30th
AFSAAP conference
January 31 - February 2
2008
Australian National University
Africans in Australia and outsiders in Africa
Conference papers and
abstracts
The
Challenge of Africa: As viewed from Monash University's initiatives there
Simon Adams
"It is hard to leave, and it is hard to stay". Stories from Sudan, Egypt and
Australia of refugee flight and resettlement
Hala Musa Arfish & Louise Olliff
Hala Musa Arfish and Louise Olliff
have both been involved in the Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning (SAIL)
Program in Melbourne for a number of years. Our presentation will provide a
perspective on African refugees and resettlement in Australia through the use of
personal narratives. We do not intend to present academic research on these
issues, but rather our own experiences and reflections. In doing so, we hope to
share some of the diverse stories that are sometimes lost in public discourses.
We'd also like to challenge some of the constructed stereotypes around African
refugee experiences and resettlement and focus on the Australian community as
'actors' in the refugee story. That is, how are our journeys shaped by each
others' assumptions and expectations, and how does this impact on the way in
which African refugees are able to negotiate their place, or 'integrate', into
the Australian community.
Challenging the State in Africa
Samantha Balaton-Chrimes
The issue of ‘state failure’ has been the subject of much critical and popular
attention in the face of widespread human misery in Africa. The failure of the
state to either protect or enhance the lives of African peoples has led to
urgent calls for ‘state building’ and ‘state renewal’. Surprisingly, however,
state failure has not led to serious critical interrogations of the suitability
of the state itself as an institution of governance in different (non-European)
contexts. In the discourse of international relations in general and African
studies in particular, there is a widespread failure to imagine alternative
models of political community or governance. With a few important exceptions,
the state has remained the unquestioned point of departure for responses to the
‘African crisis’. This paper seeks to explain these discourses in terms of a
normalizing project in which the ‘anomalous’ African state is made a target of
remedial interventions from the international community. It suggests that the
discourse of the state reconfigures rather than disassembles colonial power
relations and that more attention needs to be paid to indigenous models of
political community and governance in the African continent.
What Do Ethio (Ethiopian)-Australian Secondary School Students Need in
their Schooling?
Getnet D. Bitew
This is an extract of my PhD thesis entitled “An Investigation of the
Secondary School Experiences of Ethio-Australian Students Living in Melbourne”.
A qualitative methodology was employed using interviews and observation as data
collection instruments. Secondary school students, their teachers and parents
have acted as informants of the study. The findings of the extract included a
deeper understanding of the exclusionary forces that contributed to the
students’ attendance and learning in the secondary schools when they relocated
between schools and countries. Based on the data collected and the analysis
made, appropriate recommendations were forwarded.
Statehood and insecurity in West Africa: the organisation of regional conflict
Moya Collett
The search for
Authenticity in a global age: Artists and arts policy in Francophone West Africa
Graeme Counsel
Examines the history of the authenticité movement and its effects on
contemporary arts policy and practices, focusing on the nations of Guinea and
Mali.
The economic history of land tenure in Zimbabwe
Tim Curtin
The conventional wisdom
is that the white settlers who just over a century ago descended on Zimbabwe,
then Southern Rhodesia, appropriated all or most of the best land, and that the
indigenous majority was confined to inferior land across the country. This paper
shows that is not correct. In fact half of the land assigned to the white
farmers was of the same type and quality as the allegedly "inferior" land
reserved for tribal land tenure, but because, for reasons that will be
explained, the latter did not fully utilize its endowment, compared with white
farmers, this enhanced the perception of an inequitable land distribution. The
paper then shows that the problem with land after 1980 is not that so much
remained in white ownership (in fact as many as one third of white farms at
independence had been transferred to black ownership by 2000) as that both all
the old tribal areas and most of the new black-owned farms remained relatively
unproductive. The paper concludes by offering some lessons for South Africa and
Australia with their similar indigenous land ownership history and structure.
(revised)
Statistics: A bibliography of Africans in Australia
Liz Dimock
The Monash Institute for Research on Africa
Stephanie Fahey
The Monash Institute for Research on Africa (MARI) will be established as an
initiative of Monash University with collaboration from other Australian
Universities. The Institute will focus on research on Africa, initially with
special emphasis on those areas with commercial, historical and migration ties
with Australia. MARI will provide a critical foundation upon which to build our
knowledge of Africa, through which we can foster Australian-African
understanding, co-operation and collaboration. Research conducted through MARI
will make a direct contribution to the development goals of Africa and will
cover such diverse areas as economic development, public policy, governance,
public health, water policy, climate change, migration, history and anthropology
as well as synergies with Australia, such as forecasts and policy planning in
the mining and resources sector, areas of potential conflict and cooperation,
and public policy and international relations.
Progress and Priorities: Report Card since 2007 African Resettlement
Conference
Haileluel Gebre-Selassie
In April 2007, the African Think Tank hosted the inaugural African Resettlement
Conference at the University of Melbourne. Among the many positive outcomes
arising from the Conference was the release of a number of key recommendations
in the priority issues of capacity building, healthcare, justice, employment,
and education opportunities, as well as youth and gender roles within African
communities and broader society. Almost a year on from the Conference, this
presentation re-examines the recommendations, examines what progress has been
made in addressing these points of concern, and discusses what the priorities of
Australia’s African communities should be looking ahead in light of prevailing
local, national and international political and social trends.
The African Think Tank is a research and advisory body on African and refugee
community issues.
The geography of African refugee settlement in Southeast Queensland
Wendy Harte
Between 2001 and 2006 over 4,000 African refugees resettled in Queensland
through the Australian Government’s Humanitarian Program. Research on the
settlement geography of this immigrant group is, however, limited. This paper
identifies gaps in the settlement data and outlines a conceptual framework to
investigate the settlement and secondary migration patterns of African refugee
communities in Southeast Queensland. Quantitative data from the Department of
Immigration and Citizenship’s (DIAC) Settlement Database (SDB) are used to map
the settlement patterns of the communities, and qualitative data from focus
groups and individual structured interviews provide the means to establish the
causes and patterns of secondary migration. Without this geographical knowledge,
service providers under present arrangements, may not be allocated sufficient
resources and funding to help maximise the opportunity for successful
resettlement of these communities. Preliminary results indicate that
accessibility to social networks, appropriate housing, transport and employment
are vital controls of settlement
and migration geographies.
Zimbabwe after Mugabe
Geoffrey Hawker
The Three Delays as a Framework for
Examining Safe Motherhood in Kafa Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia
Ruth Jackson
African-born in
Australia from 1996
--
2006
(a statistical table)
James Jupp
The Determinants of Life
Satisfaction for African Immigrants in Australia
Dr Temesgen Kifle
Research on assessment of life satisfaction is relevant because it measures
quality of life and helps to identify the extent of social problems within a
country. The effect of social policy in a country and the need for intervention
can be evaluated by the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of individuals
in their life. It is common that immigrants face numerous problems
and considerable stress in the process of adjustment to a new
culture. One way of assessing individual’s satisfaction with life is through the
analysis of self-reported measures of life satisfaction scores. The Household,
Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey provides detailed
information pertaining to personal life satisfaction. Using the HILDA panel
dataset, therefore, the paper will try to explore empirically the determinants
of life satisfaction for African immigrants in Australia. To thoroughly analyze
individual change in life satisfaction over time, data from the first five waves
of HILDA will be used.
Adjustment and challenges of African
migrants in Wagga Wagga
Kiprono Langat
This paper aims to identify and explore the social, psychological and economic
needs of African migrants in rural and remote regions of Australia. The paper
argues that mutual integration and valuable contribution by all in the community
can be enhanced if the needs and demands of the newly resettled migrants,
particularly the refugees received adequate attention and support from the
relevant state and federal agencies.
The Tenuous Roots of Peace - Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement 2005
Justin D Leach
Justin will summarise the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) concluded in
January 2005. This process began in 1994 when the challenge of ending the second
Sudanese civil war then already in progress for eleven years was taken up by
the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This organisation,
composed primarily of Sudan’s African neighbours and supported by Western
nations such as the US and the UK, shepherded the peace agreement through a
further eleven years of negotiations and apparent stalemates by the Islamist
government in Khartoum and the secular Sudan People’s Liberation Army, based in
the south of the country.
Justin will discuss the sequence of events which led to two parties with
seemingly irreconcilable differences opting to share power. He will look at
specific elements in the agreement and how they came about and aspects of
implementation thus far.
Peace in our time The role of
international governments, aid agencies, business and the Sudanese diaspora in
fostering peace in Sudan.
Wendy Levy
Wendy will explore the ways in which such groups are helping or hindering the
establishment of democratic government in Sudan, particularly in the south
following the 2005 peace agreement. She will provide examples of the situation
in both urban and regional areas in the north and south of Sudan.
Paton's Discovery / Soyinka's Invention
Bernth Lindfors
The paper will examine the influence
of a poem by Alan Paton on Wole Soyinka's earliest play, "The Invention," which
was finally published in 2005. Soyinka would have had access to Paton's poem
while studying at the University of Leeds half a century ago. The poem makes use
of some of the same satirical tropes as the play and concludes on a note that
suggests Soyinka was inspired to develop in dramatic form Paton's amusing notion
of a race-altering catastrophe.
“This business of selling things on the side is what helps us make ends meet!”
Informal Sector Activities of Working Mothers in Harare: Women Balancing and
Weaving
Virginia Mapedzahama
Little is known about how mothers in
the ‘failing economies’ of Africa experience and make individual paid work and
family ‘choices’ and negotiations in the face of constraining socio-economic and
cultural circumstances. Although women’s increased workforce participation while
maintaining their traditional roles is a global phenomenon, significant research
into work/family linkages has been undertaken mostly in western societies and
remains a neglected subject of research in the African context. This paper
addresses this gap in research by
analysing
how women in economically constricting situation in Zimbabwe negotiate paid work
and family responsibilities. Women in Zimbabwe today find themselves living and
working in an era of rapid socio-economic instability and decline, which has
increased the constraints of the formal sector in creating sufficient job
opportunities to absorb all of those willing and able to work. As a result, the
informal sector has become the largest employment sector in Zimbabwe, and women
comprise the majority of informal traders (70 per cent). Focusing on the work
and family experiences of women who engage in what I have termed multiple modes
of subsistence (MMS) or the ‘third shift’, − that is, women who engage in non-
salaried income generating, informal sector activities in addition to
their salaried or waged formal sector employment−, the paper explores how the
women live ‘triple’ days when they pursue the third shift, and how they manage
or struggle to negotiate the three worlds of work in the formal sector, informal
sector work and motherwork. The analyses in this paper will illustrate that the
difficult socio-economic situation in a failing economy in Zimbabwe introduces
new challenges for working mothers that impact on their work/life realities.
One Zimbabwe Many Faces: The Quest for Political Pluralism in Postcolonial
Zimbabwe
Kudzai Matereke
This paper seeks to analyse and dialogue the events and developments on the
Zimbabwean political landscape and specifically how the ZANU PF government has
systematically stifled political pluralism. The paper argues that the problems
bedevilling Zimbabwe stem directly from the intolerance of the ruling elite
which has created a monopolitical order that vilifies and sacrifices political
difference. The party and government crackdown on the church and clergy,
opposition leaders, civic society, minorities, human rights defenders, media
houses and journalists bears testimony to the shrinking political public space,
yet it is the vibrancy of the public sphere that safeguards political pluralism.
The paper constitutes one of the active dialogical forms of philosophical
thinking among Zimbabwean intellectuals on some of the critical developments in
the country. The political developments are characterized by some dialectical
tensions that have polarized the political divide. There are tensions in the way
people have conceptualized democracy, plurality, civil liberties and justice.
All these have resonance with the constructions of the postcolonial identity. As
the title of the paper suggests, there is diversity in unity, and even in the
postcolonial state, there should be unity and difference at the same time. This
important feature lacks in Zimbabwe. Instead the independence of Zimbabwe has
resulted in an ideological conflict in which the ruling elite came into constant
conflict with the advocates of pluralism. The elites created a vanguard party
that took it upon itself to articulate a scientific theory of society yet the
advocates of democratic pluralism, on the other hand, resist the elite's claims
and tendencies to espouse and prescribe knowledge and truths of society. This
conflict occupies a central place in postcolonial studies' refusal of totalizing
tendencies. Relying on the postcolonial critical revisions of nationalist
narratives, this paper advances the claim that the nationalist party's claims to
hegemony obfuscate differences and stifle pluralism. For that reason, the
nationalist party has failed on tolerance thus defeating the very principle of
democracy around which the struggle for independence was mobilized.
Things fall apart: Culture, Anthropology, Literature
Russell McDougall
In the 50th anniversary year of the publication of Things Fall Apart this
paper looks at the history of the novel's changing reception, the different uses
to which it has been put, particularly in terms of shifting relations between
the disciplines of anthropology and literary criticism. I conclude with some
comments on this critical trajectory as it relates specifically to the novel's
career in Australia.
The Horn of Africa migrants in Adelaide and Melbourne: An emerging
diaspora
Zewdu W. Michael
This study mainly focuses on
the social networks of the Horn of Africa migrants in Australia and the impacts
of remittances to their country of origin. Since Australia officially admitted
the Ethiopian and Somali refugees in 1980s, thousands were admitted into
Australia. Many of them had lived in isolated refugee camps, where they were
deprived of basic services. After arrival, however, 54 per cent of them obtained
qualifications from Australian educational institutions.
The unemployment rate among these migrants is about 17 per cent (compared to the
national rate of 4.5 per cent) of the national unemployment rate and many depend
on social security benefits. This doesn’t deter 86% of the sample from sending
money to help their family and friends and 65 per cent of them believe that
because of their support their family live better life than their neighbours who
do not receive assistance. Failure to send money has repercussions the
immigrant’s social life. Personal responsibility, altruism, social pressure and
past personal experience of refugee camp life are few of the deriving forces
that urge them to sending money. 48.6 per cent of these migrants use Somali
owned money transferring agents.
These migrants have extended and complicated social networks based on and
influenced by ethnicity, language and affiliation to particular ethnic political
organizations. Moreover, the social networks of these migrants vary by age,
culture and religious orientation. Nearly 81 per cent of young migrants believe
that they have interacted well with the wider Australian society and have no
intention returning to their parents’ country of origin. In contrast, 54 percent
of adult immigrants plan to return to their country of origin. Some of these
migrants maintain strong bonds with their transnationals migrants’ community and
use these networks to find a partner, not only from asylum and country of origin
but also from Canada, Europe and USA.
Statistics on Africans in Australia
Andrew Middleton
Does VCT influence condom use in Zambia?
Namuunda Mutombo
In the absence of a vaccine against HIV/AIDS, condom use remains the panacea
for reducing HIV infections among sexually active persons but there is strong
opposition to condom use in many parts of Africa including Zambia. Over the last
few years, the scaling up of voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) services
for HIV is seen as an intervention that is likely to increase use of condoms.
Yet many studies on the effect of VCT on condom use have produced inconsistent
results. Therefore, this paper examines the extent to which VCT influences
condom use in Zambia.
This paper uses a sample size of 3,696 sexually active men and women aged 15-49
from the 2005 Zambia Sexual Behaviour Survey (ZSBS). Basic frequencies,
cross-tabulations and multivariate analyses with the ordinal regression
technique at p<.05 level of significance were performed.
Respondents ever tested for HIV had significantly higher odd-logs (β = 0.328) of
having more than lower use of the condom than respondents never tested for HIV
but type of relationship and perception about efficacy of the condom in
preventing infection against HIV also exhibit strong significance. Condom use is
higher with non-marital partners than with marital partners. Respondents who
doubted the efficacy of the condom were less likely to use the condom during the
12 months prior to the survey than respondents who had confidence in the condom.
As well as showing that VCT is an important tool for promoting condom use, this
finding shows that supply of condoms must be complemented by messages aimed at
re-enforcing confidence in condoms.
Sudanese women's experiences
Cholok Gum Naam
Languages, Identities and African Studies
Finex Ndhlovu
Linguistic diversity is one of the most abundant resources in Africa, which
is endowed with a third of the world’s living languages (Adegbija, 1994; Grimes,
2000; Batibo, 2005). A dominant question
that is often asked about the multiplicity of languages in the context of
African development is this: which one of the several languages should be
selected to be the African lingua franca? While this question has received a lot
of scholarly attention from language policy researchers and other
sociolinguists, for me, this is not the most relevant question to the debate on
the place of language in African Studies. What I consider as pertinent questions
are the following: what is the potential role and place of linguistic diversity
in the discourse on African development? How can language diversity be harnessed
and deployed towards improving Africa’s socio-economic and political fortunes?
These questions become even more compelling when considered in relation to
issues of ethnicity, nationality and ‘tribalism’ that have language as their
prime-marker. While the
field of African Studies is an established discipline with many international
research centres and institutes, the language factor has so far not been fully
incorporated into existing African Studies Programs, which are mainly
underpinned by approaches drawn from history, anthropology and other social
science disciplines. In this paper, I
consider the multiplicity of languages in Africa to be an important resource
that has the capacity to contribute to African development and it is against
this background that the paper
aims to explore the potential
contribution of linguistics to our understanding of African issues. The
overarching argument of this paper is that an African Studies discourse that
does not mainstream the role and place of language would be incomplete because
language occupies an important position in any meaningful dialogue on African
development and on Africa’s engagement with herself and with the wider
international community.
Corporate governance and ethical question in community based
organisations: A case study of African communities in Victoria
Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe and Martin Nanere
Increased pressures for governments
for more accountability, withdrawal from partnerships or involvement in
business, and an increased focus on governance issues are some of the factors
that have led to substantial tendering out of service delivery, including
settlement services to new arrivals in Victoria (Australia). Included in the
desired criteria for those tendering is the ability to operate within the
paradigms of corporate governance and ethical standards (as agents of the
state). As some of the tendering agencies are community based organisations in
part as self-interest groups, the issue of ‘Corporate Governance and Ethical
Questions’ poses some challenges in regard to, for example, areas of clearly
distinguished conflict of interests. This article examines the nature and role
of corporate governance and ethical decision-making, as part of the imperative
of strategic management, in community based organizations in Victoria. It is
argued that self-interest (i.e. the basis of community based organizations),
limited knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), unclear governance and ethical
behaviour goals, and issues of bounded rationality, self-satisfying, and
implicit favourite models in decision-making are among the factors that compound
problems in the area of corporate governance and ethical decision-making in
community based organisations. This issue is demonstrated by the case study of
the African Community Organisations in Victoria, Australia. In general terms,
community organisations require a different format of management (i.e. corporate
governance), from that of the other types of business structures/organisations.
Therefore seek congruence in regard to ‘best practice’ in corporate governance
as far as community organisations and the others are concerned. This article
concludes that further studies are needed in these areas.
Capacity Building of the African-Australian Communities in Goulburn Valley
Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe and Sundram Sivamalai
While employment
opportunities appear to have been the main driving force for the
African-Australians to settle in Goulburn Valley, earlier studies on the same
people else-where have identified certain exclusionary barriers including:
individuals’ skill-levels; limited/lack of recognition of overseas
qualifications; language proficiency; local experience Vs time spent and
knowledge acquired in Australia; personal and some cultural characteristics;
discrimination and protectionism in some professions, support, access and
equity, and other transformations in the labour market. Given the foregoing,
this paper focuses on ‘Capacity Building of the African-Australians’ in the
Goulburn Valley/Murray. Applying triangulated methods of survey, in-depth
interviews and literature; an attempt is made to propose new and innovative ways
that could assist African-Australians becoming better prepared on how to deal
with the similar issues and challenges in the Goulburn Valley/Murray so as to
avoid human capital stagnation and influence them to stay in the region.
The Dynamics of Energy/Oil Crisis in the Niger Delta of Nigeria
Dr. Victor Ojakorotu
This paper unpacks the crisis in the Niger Delta of Nigeria with reference
to its external dimensions by which is meant the involvement of international
non-governmental organisations in the politics of local environmental
governance. It takes as its point of departure the events (in the 1990s) that
underpinned the international community’s engagement with an issue that could
have been regarded as Nigeria’s domestic affair and follows with an assessment
of the impact of internationalisation of the crisis on the major actors in the
region. It is noted that the crisis in the Niger Delta has been predicated for
over four decades on a number of complex issues in Nigeria’s geo-political
landscape. The emergence of organized pressure groups (in the early 1990s) and
their protestations against human rights abuses and environmental problems in
the region added a ‘new’ dimension to the crisis. In tackling its thematic
concern, this paper interrogates the involvement of the international civil
society in the Niger Delta and concludes with an appraisal of the extent to
which the internationalisation of the crisis engendered both attitudinal and
policy shifts on the part of the main actors.
Integration Experiences and Youth Perspectives: A Comparative Study between
Somali Youth in Melbourne, Australia, and Minneapolis, USA
Yusuf Sheikh Omar
The overall aim of this
study is to examine Somali youth integration experiences in Australia compared
to their counterparts in the USA. It will investigate youngsters’ views on their
adjustment to the mainstream culture through their learning processes,
employment opportunities, cultural negotiation and socialization and will focus
on their experiences with educational institutions, media representations of
their culture and background country, gender issues, and family and community
life in culturally and linguistically diverse societies. The specific objectives
are to:
o Describe the ways in which experiences prior to arrival impact on settlement;
o Identify the facilitators and barriers to integration;
o Identify the aspects of Islamic religion and culture that young people think can or can not be integrated into culturally diverse communities (in terms of their religious beliefs and practices):
o Describe the education and employment opportunities and experiences of Somali youth;
o Discover parents’ perceptions of their children’s integration into the dominant culture coupled the relationship with their children in the new environment
o Compare and describe the differing social and policy contexts of Australia and the USA and the ways these impact on integration experiences.
Australian companies mining
in Zambia
Godfrey Simasiku
South Africa towards 2009
Tjaart Steyn
This paper will assess the outcome of
the ANC National Conference ( held in December 2007). After the succession
contest in the ANC the country is now positioning itself for the 2009 election
and a new President.
Keeping the peace in Africa: The best solution or a better solution?
Tjaart Steyn
Since the end of the Cold War Africa has been a net recipient of international
peace missions and peace support resources by the UN and the African Union. This
is mostly the consequence of the occurrence of post-Cold War domestic conflicts
and complex emergencies in Africa. Almost all these complex emergencies have
been characterised by human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, genocide and
other serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws.
Most observers would agree that of all these Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan stand out
as the most horrific. Against this background it is becoming increasingly clear
that there is a growing realisation in Africa that if the goals of the African
Renaissance and NEPAD are to be achieved, both Africa and the international
community would have to increase their commitment and accelerate the process of
resolving long ongoing conflicts.
Africa’s renewal, as well as ultimately a sustainable and peaceful future, is
increasingly dependant upon its own will and regional capacity to resolve
conflicts on the one hand, and on the other hand the international community’s
will and resolve to show continued and sustained commitment as long as it is
necessary. Recent initiatives by developed nations seems to be proof of a change
in the attitude of the developed countries. However. at the same time that
Africa should still be cognisant of the present-day reality that it needs to
support all capacity and resources that becomes available internationally from
outside the continent to assist in keeping the peace, Sudan became the first
non-permissive state, initially objecting to the deployment of a hybrid UN–AU
force on its own soil.
I will look at the different policy positions of the role players as well as
examples of current critical issues of commitment. In conclusion I will address
the question whether Sudan and Somalia are becoming critical tests for Africa
and the international community?
The Effect of
Leadership Changes on the African Union
Kathryn Sturman
Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo have been leading figures in the
development of the African Union (AU) since they both took office in 1999.
Almost a decade later, leadership changes in South Africa and Nigeria are likely
to impact on Africa's regional organisation. This paper considers the extent to
which the AU has been a foreign policy project of these two personalities. It
discusses whether the new agenda of humanitarian intervention, human rights and
democratisation of the AU is in danger of losing momentum after the departure of
Mbeki and Obasanjo. Theories of regional hegemony that assert a specific role
for South Africa and Nigeria in the region will be challenged by showing that a
new national government is likely to project its power differently in each case.
Community based natural resource
management and poverty alleviation in southern Africa
Helen Suich
Employment as an
important aspect of resettlement and integration
Albino Chol Thiik
New arrivals from Africa encounter many challenges and difficulties when
settling in Australia. This paper addresses the issue of employment as a key to
successful long term settlement and acculturalisation. Based on three years
practical experience in a regional community, this paper addresses the following
labour market issues: language, literacy and numeracy; education, training and
recognition of qualifications; labour market and work place culture
understanding; workplace skills development; discrimination in the workplace;
mobility and transport; and jobseeker confidence.
Is the honeymoon over? The
experience of Indian South African Muslim migrants to Brisbane, post-1994
Goolam Vahed
This paper focuses on the migration of Indian South African Muslims to Australia
in the post-apartheid period. Its focus is on social, economic, and political
changes within South Africa that motivated them to emigrate; what they found
attractive about Australia; the social networks that provided information about
the means of travel, opportunities, and possibility of entry; and their
impression of the host society and impact on it. This study will explore themes
around the drawing, contesting, crossing of borders and boundaries. Most
migrants left their country of origin to get away from high crime rates,
affirmative action policies, and being an “Indian” minority. Since the events of
September 2001, not only has Australia’s external borders been tightened, but
increasingly the internal “border” between Muslims and non-Muslims has become
fortified as the discourse and rhetoric of government ministers, community
leaders, and media progressively constructs Muslims as “the Other”, creating a
politics of fear, and leading to their marginalization from mainstream
Australian society. In the context of new security legislation that raises
questions about individual rights versus national security, Muslims have reacted
in diverse ways. Some have sought to participate more broadly in civil society
through inter-faith forums, rotary clubs, and charitable causes, while others
are experiencing disillusionment and concern about their place in Australian
society. Is the honeymoon over or will get a “Fair-Go” seems to be their
anxiety.
Negotiation of Cultural Identity
through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (ACMYAF)
Peter Mbago Wakholi
Working with a focus group of fifteen young people, of African migrant descent,
ranging between the ages of thirteen to twenty five the research explores issues
relating to their cultural identity and the use of the Arts in negotiating
cultural identity. The aims of the research include the following -
o Identify challenges to bicultural identity, among African-migrant
descendant youth
o Critically examine African cultural values and their relevance to the
African migrant descendant youth
o Explore ways in which the Arts may be used as a medium for negotiation
of cultural identity
o Propose an artistic/educational approach to strengthening bicultural
identity of the African migrant-descendant-youth
African publishing today - a post-colonial development?
Nick Walker
Imaginary Links between Africa and Australia
Margaret Waller
Australians develop ideas about African through movies and the still image. This
paper and presentation will describe and illustrate how stereotypic still images
maintain a static and distant image of "Africaness" in Australia. The African
stereotypes of the 'dying', the 'adorned' and the 'violent' re-appear while
images of daily life remain outside mainstream Australian view of Africa. We can
look beyond the stereotype when daily life is viewed, thus what becomes visible
is the ordinariness and the extra-ordinariness of being African.
To illustrate this point and to connect it to the ordinariness and
extra-ordinariness on being Australian, I draw from my exhibition called
"Familiar" at the Horsham Regional Art Gallery in 2004. In this exhibition, I
paired one image of Australia (from my portfolio around the Horsham region) with
one image of Africa (from my 18year African portfolio). The exhibition consisted
of 15 pairs of images. Some were Black and White (film) and some colour (film)
and others were digital images.
In drawing out the humanity in daily life in Australia and Africa, these images
hopefully contributed to a more complex and more thoughtful view of Africans by
Australians.
A slideshow includes stereotypic media images and then "Familiar" exhibition.
The paper concludes with a review of the exhibition and the public's response to
it.
From Diaspora to multiculture: In
search of a 'youthful' pan-African Australian identity
Kirk
Zwangobani
This paper
draws from the early stages of my doctoral research, which is an ethnographic
study of a small group of
diasporic African Australian youth living in Canberra. The project sets out to
investigate the possibility of a translocal / pan-African identity among African
youth.
In describing the complexities evident in black youths’ processes of
identification and belonging, compounded by the lingering legacies of British
colonialism and the white Australia policy, I look initially to studies of black
diaspora in Britain. Here I hope to find interpretive devices or ways of
understanding the African diaspora in Australia. Paul Gilroy (1993), for
example, in his canonical work the Black Atlantic suggests that
Britain's black settler communities have forged a
“compound culture” (15) from disparate sources.
This compound culture invokes a
political sensitivity and cultural expression that has developed in the diaspora
due to striving to be both in this instance Australian and African. Indications
of compound culture are perceptible within the second-generation African
Australian youth in my study.
These youth also suffer from the threat of
being seen as “perpetual outsiders” (Gilroy 2005:123). The place of outsider is
often associated with the newly arrived or “fresh” African youth in Canberra and
is a position that white nationalist Australian discourses - reliant upon the
policy of assimilation - have created in excluding them from being
accepted as fully Australian.
Thus in this paper I would like to briefly explore the dynamic that exists
between these differing positions shaped by changing patterns of migration,
settlement, and ethnicity. I
will use Gilroy’s cultural analysis, that has shaped my thinking, to expound the
narratives that the youth in my study have provided.