Deakin University, Australia
Inclusion and exclusion in multiethnic societies: A Muslim PerspectiveAbstract
Recent terrorism events such 9/11, the
Bali bombings and in particular 7/7 have precipitated a range of media
commentary directly linking multicultural policies in a causal relationship to
increased insecurity and the threat of political violence. With the rise of
terrorist activity, and the retaliatory ‘war on terror’, a more pronounced
mediated discourse on the integration (or lack) of Arabic and Muslim Diaspora
communities into their host societies has exacerbated perceptions of
intercultural tensions.
This paper will present the empirical
findings of a recent study that looked into the role of local governance in the
management of multicultural spaces in Australia at a time of increased
securitised discourse. The study considered three basic questions: (1) whether
multiculturalism, as a cosmopolitan project, is losing credibility in Australia; (2) whether the level of
racialisation of Muslim migrant communities in Australia has increased in response
to recent securitisation of international events; and (3) if local government
is the most optimal vehicle to address intercultural tension in the community.
The paper will draw on current
conceptual debates about the limits of normative citizenship theories in this
context and the emergent discourse on transnational identities and cosmopolitan
values in accounting for new types of settlement experiences and outcomes among
migrants in the West. The paper will highlight a case study of a local
government in Australia
and the challenges super-diversity pose for policy formulation and
administration at the local level. This is especially the case for Arab and
Muslim Diaspora migrants whose situation in Western societies is increasingly
being invoked as evidence of failed integration policies and a blow to
multicultural policies.
Though this paper focuses on a
particular migrant group within a specific local government area, it
nevertheless aims to uncover how local multicultural spaces can be socially
constructed as localities of inclusion and exclusion within which discourses of
identity and belonging are generated and disseminated.
Bio
In addition to coordinating Middle Eastern studies,
A/Professor Fethi Mansouri is the Faculty of Arts' Associate Dean (Research)
and the Director of the Research Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation.
He is a leading researcher in the Faculty and is the principal supervisor of a
number of PhD and MA candidates in Middle Eastern studies, migration research
and applied linguistics. Dr Mansouri has published two authored books, 4 edited
books, 7 major research monographs, more than 25 refereed research articles and
book chapters, and many book reviews and media pieces. He has presented more
than 65 invited conferences and seminar papers and many other invited
presentations at national and international symposia.
Over the last five years, Dr Mansouri has been awarded
more than 25 research grants from a number of funding bodies including the
Australian Research Council in 2007-10 on local governance and multicultural
policies; 2004-07 on cultural diversity in education and in 2002-04 for a
project on Australia's Asylum Policies. He has also received research funding
from the State Government's Community Support Fund for a project on 'building
the capacity of community organisations serving the Arabic communities in Victoria'. Between 2002
and 2006 Dr Mansouri received funding from a number of philanthropic
foundations to conduct research into cultural diversity in three Melbourne secondary
schools. He has authored a book (with Michael Leach) on the social, economic
and cultural impacts of the temporary protection regime on individual refugees.
The field research underpinning the book was funded by the Myer Foundation.
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