Narratives of race and nation: Everyday whiteness in Australia

Australia's history as a white nation has been riddled with not only mis-treatment of the ‘other’, but in more recent times of a type of invisibility of the ‘other’ that has disabled many within this nation from recognising the continuation of practices and policies of racial discrimination. This paper presents the findings from research conducted over 2001–03 during the ‘boat people’ crisis in Australia, when a number of everyday individuals volunteered time to assist refugees. It goes on to argue that while the policies of Multiculturalism of the 1970s had attempted to create a more inclusive society and had for the participants in this research transformed into nation-defining narrative, its failure to incorporate everyday people in its inception and continuation was productive of a blind spot in relation to racial treatment because most could believe all was well in this arena.     

Reconciliation as a Frame for Rethinking Racism in Australia

This paper begins with a brief reading of Australia's ‘signature racism’ and ponders the question of what we might do about it. As a novel way to this problematic, the paper considers the national reconciliation process, exemplified by the work as of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR), as a ‘good movement’ in Derrida's terms and as a site for investigating antiracist work in Australia. The CAR provides conceptual resources for considering the pedagogical challenge for a cultural politics of antiracism. Importantly the challenge is understood in terms of a terrain of affect in which in which anger is simultaneously silenced, repressed and denied. The paper concludes by contemplating the possibility of a post-indignation pedagogy.     

'Race', Racism and Anti-racism: Challenging Contemporary Classifications

This argues for the revisiting of classificatory concepts currently in use in the study of 'race', racism and anti-racism. It examines the proposition that racist movements no longer promote discrimination on the grounds of a belief in biological differences but espouse a 'differentialist' racism based on a conviction in the fixity of culture, paradoxically 'borrowed' from culturally relativist anti-racist arguments. A critique of the differentialist thesis developed by Pierre-Andre Taguieff is presented based upon the writings of Etienne Balibar and Paul Gilroy. The former, by grounding modern racism in the ideological universalism of the European Enlightenment project, argues that the apportioning of blame to anti-racism for abetting the advent of culturalist racism is unhelpfully conceived from a perspective which seeks to deny the legitimacy of black and ethnic minority led alliances as a basis for anti-racist struggles. The novel connection is made between these arguments and those of Paul Gilroy (1998) who proposes the redundancy of the term 'race', even from pragmatist perspectives, in the revitalisation of anti-racism as a viable opposition to contemporary racist discourses. The argument is made that in order to dissect normative understandings of 'race' it is necessary to follow the historical trajectory taken by racism in becoming an inextricable component of the modern project. Anti-racism, thus, must be seen as a multi-layered conflict and, therefore, separate from its anti-fascist, anticolonialist, leftist and institutionalised forms. Evidence from recent interviews with anti-racist activists points to their rejection of both 'culturalist' and 'biological' approaches to racism and towards broad alliances of community-led activists against overt but also covert, institutionalised racist discrimination.     

四个讲座一个启示——读《人类学的四个讲座——谣言、想象、身体、历史》

错过了精彩的讲座总是一件遗憾的事情,错过了四个精彩的讲座,更是令人懊恼。幸好有两位认真的翻译者,将这四个讲座及现场讨论翻译整理了出来,编成了这本《人类学的四个讲座———谣言、想象、身体、历史》①,这才让未能亲临现场的人也能有机会分享。仅是四场讲座及现场讨论就能成书,这或许更说明了这四个讲座的重要性。安德鲁.斯特拉森(AndrewStranthern)和帕梅拉.斯图瓦德(Pamela Stewart)这两个名字在中国人类学界还是比较陌生的,因为国内对这对人类学夫妻的介绍并不多,但这并不表示这两位学者不重要。正如王铭铭教授在开场白中所说的,…     

Racism,militarisation and policing: police reactions to violence against Palestinian women in Israel

This article moves beyond the discussion of police racism to a broader account of the militaristic racism of policing in Israel. The highly permeable boundaries between the military, society and the political conflict all affect how violence against women is policed. Focusing on case studies of police officers' perceptions of abused Palestinian Israeli women — members of an ethnic and indigenous minority — this paper considers key features of the policing of violence against women in a militaristic context and during a continuous political conflict. Police officers' philosophies and actions in law enforcement concerning violence against women are critically scrutinised. The findings indicate that while some aspects of cultural difference between the indigenous ethnic group and the majority are relevant to policing, focusing predominantly on the ‘cultural characteristics’ or ‘ethnic traditions or rituals’ of the policed population and denying the effect of the political conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as a factor in the militarisation of policing can reinforce rather than ameliorate ethnic prejudice, racism and discrimination.     

Everyday people: public identities in contemporary hip-hop culture

As scholars on culture have suggested elsewhere, cooption through consumption by the music culture industry has forced those who want to be part of the hip-hop subculture to go back underground. But to label all of these individuals in the underground merely ‘hip-hop’ would be as equally uninformative as labeling anyone who wears baggy blue jeans and can rhyme words together as being hip-hop. My year of field research in Chicago revealed that five major identities emerged: Professional Headz, Refugee Headz, Hip-Hop Fundamentalists, Black Headz and Tech Headz. These identities were characterized by the personal values that my participants indicated were most reaffirmed through hip-hop culture. This article contributes to the literature on hip-hop by providing an ethnographic study on how the Hip-Hop Nation defines itself, while examining some of the tensions that these identities provide within the Hip-Hop Nation. It also reinforces the view that subculture must still be experienced in the flesh and is not fully experienced by being able to engage in the culture industry of hip-hop through purchasing records, watching videos or buying hip-hop fashions. This article also provides a more complex qualitative understanding of what values constitute being hip-hop and which ones do not.     

Racism and linguicism: engaging language minority pre-service teachers in counter-storytelling

Abstract

This study examines how language minority pre-service teachers engaged in the discussion of racism and linguicism through counter-storytelling informed by Critical Race Theory (CRT). Counter-stories can act as a medium through which minority students can unpack the power relations embedded in academic learning. This study also explores ways in which having a language minority teacher educator with a similar background facilitated the discussion of race and native speaker status. Drawing on co-teaching experience with a white teacher educator, I suggest that the teaching of race and language be not only about racialized and linguistic identity of instructors, but pedagogical approaches and strategies through counter-stories that actively foster critical reflection on power imbalance inherent in schools.     

Religiosity,Citizenship and Belonging: The Everyday Experiences of Young Australian Muslims

Abstract

Since 11 September 2001 Muslim Diasporas have emerged as objects of anxiety in Western societies. Underlying this (in)security-driven problematisation is the question of whether Muslims living in the West have the capacity to become fully active citizens while maintaining their religious beliefs, rituals and practices. This apprehension has prompted reactionary government programmes, particularly targeting young Muslims. Such responses fail to recognise the societal capacities that practising Muslims possess, including those informed by the ethical precepts of Islamic faith. This paper argues that it is timely to explore expressions of Islamic religiosity as they are grounded in everyday multicultural environments. The paper draws on survey data and interviews conducted with Muslims living in Melbourne, Australia. We take into consideration key variables of age and generation to highlight how young, practising Muslims enact citizenship through Islamic rituals and faith-based practices and traditions. The paper will draw from key findings to argue that these performances provide a foundation for exploring ways of ‘living’ together in a manner that privileges ethics central to Islamic faith traditions.     

Color-Blind Racism in Post-Obama America: An Examination of Attitudes Toward Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Houston, Texas

The issue of racism in America continues to be an important topic, particularly in reference to whether and to what extent it still exists and continues to impact the life chances of racial and ethnic minorities. This article examines Bonilla-Silva’s theory of color-blind racism within the context of attitudes of respondents in Harris County, Texas, toward the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Data from the 2006 and 2010 Houston Area Surveys are used to address whether color-blind racism frames impact citizen attitudes toward the evacuees and whether that impact differs pre- and post-Obama’s presidential election. The logistic and ordinal regression analyses reveal support for the impact of color-blind racism frames, particularly that of cultural racism, on attitudes toward the evacuees. Additionally, that impact, although stronger in the 2006 data, persists in 2010. Limitations and implications for future research are also discussed.     

Everyday space,mobile subjects and place-based belonging in suburban Sydney

ABSTRACT

In the contemporary age of international migration, the mobilities of people into and out of cities are increasingly diverse. Correspondingly, it has been claimed that forms of belonging are becoming increasingly flexible, strategic and characterised by multiple place attachments. This paper examines these claims in empirical detail by investigating how different scales of belonging and mobility come together in the context of migrant incorporation processes in a hyperdiverse, transitional suburban locality in Sydney, Australia. Drawing on several migrant biographies, I flesh out the lived dimensions of mobility and emplacement and the various routes and roots that characterise cities of diversity. This article uses grounded portrayals of individual experiences of place and everyday mobility across a range of migration statuses and ethnic backgrounds to examine the spatial practices of belonging for mobile (and relatively immobile) migrant subjects in the city. As such, this work contributes to research that highlights the mutual constitution of place and movement, by considering the role of migrants in the everyday production of urban space.     

Neoliberalism,Individualisation and Community: Regional Restructuring in Australia

Since the early 1980s, Australian governments have embraced neoliberal policies as a means of improving the nation's global economic competitiveness. The impacts of such policies in regional areas have been quite profound, leading to socio-economic polarisation, population loss, and the growth of anti-globalisation sentiments. In this paper, we examine the process of regional restructuring that arises from this trajectory in Australia, and examine current policy responses to change under the neoliberal regime. We argue that while many such responses are individualistic, and based upon policies of personal responsibility, self-advancement and entrepreneurship, others are imbued with the language of community, social capital and collective action. The existence of individualism and community within the same policy agenda may appear contradictory, yet it is suggested that neoliberalism brings together these two opposing discourses through a process of what Nikolas Rose calls ‘governing through community’. We explore how neoliberalism underpins community approaches to regional development in Australia, arguing that such strategies do little to counter the negative forces of globalisation in non-metropolitan parts of the country.     

State Power,Violence, Crime and Everyday Life: A Case Study of Soweto in Post-Apartheid South Africa

This article was subsequently retracted from publication for the reasons outlined in Social Identities 10.1: Retraction     

Uncertain lives: migration,the border and neoliberalism in Australia

Over the last twenty years or so there has been a greatly increased anxiety in Australia over those people now often identified as asylum seekers. In this article I argue that this change of attitude is connected with the ongoing reconstruction of Australia as a neoliberal state. I link the importance of the border of the nation-state with the development of capitalism and go on to argue that there is a direct relation between the assumptions of neoliberalism and Giorgio Agamben's theorization of the state of exception. With this argument I suggest that the state of exception is fundamentally raced. I discuss the Australian relationship between migrants, race and capitalism, which historically worked in terms of the White Australia policy, and think about how asylum seekers are understood to threaten the racialized, neoliberal order of Australian capitalism.     

Rethinking the nation: Apology,treaty and reconciliation in Australia

In February 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to Indigenous Australians for past injustices. The apology was presented as a turning point in the history of the nation. According to Rudd, ‘there comes a time in the history of a nation when peoples must become fully reconciled to their past if they are to go forward with confidence to embrace their future’. The apology marked a new step in the reconciliation process in Australia, but as this article argues, the treaty issue – another controversial aspect of reconciliation – remains a major challenge to the Australian nation.     

丰产的文化理性解释——云南诺邓历史上两套丰产仪式之研究

云南诺邓历史上同时存在两套丰产仪式:一套是接水魂仪式,以祈求卤水丰旺、井盐丰产;另一套是舞龙求雨仪式,以祈求雨水(淡水)丰沛、农耕丰产。从井盐生产的实践理性看,卤水与淡水之间构成此消彼长的对立关系,两套丰产仪式的并存看似是相互矛盾的。看似相悖的两套丰产仪式要诉诸文化理性的解释才能得以全面理解。在文化理性的观照下,这两套丰产仪式的共存并不矛盾,它们祈求的是包括自我与邻人在内的整体丰产。     

陕北人的窑洞生活:历史、传承与变迁

陕北的窑洞形成了陕北人特有的物质和文化生活方式,也形成了以面花、剪纸和刺绣为代表的民间艺术表现方式.在现代化的发展中,这些优秀的民间艺术表现方式正因被视为落后而逐渐丢弃.这是一种真正与自然和谐的原生态的文化艺术表现方式,如果我们不懂得珍惜,其实所丢弃的是祖辈传给我们的最重要的智慧、经济和财富.     

中国西藏历史上两次货币改革的原因及意义

文章介绍了西藏两次货币改革的原因及其历史意义。西藏历史上的两次货币改革有惊人相似性,都是在异族入侵时开始的,体现了西藏人民坚决反对外来侵略的决心,也反映了中国人民团结一致抗争外侵的历史。     

Racism in three dimensions: South African architecture and the ideology of white superiority

What has been the effect of three hundred and fifty years of colonialism and apartheid on South African architecture? What role has architecture played in reinforcing and perpetuating racist ideology? Can a building or a space be racist? Racism in Three Dimensions explores these questions and others pertaining to the relationship between race, racism and architecture in post‐apartheid South Africa and seeks to define a role for the architectural profession in the struggle to heal the wounds of apartheid     

The Everyday Struggle: Social Capital, Youth Violence and Parenting Strategies for Urban, Low-Income Black Male Youth

Drawing on 3 years of longitudinal ethnographic participant observations and interviews with parents of early adolescent black males (ages 12–15) living in a high-risk inner-city neighborhood, this paper examines the practices and implications of black parenting strategies on the social and health outcomes of black male youth. Little is known about the relationship between social capital, parenting strategies, adolescent development and violence among urban, low-income black male youth. This paper addresses the following questions: (1) in what ways do low-income black parents mobilize, deploy and manage social capital to reduce adolescent risk behaviors associated with violence among black male youth living in high-risk neighborhoods? (2) Does the ability to generate social capital and interpersonal trust within and outside the family shape parenting strategies for black male youth? (3) What are the unique challenges parents encounter as they raise black male youth in distressed neighborhoods? I found that parents’ ability to generate and manage social capital, particularly within kinship and local community networks, significantly influences whether black youth male resist, desist or persist in engaging in adolescent risk behaviors associated with youth violence over the adolescent life course.     

Bushfire catastrophe in Victoria,Australia: public record,accountability, commemoration,memorialization and heritage protection

In Australia, 7 February 2009 has become known as ‘Black Saturday’ because of the bushfire catastrophe that took 173 lives and devastated communities in the central parts of the State of Victoria. The paper considers how the 2009 fires have been recorded, how the issue of accountability has been dealt with, particularly in relation to the State and its agencies but also individual residents in the fire-devastated areas, and how bushfire deaths and other losses have been commemorated through remembrance events and museum collection projects and memorialized through the creation of new monuments and the protection of remaining physical structures as official heritage. Despite the major impact of bushfires on the State, to date few bushfire-related places have been protected. The former Cockatoo Kindergarten, which acted as a community refuge during an earlier catastrophic Victorian bushfire on Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983, is an exception. Inscribed in 2012, the former kindergarten is the only bushfire-related place inscribed on the Victorian Heritage Register, in this case for its historical and social value as a place resonating with other communities affected by other bushfires and helping the broader Victorian public to come to terms with bushfire catastrophe. But, while bushfire commemoration activities and physical memorials, like those relating to war, help many societies remember individual and community pain and suffering, they can divert attention from the more fundamental questions of why they were there in the first place and what must be done to ensure the same catastrophe does not recur in the future. In this regard, the paper questions the oft-cited claim that bushfires are embedded in the Australian psyche, seeing links between the rhetoric around bushfire survival and Australian myth-making and nation-building.