HomeTASA 2024: Panel Sessions

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TASA 2024 - Panel Sessions

The following panel discussions will be featured in this year's program (please click on each title to reveal the organisers, content and speakers):

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Being a Muslim in Australia in an Era of Hyper-Security: Notes from the Field

Panel Organisers:
Adam Possamai, Western Sydney University;Farida Fozdar & Nisa Ilahiati, Curtin University; Gerhard Hoffstaedter, University of Queensland; David Tittensor, University of Melbourne

Panel Abstract:
The general response to the threat of terrorism has been to institute Countering Violent Extremism,(CVE) policies and legislation that facilitates powerful regimes of surveillance. Whilst such legislation,may seek to be neutral in its construction, it implicitly and disproportionately targets and impacts,Muslim communities, and the associated political rhetoric also tends to focus on these communities.,Consequently, some Muslims have begun to self-censor for fear of unwanted attention from the,authorities and have formed their own ethno-religious groups online, as 'safe spaces' to avoid,'microaggressions' from a hostile public that questions their national belonging. Drawing on the,experiences from the field sites of our ARC Discovery Project (DP220101722), this panel will highlight,the lived realities of selected established and emerging Australian Muslim diasporas, and the,challenges faced in undertaking research with these communities in this hyper-securitised,environment. We will illustrate how established Muslim communities have responded to these,developments, with reactions ranging from self-surveillance, retreat, and engagement. We also note,the apparent transition, considering recent events (e.g. Assyrian church attack in Sydney), towards,increased guardedness amongst emerging Muslim communities. The field sites and communities,include the Lebanese in Sydney, Turks in Melbourne, Indonesians in Perth, and Rohingyas in,Brisbane.

Panel Chair: Adam Possamai Western Sydney University

Panellists:

1. Reflections from the field in Sydney: The Lebanese experience
Presented by Adam Possamai Western Sydney University

Prof Possamai will reflect on the challenges of undertaking field research with the Lebanese community in Sydney, which is a well-established Muslim diaspora community that is very guarded.

2. Reflections form the field in Melbourne: The Turkish experience
Presented by David Tittensor University of Melbourne

Dr Tittensor will reflect on his experiences of working with the Turkish community in Melbourne, which is also a well-established Muslim diaspora community that has become increasingly guarded on account what has been described as 'bad experiences' in the past.

3. Reflections from the field in Perth: The Indonesian experience
Presented by Farida Fozdar and Nisa Illahiati Curtin University

Prof Fozdar and Nisa Illahiati will reflect on field experiences of working with the relatively more,recently established and under-researched Indonesian community in Perth, with a focus on,differences between first- and second-generation participants. Consideration will be given to internal group relations, perceptions of 'good' and 'bad' Muslims, processes and sites of inclusion and othering. We will also discuss the effects of recent events on their more open and approachable,stance, which appears to be transitioning to greater guardedness and self-censorship.

4. Reflections form the field in Brisbane: The Rohingyan experience
Presented by Gerhard Hoffstaedter University of Queensland

A/Prof Hoffstaedter will reflect on experiences working with the Rohingyan community in Brisbane, one of the newest Muslim diaspora communities in Australia.

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Awkward Intimacies

Panel Organiser/s
Ashley Barnwell and Kristen Natalier

Panel Abstract:
Relationships can be warm and supportive, but they can also be chafing, ambivalent, and awkward. Levels of intimacy and the status of relationships can change over time. We can be bound to people when we may not want to be, through kinship, marriage, co-parenting, localities, workplaces, technologies, and more. There are multiple reasons why we seek, maintain, or endure proximity with people even when a relationship is or becomes awkward, tense, or untenable. In this panel we consider how the concept of intimacy is refigured and extended in the analysis of such relations.

Panel Chair:

Panellists:
1. Post-separation intimacy as a moral claim: Being a 'good' mother and father when a relationship ends and parenting continues.
Presented by Kristen Natalier

Contemporary sociological interrogations of intimacy are commonly referenced to emergent technologies and more inclusive social definitions of a 'real' relationships. This paper extends these analyses of change through a different focus: What does intimacy mean when the relationship through which it was nurtured alters in its structure, emotional tenor and intent? Jamieson's (2011) conceptualisation of intimacy as experiences and practices of cognitive and emotional closeness offers a framework for interrogating how and why separated parents claim intimacy when they no longer live together. Interview data from 27 men and women highlight the gendered interpretive and relationship work required to knit together past and present knowledge and practices into an account of intimacy that acknowledges its continuity and its change. These accounts suggest post-separation intimacy has a social and moral significance that supports shared parenting practices and buttresses claims to being a good separated parent and former partner. Claims to intimacy, then, can be strategies of defining the self as much as defining a relationship, to align with dominant understandings of family and parenting ' particularly mothering' even when a relationship's structure and practices no longer obviously do so.

2. Forced marriage and family relationships
Presented by Jacqueline Nelson

Forced marriage is an issue that governments in Australia have been concerned about since around 2010, with the practice being criminalised in 2013. Forced marriage is considered a form of modern slavery and, less consistently, of family violence. Within a criminal framework, families are perpetrators, but this framing obscures complex family relationships, and the love and care that is often present within families affected. This paper explores the histories, experiences and dynamics within families where coercion into marriage takes place. After Zeweri (2023), I consider the state violence that families affected have often experienced and how this may be a driver of familial decision-making practices. Interviews with people who have lived experience of forced marriage and practitioners who work with individuals and families affected show that ties between parents and their children can be enduring, even when difficult and requiring significant effort (Reczek & Bosley-Smith, 2022). This paper explores forced marriage in relation to family backgrounds and histories, describes communication practices and identifies points of family resilience.

3. Family found online: Forging intimacies from DNA
Presented by Giselle Newton

Forging new relationships is often uneasy, uncertain or uncomfortable. Yet this process is further complicated when the relationship is familial (traditionally intimate) and/or initiated via a digital platform (a commodified intimate public). In this presentation, I draw on data from semi-structured interviews (n=23) with Australians who had participated in direct-to-consumer DNA testing to seek information about their family. Specifically, I focus on participant accounts in which new familial relationships were forged following matches on the DNA platform. I map trajectories of intimacy via DNA platforms, considering the potent affects and awkward sensations that arise through these familial interactions. More broadly, this work contributes to understanding how processes of mediation contribute to new forms of intimate relationships and reshape existing intimate relationships.

4. Family Estrangement and the Unseen Work of Not Doing Family
Presented by Ashley Barnwell

Family estrangement is a common yet understudied phenomenon, especially in the sociology of family and personal life. In societies where norms about 'the family' have moved on considerably to include non-biological kinship, blended families, chosen families and so on, an emphasis on close bonds and family rituals is often resilient creating stigma for those who are distant from family. In this article, I offer a sociological analysis of experiences of family estrangement reported via a qualitative survey, and explore three of the family practices involved in maintaining these 'absent present' relationships. This research contributes to and extends literature on family practices, family display and the notion of doing family, by looking at the family practices that are kept off display and the often unseen work that goes into not doing family. In doing so, it speaks to a growing interest in the constitutive role of absent, silenced or hidden aspects of social life, and attending questions about the impacts of such omissions.

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Researching regional migration at the intersection of policies, politics and social impact imperatives

Panel Organiser/s
Martina Boese, La Trobe University; Anthony Moran, La Trobe University

Panel Abstract:
Sociological research on regional migration is situated at the intersection of current social, cultural and economic government policy agendas. Its foci are variably shaped by government, businesses and communities' concerns with the future of regional communities and economies, social inequalities and employment, migrants' and refugees' experiences of racism, multi-/interculturalism, and climate change. The sociology of migration has grappled with the tension between the advance of critical and conceptual scholarship and the servicing of public policy interests by producing knowledge that informs the governance of migration (Amelina 2022; Bommes and ThrÃ¤nhardt 2010). In the current academic race towards achieving demonstrable impact, the sociology of migration furthermore competes with other disciplinary knowledge contributions on migration (f.ex. demography, law and economics) that are perhaps more readily adopted by policy makers than sociological analyses. ,The contributions to this panel highlight the value of critical sociological perspectives on and analyses of current policies, regulations, governance and their social impacts, extending beyond the public policy interest in migration research and challenging beyond the 'categories of political practice' (Brubaker 2013; Dahinden et al. 2020). They seek to analyse the ways in which migrants navigate Australian law and experience emergency communications; challenge the impacts of policy on social analysis; and critically examine perspectives on migration in the context of policies.

Panel Chair:

Panellists:
1. The challenge of inclusive multilingual emergency responses: Lessons from a case study of a regional Australian border town
Presented by Raelene Wilding, La Trobe University

The combined impacts of Australia's regional migration strategies and intensifying climate change have contributed to a new challenge for emergency authorities. During weather related events such as floods, fires and extreme heat, many multilingual community members report lacking information to help them make decisions about their own safety. In this paper, we report findings from semi-structured indepth interviews conducted with members of two multilingual communities, which explored their experiences of emergency communications and their recommendations for change. While the communities had quite different migration histories, one being primarily humanitarian migrants and the other primarily skilled migration pathways, both groups reported similar concerns of experiencing exclusion from effective messaging. Our findings point to the need for systematic and equal attention to five principles of effective inclusive communications: Accessibility, Actionability, Reinforcement, Inclusivity and Validation. We conclude with examples that reflect on how policy makers, local councils and emergency authorities might enhance their practices and approaches with reference to these principles.

2. Enabling migrant agency in navigating Australian law: A case study from Katherine
Presented by Devaki Monani Charles Darwin University

Since 2015 Australia's population growth policy has been underpinned by attraction and retention of overseas trained migrants in regional areas. Additional points for migrating and settling in a regional area has meant that remote areas such as Katherine located South of Darwin, Northern Territory, has now seen a rise in migrants from the Philippines, Nepal and India. Migrants in Northern Territory are likely to work in farms, the disability sector, nursing, mining, and the public sector. Overall, the primary attraction is the permanent residency opportunity that life in regional Australia offers overseas migrants from these countries.,The proposed abstract will reveal findings from a qualitative study conducted with newly settled female migrants from Nepal and Philippines in the Katherine region with a focus on their legal needs and knowledge of the Australian legal system. The study was funded by the Public Law Society's Trust, Northern Territory and is a partnership between Katherine Women's Legal Service and Charles Darwin University.

3. Refugee and migrant settlement policies in regional Australia: political parameters and social dimensions
Presented by Melissa Phillips Western Sydney University

Sociological research has illuminated the rich social lives of migrants and refugees living in Australian cities and rural areas. This has drawn necessary attention to aspects including social networks (McMichael and Manderson 2004), identity (Naidoo 2007) and belonging (Fozdar 2014). Other dimensions including diaspora and transnational links also convey the social, cultural and economic lives of migrants and refugees. However, the social worlds of migrants and refugees are increasingly politicised in the Australian context in discussions about multiculturalism (Wise 2009), employment (Colic Peisker and Tilbury 2007) and social cohesion (Markus 2013). This paper considers the ways in which policies at Federal, state and local levels interrupt and constrain narratives on social dimensions through an investigation of regional settlement policies in Australia. Drawing on current and prior research (Boese and Phillips 2018) this paper maps the terrain of the political parameters of settlement and queries the impacts of policy on social analysis. In doing so it questions rigid bureaucratic labels and boundary markers and their unintentional reinforcing through research.

4. Regional perspectives on regional migration and migrant work
Presented by Anthony Moran La Trobe University

Regional migration and settlement are important current policy objectives in Australia, pursued by all levels of government and for different purposes. Within regional communities the outcomes of such policies and agendas in migrants' social worlds are also shaped by the actions and perspectives of region-based 'stakeholders', such as migrant and welfare service providers or employers. At the same time, these social actors are directed and constrained by diverse government policies and agendas that affect migration, and that result in a complex mix of visa statuses in regional communities. While much scholarship on regional migration and settlement has focused on attraction and retention of migrants, this paper analyses the perspectives of people working with regional migrants. The paper draws on empirical research among service providers and employers in a regional town in the North-West of Victoria which examined the varied perspectives on regional migration among non-migrants in a migrant destination. The research took place before and during the Covid pandemic, shining a light on the dependence of regional towns on migrant labour. From labour shortages to cultural contributions, the paper examines and distinguishes perceptions of the benefits and challenges of regional migration by those who service or employ migrants.

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Living Now: Youth Advocates & Activists

Panel Organiser/s
Nita Alexander, Katie Wright, Kylie Wrigley and co-presenter(s), John McGuire

Panel Abstract:
As a cohort of people who are traditional politically marginalised, young people are often relegated to the future. Yet, both historically and today, young people have found ways to be heard by speaking out and demanding action on issues that affect them. ,This panel brings together researchers working with and for young advocates and activists to reflect on past issues that have affected young people, examine current actions, and re-imagine forms of power that can bring about social change.

Panel Chair:

Panellists:
1. Adults claiming child rights: Temporality, activism and abuse in childhood
Presented by Katie Wright Latrobe University

The institutional abuse of children has been the subject of political attention in Australia and internationally since the 1990s, as evidenced by the growing number of public inquiries globally investigating this social problem. Drawing on an ARC-funded historical sociology of activism against institutional child abuse, this presentation explores ways in which victim-survivors and their supporters have taken action, and pressured governments, to address human rights violations against children and young people. It focuses on the enduring significance of childhood in adult lives, and explores the ways in which child rights are mobilised by adult survivors of institutional child abuse. In doing so, the presentation considers the temporal repositioning of youth and childhood and how the past and the present are bridged through public inquiries and victim-survivor activism.

2. It's not a future issue, it's a now issue: Young activists developing a Generational Radical Ecological Habitus.
Presented by Nita Alexander, James Cook University

In the face of the planetary climate emergency, young activists are rejecting 'business-as-usual'. They are disillusioned by formal politics and engaging in non-traditional avenues of prefiguratively practice. Beyond political action alone, activists are internalising their practice as an adapted habitus which is more suited to the addressing the crisis. This presentation argues that this is a generational radical ecological habitus, where inherited norms and expectation do not fit the environmental circumstances, and a new prefigurative expression of individual and collective practice is being developed.

3. Supporting young climate justice activists through care-full movements.
Presented by Kylie Wrigley and Co presenters

Young people make vital contributions to climate justice movements and when their agency is supported, valid feelings of climate distress can be transformed into effective collective action. However, young people are also exposed to a number of risks or patronised when they engage in climate advocacy, and they are often excluded from adult-led climate movements altogether. Against this backdrop, we reflect on how both young people and adults create more care-full and safe climate justice movements capable of supporting, sustaining, and sharing power with young people across their intersectional diversities.

4. Learning Activism: exploring universities' role in teaching the practice of social change
Presented by John McGuire Western Sydney University

An important part of the curriculums of sociology, the humanities and social science programs is understanding power, social justice and social change. One expects these programs to teach students the tools of analysis and understanding of how power is distributed and used in our society. From this point many programs see an inherent need for social change and social justice. Within these programs there are also subjects that focus on the practices of social change. Aside from the formal curriculum, the university as a social institution also provides spaces for students to organise themselves on the issues that they see as relevant. This is not a new phenomenon, universities have been productive spaces for student activists for quite some time. Student activists often articulate a lineage that goes back to the May 1968 protests in France, the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s and the opposition to the Vietnam war in the 60s and 70s. However, the role that universities play for student activists is not without its challenges and opposition. This presentation will provide an overview of the history of universities as spaces for activism and explore the current challenges and opposition that student activists face on university campus and society at large.

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Understanding the life course with Life Patterns: Current knowledge and future agendas

Panel Organiser/s
Dan Woodman

Panel Abstract:
This panel session will provide an overview of recent work conducted as part of the Life Patterns longitudinal research program. The study will be used as a platform from which to address the theme of the conference â€˜social worlds and political landscapesâ€™. The session will begin with an overview of the full research program, which has been active for over 25 years. Three papers will then be presented by current members of the Life Patterns team, drawing from all three of the Life Patterns cohorts, and providing an overview of the current knowledge that the research program is generating. Following presentation of the papers and questions from the audience the panel will discuss the research agendas that the program seeks to advance in the future. In so doing they will reflect on the social worlds and political landscapes that the three cohorts of Life Patterns participants are living within, and how the Life Patterns program can be used as a platform from which to understand them.

Panel Chair: Dan Woodman

Panellists:

1. Trends in post-school aspirations and outcomes: Evidence from the Life Patterns project
Presented by Jenny Chesters, University of Melbourne

Developing policies that support young people as they navigate the plethora of pathways from adolescence into adulthood requires an evidence base derived from longitudinal data. Research indicates that transitions from full-time education into full-time employment are more complex and drawn out than in the past, therefore young people need the support of their families and communities for longer periods of time. Analysis of longitudinal data from the Life Patterns project indicates that due to the increasingly precarious state of the Australian labour market, young people are finding it difficult to secure permanent employment delaying their ability to make long term commitments such as living with a partner, buying a home and starting a family of their own. In this paper, we draw on Life Patterns data to compare the aspirations and outcomes of three cohorts of young people. Initially, we focus on the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on their aspirations in Year 11 and their post-school outcomes. Then we focus on differences in achieving these outcomes across the three cohorts to examine trends over time.

2. How do parents support their adult children? Thinking about financial, practical and
emotional support with Life Patterns oldest cohort
Presented by Julia Cook, Rachel Brooks and Dan Woodman

The so-called ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ has attracted growing public attention in the Australian context. Recent research has shown that it is used to support young adults not just with housing and home ownership, but with many other life expenses (Cook 2020; Woodman, Maire & Cook 2023). However, the majority of existing research has been conducted with the young adults who receive assistance, and has focused solely on financial forms of assistance. The literature therefore remains relatively silent on significance of practical and emotional forms of assistance that are often provided alongside financial assistance, as well as on the impact that providing these forms of assistance has on the lives of parents. We address this topic by drawing on interviews conducted with 30 parents of children aged over 18, drawn from cohort 1 of the Life Patterns study. Specifically, we show that the majority of our participants view providing extensive financial, practical and emotional support to adult children as an expectation for parents, and that this expectation has a significant impact on their decision-making about employment, housing, investment
and retirement planning.

3. What makes a good job for Gen Y? Insights from the Life Patterns research
Presented by Eric Fu

Research about work in youth studies mainly focuses on young people’s relationship to the labour market, with less attention being paid to their subjective views about what constitutes a good job. Given the substantial economic and non-economic benefits of quality jobs on individual, organisational, and social levels, this research explores how
Australian young adults conceptualise the notion of a good job. Drawing from interviews with 22 Australian young adults who reported high level of satisfaction with their work life over five consecutive years (2018-2022), our findings reveal that their understanding of a good job revolves around the concepts of meaningful work and positive workplace relationships. We also observe a low importance of income and a re-worked narrative of job security in their narratives of good job. These insights shed light on the valued aspects of work among Gen Y Australians and offer implications for refining current youth policy, which predominantly focus on facilitating the transition from education to work, to encompass a broader understanding of young people’s aspirations for work.

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In Conversation:How to manage ARC hype, headaches and hope as an EMCR

Panel Organiser/s
Leah Williams Veazey and Alex Broom, Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, University of Sydney

Panel Abstract:
The Australian Research Council is a central 'if sometimes mysterious' pillar of the Australian academic funding landscape. Drawing on their diverse experiences of applying for ARC schemes, receiving (and not receiving) ARC funds, assessing ARC applications and more, the panellists will try to debunk some common myths about the ARC, demystify the processes involved and share their tips for navigating the systems and avoiding overwhelm. The session will be informal, frank, and interactive, leaving plenty of time for your questions. So, if you've ever wondered -- What is the difference is between a DECRA and a Discovery Project, a Linkage and an Industry Fellowship? What should I apply for and when? What happens to an application once I've pressed the â€˜submitâ€™ button? How do I even begin to navigate this as an ECR? Is there any point if I'm an interdisciplinary researcher? What makes an application stand out to an assessor? -- then this session is for you.

Please note this will be an interactive session, with panellists responding to questions from participants and speaking to their expertise with the ARC, rather than giving formal papers. We plan to elicit questions from registered participants prior to the conference, which the Chair will put to the panel, and we will also take questions from the room.

Example topics:

 Debunking and Demystifying
o Is there any point to applying for ARC funding as an emerging sociologist?
o At what point should I apply, and for what, and with whom?
o How can I best position myself for success, and reduce the cost of participating in a very competitive program?

 Navigating ARC funding as a (very) early researcher
o What does it mean if you’re a CI v a postdoc/RF on a project?
o How can you build the skills, capacity and track record so you’re in a
position to apply?
o Deciding which institution to apply through – what implications does this have?

 Understanding the different types of ARC schemes
o Fellowships v DP v LP v Industry schemes
o How do you know which one is right for you/your research?
o What implications does that choice have for (e.g.) how you present your proposal, what you can apply for etc?
o Re-purposing a ‘failed’ proposal for a different scheme

What is the journey of an ARC application (from application to assessors to…)

What makes an application stand out to an assessor? Thinking through the eyes of a detailed assessor / College member etc

How can you navigate the ARC as an interdisciplinary researcher? (Also, what are FOR codes and why do they matter?)

Taking your first steps as an ARC assessor

How to navigate ARC funding alongside teaching – which schemes will allow you to do what?

Panel Chair: Leah Williams Veazey

Panellists:

Professor Alex Broom, University of Sydney, ARC College of Experts
Professor Kay Cook, Swinburne University of Technology, Associate Dean of Research and ARC Future Fellow (2017)
A/Prof Myra Hamilton, University of Sydney, ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow (2023)
Professor Farida Fozdar, Curtin University, ARC Future Fellow (2011)
Dr Katherine Kenny, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2022)
Dr Michelle Peterie, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2023)
Dr Leah Williams Veazey, University of Sydney, ARC DECRA Fellow (2024)

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Civic Sinoburbia: New Chinese Migrants and Everyday Citizenship in Sydney Suburbs

Panel Organiser/s: Associate Prof Christina Ho

Panel Abstract:
This panel, drawing on an ARC funded project titled 'Civic Sinoburbia', examines experiences of civic engagement within 'sinoburbs', or suburbs with large concentrations of Chinese migrants. Papers explore processes of settlement and participation among new migrants from China, including how social infrastructures enable or hinder these processes.

Panel Chair: Associate Prof Christina Ho

Panellists:

1. ‘Little Neighbours’ in Sinoburbia: Children and the Making of Community
Presented by Professor Megan Watkins, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia

Having children plays a key role in the making of community. As parents – generally mothers – join groups to connect with others who have children: mothers’ groups, childcare, playgroups through to those associated with school, sport and cultural pursuits, they make connections and bonds are formed. Such relations function as a form of social glue that promote what Sennett (2012: 6) terms ‘skilled cooperation’, the learned basis of cooperative and peaceful co-existence. The making of community in this way, and the centrality of children to the process, proved significant in a recent study into the civic engagement and settlement practices of Chinese migrants in suburban Sydney. This paper focuses on Eastwood, one of the case-study ‘Sinoburbs’, ie areas with significant concentrations of Chinese migrants, and the ‘Little Neighbours’ group established by residents of Chinese background in one of the increasing number of apartment complexes. Drawing on interviews and observation, the paper examines how this group, formed with the intention of providing activities for children, developed into a network of association, of intergenerational friendship and community support, and as a conduit for multiple forms of belonging within and beyond the Chinese diaspora.

2. Public library as a migration infrastructure: Homemaking and intercultural interactions of new Chinese migrants at a suburban library
Presented by Dr Alexandra Wong, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia

Australia has experienced a significant influx of China-born migrants in the last three decades. However, concerns have been raised about their integration into Australian society. This paper aims to explore one of the crucial migration infrastructures (Xiang and Linquist, 2014)—the public library, which has played a vital role in facilitating migrants' development of a sense of home and integration. By utilising data from semi-structured interviews with library staff, observation of general library users, and two activities specifically targeted at Chinese migrants at Eastwood Library, a public library located in a 'Chinese ethnoburb' in Sydney, this paper focuses on the two key roles of public libraries in facilitating new migrants' homemaking and integration. First, it acts as a site for social networking, fostering a strong sense of community among Chinese library users. Second, it functions as an intercultural and inter-class space for Chinese migrants to experience 'commonplace diversity' (Wessendorf, 2014). This paper reflects on the pedagogic function of a public library (Noble, 2015) to provide the space and time for Chinese migrants to learn to become Australians. It concludes that local belonging takes time to learn and develop, and integration is a gradual process rather than a fixed state.

3. The Logics of Settling Practices
Presented by Professor Greg Noble, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia

Migrant settlement is often seen as a linear path through key life stages and institutions – getting an education, having a job, buying a house, starting a family – ignoring the complexities and the unevenness of ‘modes of incorporation’. This paper draws on data from the ‘Civic Sinoburbia’ project – exploring the ways Chinese migration is reshaping everyday life in Australia – to show that ‘settling’ involves diverse practices whereby migrants make strategic use of the infrastructural affordances of the host country to enter into different types of social relations in diverse contexts. Engaging with Bourdieusian theory, the paper suggests that the resulting ensemble of settling practices, across a range of social domains, is underlaid by competing but overlapping logics. The paper argues that there are three key practical logics – incorporation, where migrants seek to adapt to local but dominant ways of doing and being; diasporic, where migrants seek to draw on the resources and networks of ethnically defined communities; and conviviality, where migrants engage with the differences which typify the interethnic places they inhabit. The interplay of these logics can produce thick and thin forms of civic belonging.

4. Chinese fan dancing and K-pop covers: The cultural politics of displaying diversity
Presented by Associate Professor Christina Ho, University of Technology, Sydney, Sydney, Australia

It’s the annual ‘multicultural’ community festival. A day of performances each showcasing a 'culture'. Ten minutes each for the Chinese fan dancers, the Hawaiian singers, the Celtic dancers, and so on. On and off the stage, with very little introduction or context. It's a classic example of the 'lazy multiculturalism' (Watkins & Noble 2019) so common in Australia, where cultural diversity is reduced to essentialised displays of traditions and customs that rarely reflect the dynamic and cosmopolitan practices that characterise much of multicultural Australia. Also present at this community festival was a 'K-town stage', where the highlight was a K-pop dance competition, featuring dozens of young competitors, professional judges, and an audience much more enthusiastic than the disengaged passersby at the multicultural stage. This part of the festival was remarkable for its vibrant energy and cosmopolitanism. It was less a display of 'Korean' culture than a showcase of a contemporary globalised pan-Asian youth culture. K-pop has been described as a cultural form that enables Asian diaspora youth to embrace a ‘minority solidarity’ (Choi & Maliangkay 2015) that affirms an ‘Asian’ identity regardless of birthplace or ethnicity. This paper compares the two stages of this community festival to explore the possibilities of reimagining diversity in terms of cosmopolitanism and contemporary pan-ethnic affiliations and solidarities.

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Asian Australian Migration and Mobilities

Panel Organiser/s: Aaron Teo, Asian Australian Alliance QLD Convenor

Panel Chair: Aaron Teo, & Carl Johnson Anacin

Panellists:

1. Impacts of Covid-19 and lack of regulation on migrant gig workers’ livelihood practices.
Presented by Lutfun Nahar Lata

Digital labour platforms are reshaping and reconfiguring the economic and labour landscape of our cities. Digital labour platforms often known as the gig economy are increasingly adopting app-based models to connect consumers with workers to complete their on-demand tasks. Existing research on the gig economy and its regulation are mostly Global North facing whereas little is known about the emergence of the gig economy in the Global South. In particular, there is a gap in the literature about how the gig economy is regulated in the Global South and gig workers’ working conditions. Within this context, drawing on the platform capitalism framework and in-depth interviews with 27 Uber and Pathao drivers - who mostly migrated to Dhaka from rural areas, one ex Uber official and one Focus Group Discussion with members of the Dhaka ride sharing Drivers’ Union, this paper explores how the careless nature of gig economy platforms and hands off governance approaches by the state and its apparatuses have impacted the livelihood practices of gig workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic and post Covid-19 era.

2. The impact of Covid-19 related racism on Asian Australians’ feelings of belonging.
Presented by Glenda Ballantyne

Research has shown that Asian Australians experienced a rise in racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. There has also been growing evidence that these stresses have undermined the sense of ‘belonging’ of some of those targeted, with ramifications for equitable inclusion and social cohesion in diverse societies. This paper uses quantitative and qualitative data from an online survey of 436 Asian Australian collected from the Australian state of Victoria in 2021 to understand the impact of experiences of discrimination and racism on respondents’ sense of belonging within the Australian community. The study’s main findings are, first, that the pandemic has had a significant impact on sense of belonging among this cohort, with almost 50% of participants reporting feeling that experiences of racism contributed to a more negative sense of belonging to the broader community; second, that even those who reported a positive sense of belonging held increased fears and concerns for the future; and third, that negative sentiments were associated with length of time in Australia, with second generation Asian Australians and those who arrived before 2000 holding more positive views than those who arrived in the last two decades.

3. Anti-Asian Australian Racism: Reflections on Tropes and Trajectories of Exclusion From Yellow Peril to Covid-19.
Presented by Indigo Willing, Aaron Teo, & Carl Johnson Anacin

The goal of this paper is to highlight key findings from a project that set out to identify existing research on the emergence of anti-Asian racism and its operation in Australia. We explored existing research, advocacy, and public education and awareness-raising efforts that tackle anti-Asian racist discourse through a systemic and intersectional lens. Our paper summarizes three main stages to better understand anti-racism in Australia. Stage 1 considered key frameworks and definitions, as well as relevant examples of anti-Asian racism. Stage 2 provided recommendations for addressing current efforts in politics, the media and community. Stage 3 then consisted of scoping research on existing experts in the area of Asian Australian studies and Asian Australian organisations and resources. We conclude by arguing that anti-racism needs to be an ongoing process and with strategies also applying an intersectional lens as certain constraints and positionalities matter in how it is understood. We also emphasise how such research is strengthened with the inclusion of individuals and groups with lived experiences of racism. Lastly, we identify how large organisations and formal bodies need to provide more support for grassroots community efforts and services.

4. Dual experiences of discrimination on Chinese migrants: regional discrimination in China and anti-Asian racism in Australia.
Presented by Chunyuan Gao

Employing a human development framework, this study examines the cross-generational discrimination experiences endured by Chinese migrants in Australia and their families in China. Within this framework, an integrated capability and happiness approach is adopted to explore how individual or familial capabilities and happiness are influenced by discrimination and migration experiences

The study reveals that regional discrimination within China and anti-Asian racism in Australia give rise to dual experiences of discrimination among Chinese Migrants. In contrast to double discrimination, typically exceeding the cumulative impact of two single sources of discrimination, dual experiences of discrimination among Chinese Migrants surprisingly mutually suppress each other. In this context, the mutual suppression of dual discriminatory experiences partially mitigates the deprivation of individual capabilities and happiness caused by discrimination.

On one hand, experiences of regional discrimination against Chinese migrants and their families in their home country enhance their resilience towards Anti-Asian Racism in Australia. Chinese migrants with prior regional discrimination experiences in China are less vulnerable to negative impacts on their capabilities and happiness. On the other hand, those who experience anti-Asian racism in Australia are more likely to become active social actors rejecting China's regional discrimination.

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