There can be no gainsaying, as to the fact that Australia is not only a choice destination for many, but also houses some of the most beautiful cities in the world (Bastian, 2012). As a matter of fact, Bastian (2012) continues to state that this change is strongly attributed to immigration, which continues to foster strong cultural and economic growth in Australia. As Australia continues to open its borders to an increasingly diverse population, Australians themselves continue to open their minds to accommodate diversity in the form of new lifestyles, foods, traditions, values, beliefs and so forth (Bastian, 2012). According to Henry & Kurzak (2013), the 2011 census show that 26% of Australians were born abroad and 20% have either one or both …show more content…
The multiplicity of cultures has played a significant role in defining Australia’s identity. In order to understand the problematic nature of the application of multiculturalism in Australia, it is imperative to observe and analyze two claims of the concept of multiculturalism. The first claim of the concept of multiculturalism is associated with identity, while the second claim is associated with recognition. At this juncture, it is important to pose the following question; how is the application of multiculturalism affected by identity and recognition within Australia’s diverse …show more content…
Instead, multiculturalism places a wide range of claims of accommodation such as religion, ethnicity, language, race and nationality (Song, 2010). In the case of Australia, the acceptance of multiculturalism based on such far-flung claims has essentially resulted in the advent of politics of recognition among the minority groups seeking accommodation or integration in Australia. This is shown by Song (2010) who states that key among the claims fronted by Australia’s minority groups is self-government or at least some sort of recognition that affords such communities a form of autonomy. One key comparison is the aboriginal communities of Australia and those of Canada, whereby claims for recognition based on the uniqueness of ethnicity have left a bad taste in the mouth of white
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
There is a reference to our multiculturalism in the lines ‘All cultures together as one. Yet, individual until the game is won’. These lines acknowledge the fact that even though Australia is an increasingly Multicultural society, all Australians, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, share the same values, principles and national identity.
The mention of the abolition of multiculturalism for a “new” post-multiculturalist approach becomes difficult to understand. It claims, “to avoid the ‘excesses’ of multiculturalism” (47), however where does this notable governmental and social switch take place? How is the term coined, and how is it understood in theory versus in practice? How is it different from its predecessor? Even the classification of history struggles to define what is considered to be modern, let alone post-modern, and yet the term suggests a positive approach to alleviating difficult assimilation projects similar to those faced elsewhere (47). This notion may developed on the grounds of “someone else’s problems” ¬– in regards to its Canadian context – as a means to label, or justify, miscellaneous aspects of multiculturalism. However, with the government-wide commitment to policies and programs, in conjunction with social understanding, it naturally becomes subject to a wide array of differing opinions. As both immigration and citizenship policies change, its public reception often shifts as well. Especially since the channels referred to within the ‘multiculturalism...
Reynolds, H. (2005). Nowhere People: How international race thinking shaped Australia’s identity. Australia: Penguin Group
Australia is an amazing country with sandy beaches, great weather and a great cricket team. But if I could change one thing about Australia, it would be so there is no more racism. Roughly 28% of Australian people are born overseas, which makes a multicultural society very important in Australian Culture but this causes racism.
However, once policy makers realized that not all Indigenous Australians wished to conform to their ways of being, policies began to shift. In 1967, a national referendum granted citizenship to Aboriginal Australians. Despite this referendum, the Aboriginal Australians sought to establish their own identity outside of European notions of Aboriginality. In looking at how the Indigenous Australians have come to define themselves, the author describes two modes of Aboriginal identity: local and pan-Aboriginal. According to European classifications, Indigenous populations were seen as a homogenous group. However, defining the Indigenous Australians in this way diminishes geographic, linguistic, and cultural diversity that existed among these populations. According to Tonkinson, “despite many cultural similarities between groups, it is the differences that are most conspicuous and significant from the Aboriginal viewpoint…[Aboriginal] people often invoke their uniqueness of language, traditional territory, and kinship in asserting their [local] identity” (193). Pan-Aboriginality, is the “construction of a common culture out of a situation of cultural diversity,” and this, according to Tonkinson, is “essential in building solidarity among a minority population and endowing it with a political force in the Australian nation” (215). In uniting themselves under a common struggle, Aboriginals have
...at these several events in our nation’s history have demoralised our reputation to other countries globally. To make us known as a better country to other nations, we’ve completely abolished the White Australia Policy, gave back the aborigines their freedoms and we were also the first country in the world to give women rights. Australia today in present day is now one of the most multicultural societies on Earth, and we definitely follow our values of mateship, acceptance and freedom.
Canada is a cultural mosaic. Cultural mosaic is the mixture of different ethnic groups, languages and cultures that living in a society. Canada is one of the countries to declare multiculturism in the world as official state policy. This step showed the path to a resounding and evolving cultural mosaic premised on mutual respect for all the Canadian citizens of the different types of ethnic back ground. The roots of multiculturalism in Canada can be seen in the country's beginnings, as three establishing cultures aboriginal, British and French, who were soon joined by many more cultures from around the continents. Today this can be seen as a benchmark of Canadian national identity and a point of pride for Canadians. Even though of all this multiculturism right after the attacks of 9/11 in America a lot of Muslims who were gathered for praying in mosques and churches were attacked in Canada. Even Sikhs were attacked because they were perceived to be Muslims. Several Muslim schools were closed in major cities of Canada. Women were also attacked for their dressing (Faisal Kutty). History of African labor, Chinese labor, Aboriginal genocide and Japanese entombment are all forgotten over by propagandized multicultural progress, this has created a racialized logic which made it impossible for many Canadian citizens to recognize the racism taking place in the surrounding environment. So, racism is embedded in Canadians and can be seen in form of prejudice and discrimination at workplace.
The concept of being a ‘nation of immigrants’ is at the center of Australian identity.
In his essay The Politics of Recognition, Charles Taylor explains that minority groups engage in the politics of multiculturalism when they need and demand recognition. He argues that this demand occurs because people’s identity is shaped by recognition; a group of people can thus suffer if they are misrecognized. Taylor points out that there are two changes that gave rise to the discourse of identity and recognition: the collapse of social hierarchies and the modern notion of dignity. He expands further on the politics of equal recognition in the public sphere. He contends that the politics of equal recognition paradoxically means a politics of universalism as well as a politics of difference. He criticizes the politics of universalism by arguing that the “neutral difference-blind principles” of the politics of equal dignity inevitably reflect the dominant culture at the expense of minority cultures. He moreover maintains that liberalism “can’t and shouldn’t claim complete cultural neutrality” (Taylor 62). Overall, Taylor argues for a politics of recognition in order to ensure the survival of minority and suppressed groups.
Multiculturalism is a significant fabric of Canadian society that defines its unique identity among the rest of the world. Enactment of the Canadian multicultural policy (1971) affirmed government position and recognition of multiculturalism as a vital element of Canada. It is imperative to understand that multiculturalism is a static concept that keeps changing overtime and has a multidimensional entity. Canadians have always and will continue to revise the concept of multiculturalism to suit the ever expanding needs of Canadian society. In this paper, I will evaluate the reasons behind Canada’s adoption of multicultural policy and assess whether the policy should be maintained or not. I will defend the thesis that Canada’s multiculturalism
Growing up in Australia I have formulated my own opinions over time, by revisiting these thoughts in my lectures I have come to the conclusion that there is a fundamental idea between traditionalists that immigrants coming to Australia should assimilate to our culture and furthermore that Australia should be a monocultural thinking society.
Most scientists suggest not to separate human beings into races based on any single combination of physical features. Especially in Australia, where we are so multicultural and filled with different people from different backgrounds. Yet, we are quick to classify each other in to a category of some sort. This essay will therefore investigate multiple socially defined group identities, especially how the race, ethnicity and social class of an individual can influence their perception and experiences of as students. I will demonstrate this by looking at the identities of different immigrants who have migrated to Australia, the cultural conflicts of second generation migrants and international students who fall under the socially defined groups. We will investigate how their identity is contested, renegotiated or rejected.
The multiculturalism idea is about how to respond towards challenges that are associated with religious and cultural diversity. The term is used as a descriptive term that characterizes the diversity facts in the society. The proponent of multiculturalism rejects the melting point idea though the term has encompasses a variety of claims. The melting point idea is that members of the minority group maintain a distinct collection of practices and identities.in general multiculturalism means the practices and policies that respond and recognizes ethnic diversity (Roach et al, 2005 pg. 37). The first black president elected in us Barack Obama describes the different points of view regarding multicultural societies. Though each Atlantic side are
Ever since the 1970s, Australia has become a multicultural nation. Australia’s multiculturalism is a way to explain the variety of ethnic backgrounds within the Australian people. “It implies that there are many ways of being Australian, not just one ‘Australian way of life’” (Carter 333). Multiculturalism has majorly changed the way that people view Australian history and identity.