Abstract
Multiculturalism as a contemporary policy framework and practice has been the subject of sustained criticism and debate. Our research on the resettlement experiences of newly arrived migrants and refugees shows how Australian multiculturalism has become a limited symbolic cultural space where “ethnic Others” are permitted to perform their minority ethnicity to the white ethnic majority group. We argue that the official and public meanings of multiculturalism today remain constrained by its past, specifically the historical legacy of White Australia and the contested but still entrenched remnants of the pressure to “assimilation”. As a result, new arrivals and existing cultural Others are expected to gradually “blend in” – a euphemism that in effect, veils a form of cultural assimilation. Based on our recent research findings we argue that such a process occurs however alongside emerging practices of active, reciprocal and ongoing cultural, political and social exchange within and between all diverse communities of Australia. We term this more transformational form of multiculturalism as “multiculturalising”. This notion points to a multi-layered and ongoing process of engagement and negotiation that involves new arrivals and long term residents alike and seeks to encapsulate some of the ways in which multiculturalism operates across a variety of public and private settings in Australia.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Cultural, Religious and Political Contestations: The Multicultural Challenge |
Editors | Fethi Mansouri |
Place of Publication | Switzerland |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 205-222 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9783319160030 |
ISBN (Print) | 9783319160023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Keywords
- Australia
- immigrants
- multiculturalism