a feature of acceptable nationalism. Importantly, however, unlike cosmopolitanism it is national-focused and is not against immigration controls (subject to certain conditions). For these reasons multicultural nationalism unites the concerns of some of those currently sympathetic to majoritarian nationalism and those who are pro-diversity and minority accommodationist in the way that liberal nationalism (with its emphasis on individualism and majoritarianism) or cosmopolitanism (with its disavowal of national belonging and championing of open borders) does not. It therefore represents the political idea and tendency most likely to offer a feasible alternative rallying point to monocultural nationalism.

This article investigates the role religiosity plays in the ways young Australian Muslims enact themselves as citizens in a context in which their right to belong to the political community is often seriously questioned. Australian... more

This article investigates the role religiosity plays in the ways young Australian Muslims enact themselves as citizens in a context in which their right to belong to the political community is often seriously questioned. Australian responses to 9/11, 7/7 and the Cronulla Riots have relied on an understanding of Muslim youth identity that sees young Muslims’ religiosity primarily as a barrier to the development of good citizenship practices. Against this backdrop, this article explores the ways in which religiosity informs the everyday acts of citizenship through which young Muslims challenge dominant narratives of citizenship. Drawing on an ethnographic study of two Melbourne-based Shia youth groups, I look at the subjective accounts of multicultural
citizenship that youth group members shared in the course of the groups’ weekly activities. In doing so, I draw particular attention to the role religion plays in the imaginative ways young Australian Muslims fashion themselves into citizens.

The rise of the Greek film industry during the 1950s and 1960s was enjoyed not just in Greece but internationally throughout the Greek diaspora. This was especially apparent in Australia, where waves of post-war migration provided a ready... more

The rise of the Greek film industry during the 1950s and 1960s was enjoyed not just in Greece but internationally throughout the Greek diaspora. This was especially apparent in Australia, where waves of post-war migration provided a ready audience for imported Greek cinema. This paper will examine the relationship between domestic and diasporic film industries focussing on the distribution arrangements between Greek suppliers and Australian distributors.

From the late 1940s until the late 1970s Melbourne was home to a dynamic Greek cinema circuit made up of some 30 different inner-city and suburban venues operated by a handful of vertically integrated exhibition/distribution businesses.... more

From the late 1940s until the late 1970s Melbourne was home to a dynamic Greek cinema circuit made up of some 30 different inner-city and suburban venues operated by a handful of vertically integrated exhibition/distribution businesses. Dionysos Films was amongst the first Greek film exhibition/distribution companies to form in Australia and from 1949 until 1956 it operated with little significant competition, establishing the parameters for a diasporic Greek film circuit that stretched across regional and metropolitan Australia and into New Zealand. This article measures the shadow cast by Dionysos Films (and its charismatic proprietor Stathis Raftopoulos) over the history of Antipodean Greek film experiences and the implications that this neglected aspect of Australian and Greek film history has for our understanding of the national cinemas in both countries.

Utilising the framework outlined by Said in Orientalism, this paper seeks to examine the ways in which the "ontological framework" which delineates'Western democracy' from 'Oriental despotism' - as found in the work of scholars such as... more

Utilising the framework outlined by Said in Orientalism, this paper seeks to examine the ways in which the "ontological framework" which delineates'Western democracy' from 'Oriental despotism' - as found in the work of scholars such as Lewis and Huntington - has been utilised in the Australian news media's coverage of the series of democratic events in Iraq throughout2005. In order to achieve this task, newspaper reports from The Australian were collected and analysed accotding to the method of critical discourse analysis. Overall, this examination found that The Australian tended to eschew its responsibiliry to foster varied debate and discourse on the democtatisation of Iraq, especially given Australia's involvement in the "Coalition of the Willing," to instead rely on Orientalist tropes such as that of "Oriental despotism" and the "Clash of Civilizations." In this way,The Australian can be seen to have reduced the complexity of Iraq's rich and detailed political history as well as its multifaceted political present down to a simpìistic Orientalist analysis that explains away Iraq's democratisation and justifies continued occupation.

The "white Australia policy" has so far largely been discussed with regard only to its political-ideological perspective. No account was taken of the central problem of racist societalization, i.e. the everyday production and reproduction... more

The "white Australia policy" has so far largely been discussed with regard only to its political-ideological perspective. No account was taken of the central problem of racist societalization, i.e. the everyday production and reproduction of "race" as a social relation ("doing race") supported by broad sections of the population.
This comprehensive study of Australian racism and the "white sugar" campaign shows that the latter was only able to achieve success because it was embedded in a widespread "white Australia culture" that found expression in all spheres of life.

Proceedings of a seminar held at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre, Preston, Victoria, on 14 April 2005 / Compiled and edited by Josara de Lange and Simone Battiston. PAPERS: 1. ‘Development and Overview of Community Engagement... more

Proceedings of a seminar held at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre, Preston, Victoria, on 14 April 2005 / Compiled and edited by Josara de Lange and Simone Battiston. PAPERS: 1. ‘Development and Overview of Community Engagement Policies and Framework’ by Adjunct Prof. Hayden Raysmith; 2. ‘Community Capacity Building: Are Young People a Consideration?’ by Carmel Guerra; 3. ‘A Conversation on Multiculturalism: Rhetoric, Practicalities, Challenges and Solutions’ Dalal Smiley interviewing Prof. Mary Kalantzis; 4. ‘Cross-Cultural Analysis of Community Building Polices’ by Maria Dimopoulos; 5. ‘The Ethno-Politics of Community: Middle Class Institutions, Middle Class Manners, Middle Class Solutions?’ by Dr Peter Kelly; 6. ‘The Problem with Social Capital’ by Dr Christopher Scanlon; 7. ‘Is There a Disability Community in the NESB Community?’ by Margherita Coppolino and Elizabeth McGarry. CASE STUDIES & STRATEGIES: 1. ‘Greater Dandenong’s Demonstration Project’ by Hugh Kilgower; 2. ‘Doggies to HighPoint, a State Demonstration Project’ by Klara Blazevic; 3. ‘Darebin’s Demonstration Project’ by Sally Bruen.

The fundamental perception used in this study is that teaching and learning activities in Indonesian classroom have potentially generated individual's sensitivity on cross-cultural understanding. This study aims at investigating... more

The fundamental perception used in this study is that teaching and learning activities in Indonesian classroom have potentially generated individual's sensitivity on cross-cultural understanding. This study aims at investigating Indonesian university students' perception on cross-cultural understanding after doing Cultural Snapshot Project. The data was critically analyzed through multicultural ideology and diversity theories. The subjects were 30 EFL college students in one of colleges in Indonesia. Each student was assigned to capture a photograph which depicted the existence of any cultural manifestation in their surrounding such as discrimination, prejudice and stereotype. Students were then requested to reflect on the picture by writing a short description and make an exhibition using their pictures. The result reveals that Cultural Snapshot Project has given the opportunity for the students to better realize cross-cultural understanding in their environment. In conclusion, the study shows that Cultural Snapshot Project has specifically enhanced students' perception of multiculturalism in three major areas: cultural sensitivity and empathy, social tolerance, and understanding of diversity.

This special issue draws on a workshop organised by the editors of this special issue at the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, in 2011. Its focus was to explore the increasing flows of people, commodities,... more

This special issue draws on a workshop organised by the editors of this special issue at the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, in 2011. Its focus was to explore the increasing flows of people, commodities, ideas and practices between Latin America and Australia. Taken as a whole, the special issue considers how Latin America is represented in popular culture, how Latin American communities represent themselves, and how these communities interact with each other and with other communities within multicultural Australia. It also addresses the ways in which these migrants keep connections with their home countries, and the place of Australia within a network of sites of the Latin America diaspora.

This project will be an investigation into the social and cultural meaning behind Australia’s multicultural identity projected through the popular culture medium of the Eurovision Song Contest. Throughout my PIP journey, I hope to... more

This project will be an investigation into the social and cultural meaning behind Australia’s multicultural identity projected through the popular culture medium of the Eurovision Song Contest. Throughout my PIP journey, I hope to ascertain an understanding of how and why the Australian delegation at Eurovision has communicated, through music, a particular multicultural image to represent Australia on a macro level. I also wish to learn about the social and cultural impacts that arise from living in a multicultural society, ultimately understanding what values underpin a ‘modern day Australian’.

This article examines qualitative data from a two family case study in New South Wales. Both families are from South America and have recently moved to Australia. This study demonstrates that an understanding of the ways that the families... more

This article examines qualitative data from a two family case study in New South Wales. Both families are from South America and have recently moved to Australia. This study demonstrates that an understanding of the ways that the families are becoming literate in Australia necessitates moving beyond linguistic analyses of the changes that are occurring. The changes that are addressed constitute a politics of immigration, whereby the internal hopes and desires of the family make up an affective plane that transforms language learning. Such writing exemplifies the use of Deleuzian theory in the analysis of the literacy learning of the families, and shows how this rests on notions of the will to power, affect and the multiple nature of the self. The paper will use Masny’s (2006) multiple literacies theory (MLT) to reconcile the politics of becoming involved with the immigration of the families and variant modes of expression.

The mixed race subject is increasingly emerging in popular Australian media as a poster child of multiculturalism, entangled with post-racial discourses. This dominant representation perpetuates reductive understandings of mixed race... more

The mixed race subject is increasingly emerging in popular Australian media as a poster child of multiculturalism, entangled with post-racial discourses. This dominant representation perpetuates reductive understandings of mixed race experience rooted in compulsory optimism and the erasure of history, which in turn bolster exclusionary imaginings of Australian national identity. I seek alternatives to these constructions through an analysis of the 2004 Australian film Peaches, a markedly understudied text, which centres the coming of age of mixed race protagonist Steph. I adopt Eve Sedgwick’s ‘reparative reading’ approach, which enables generative modes of analysis that seek to imagine new alternatives through textual critique. I focus on two key filmic sites – the ambivalent affects circulated by Steph, and the haunting queer temporality pervading the narrative. I argue that these two sites hold the potential for complex, open-ended understandings of mixed race identity, and in turn, modes of national identity that can re-centre unresolved histories and contested dynamics of race in Australia.

Is racism within Australia a solely Anglo-Celtic affair? Does a racist Australia just mean ‘Anglos’ as the only perpetrators? Can we also blame others, the media, the Indian community, the English, perhaps me, and what about you? Why... more

Is racism within Australia a solely Anglo-Celtic affair? Does a racist Australia just mean ‘Anglos’ as the only perpetrators? Can we also blame others, the media, the Indian community, the English, perhaps me, and what about you? Why doesn’t the rest of the world recognise Australia as being a multi-ethnic reality? A no holds barred slightly satirical look at racism in Australia and how we are changing as a nation.

An Australian perspective on the global war on terror and the impact on Multicultural Australian society and Kurdistan.

Race and whiteness have shaped Australia’s history as a settler-migration country since its colonisation and beyond its introduction of multicultural policies in the 1970s. This chapter reviews scholarship on race, multiculturalism and... more

Race and whiteness have shaped Australia’s history as a settler-migration country since its colonisation and beyond its introduction of multicultural policies in the 1970s. This chapter reviews scholarship on race, multiculturalism and racism in Australia focusing on sociological research. It covers the foundational role of race and whiteness, the trajectory of Australian multiculturalism, its critiques and interpretations; the relationship between multiculturalism and national identity; and research on racism and anti-racism.

What does it mean, to be Australian? Tracing his complex family history, the author interrogates the conventional narratives of identity in 'multicultural' Australia and asks who he has displaced, as a white male, to claim belonging. He... more

What does it mean, to be Australian? Tracing his complex family history, the author interrogates the conventional narratives of identity in 'multicultural' Australia and asks who he has displaced, as a white male, to claim belonging.
He ought to feel he belongs but his loyalty to a distant 'Royal Family' is weak and his 'deviant' sexual identity places him beyond the bounds of family, religion and even the law. He feels like a stranger in a strange land. And he has no aboriginal ancestry to reconcile him with country.
What does a society lose by sacrificing diversity through the coercive normative processes of homogenisation? The hostility towards people who don't fit the Anglo-Celtic profile was enshrined for years in the scandalous White Australia Policy and exploited long after the official demise of that xenophobic policy by Pauline Hanson's 'One Nation' push (which has recently re-emerged).