Repetitive and troubling discourses of nationalism in the local politics of mosque development in Sydney, Australia

Environment and Planning D: Society and Space

Volumn 23, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 29-50

  Dunn, Kevin M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MULTICULTURALISM; NATIONAL IDENTITY; NATIONALISM; RELIGION; URBAN POLITICS;

AUSTRALASIA; AUSTRALIA; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; NEW SOUTH WALES; SYDNEY; WORLD;

EID: 14044249382     PISSN: 02637758     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1068/d388     Document Type: Article

References (103)

1. Kobayashi A, and Peake L, (2000, page 398) commended discursive analyses that are able to focus on national issues' through the lens of everyday or local events and stories. These land-use disputes are also 'local' according to Lyotard's (1984, page 66) poststructuralist definition: the opinions expressed are less guarded, the fears and biases are palpable, the case at hand is ephemeral, and the material impacts are immanent.
2. Although there is often discussion of a White Australia Policy there never was any discrete policy statement per se. However, in the debates leading up to federation an exclusionary White nationalism was very strong. The first Act of the Australian Government, following federation of the colonies (which then became states), was to pass the Immigration Restriction Act (Commonwealth of Australia, 1901) and this provided the legislative basis for exclusion of non-Whites and for deportations. However, a host of other mechanisms were also important to the White Australia Policy.
3. Even though the right-wing critique of multiculturalism implies (if not asserts) an Anglo-Celtic cultural privilege, it is not a preserve of Anglo-Celtic Australians. Australians of most European backgrounds, and especially those born in Australia, are favored by Anglo-Celtic traditions of law and language which confer a lesser citizenship upon those with lesser English language skills, an 'accent', indigenous Australians, and others who do not look 'Caucasion'. And it should not be assumed that all Anglo-Celts align in a straightforward political binary in opposition to non-Anglo-Celts. Being White, European, and even Anglo-Celt and Christian does not automatically assure a position at the apex of cultural privilege in Australia. British migrants have a constrained ability to claim spatial management status, as their accent and birthplace undermine their ability to speak on the cultural direction of the nation and locality. My own experience as an Anglo-Celtic Australian (born in England) provided an insight into both of the above points. I am one of Hage's (1998) 'cosmo-multiculturalists', and yet I have experienced the 'race talk' that reminds migrants of their guest or tolerated status.
4. note Available from Liverpool City Council, Locked Bag 7064, Liverpool BC, NWS 1481, Australia.
5. Available from Cambelltown City Council, PO Box 57, Cambelltown, NSW 2560. Australia.
6. Available from Auburn City Council, PO Box 118, Auburn, NSW 1835, Australia.
7. Available from Warringah City Council, Civic Centre, 725 Pittwater Road, Dee Why, NSW 2099, Australia.
8. Available from Hurstville Municipal Council, PO Box 205, Hurstville, BC, NSW 1481, Australia.
9. Available from Fairfield City Council, PO Box 21, Fairfield, NSW 2165, Australia.
10. ABS, 2002 Census of Population and Housing, CDATA2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics CD Package, ABS House, 45 Benjamin Way, Belconnen, ACT 2617
11. ACTU, 1994 Combatting Racism - Can We Still Be Confident? An Overview of Racism and Discrimination Developments During 1993 Australian Council of Trade Unions, Labour Information Network, Level 2, Swanson Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
12. Amin A, 2002, "Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity" Environment and Planning A 34 959-980
13. Amin A, Thrift N, 2002, "Cities and ethnicities" Ethnicities 2 291-300
14. Anderson B, 1983 Imagined Communities (Verso, London)
15. Barton E, 1901 Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates (Commonwealth of Australia, Hansard, Canberra) 7 August
16. Bell V, 1999, "Mimesis as cultural survival: Judith Butler and anti-Semitism" Theory, Culture and Society 16(2) 133-161
17. Bhabha H, 1992, "Postcolonial authority and postmodern guilt", in Cultural Studies Eds L Grossberg, G Nelson, P Treichler (Routledge, New York) pp 56-68
18. Bhabha H, 1994 The Location of Culture (Routledge, London)
19. Blainey G, 1984 All for Australia (Methuen Haynes, Sydney)
20. Blainey G, 1988, "Australia must break down the walls of the ghettos" The Weekend Australian 12-13 March, page 18
21. Bonnett A, 1996, "Constructions of 'race', place and discipline: geographies of 'racial' identity and racism" Ethnic and Racial Studies 19 864-883
22. Burgess E W, 1925, "The growth of the city: an introduction to a research project", in The City Eds R E Park, E W Burgess, R D McKenzie (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL) pp 47-62
23. Butler J, 1990 Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge, New York)
24. Butler J, 1993 Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of 'Sex' (Routledge, New York)
25. Camden Council, 1990, "Town planners report", August; available from Camden Council, PO Box 183, Camden, NSW 2570
26. Castles S, 1992, "Immigration and multiculturalism: perspectives for the 1990s" Migration Action 14(3)40-43
27. Collins J, 1988 Migrant Hands in a Distant Land: Australia's Post-war Immigration (Pluto Press, London)
28. Commonwealth of Australia, 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, 1901 (Commonwealth of Australia, Hansard, Canberra)
29. Commonwealth of Australia, 1999 A New Agenda for Multicultural Australia (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
30. Das V, 1989, "Subaltern as perspective", in Subaltern Studies, Volume 6 Ed. R Guha (Oxford University Press, New Delhi) pp 310-324
31. de Lepervanche M, 1984, "Immigrants and ethnic groups", in Australian Society Eds S Encel, L Bryson (Longman Cheshire, Melbourne) pp 170-228
32. Department of Communications and the Arts, 1994 Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy (Garry Hughes and Associates, Canberra)
33. Dunn K M, 1999 Mosques and Islamic Centres in Sydney: Representations of Islam and Multiculturalism PhD thesis, Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
34. Dunn K M, 2001, "Representations of Islam in the politics of mosque development in Sydney" Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie 92 291-308
35. Dunn K M, 2003, "Using cultural geography to engage contested constructions of ethnicity and citizenship in Sydney" Social and Cultural Geography 4(2) 153-165
36. Dunn K M, 2004, "Islam in Australia: contesting the discourse of absence" The Australian Geographer 35 333-353
37. Dunn K M, Hanna B, Thompson S, 2001, "The local politics of difference: an examination of intercommunal relations policy in Australian local government" Environment and Planning A 33 1577-1595
38. Dunn, K M, Forrest J, Burnley I, McDonald A, 2004, "Xenophobia (racism) in Australia: please explain!" Australian Journal of Social Issues 39 409-430
39. Fairfield City Council, 1997, "Report of development planner", Environment Committee, Agenda, 9 September, item 181, available from Fairfield City Council, PO Box 21, Fairfield, NSW 2165
40. Feirabend J, Rath J, 1996, "Making a place for Islam in politics: local authorities dealing with Islamic associations", in Muslims in the Margin: Political Responses to the Presence of Islam in Western Europe Eds W A R Shalid, P S van Koningsveld (Kok Pharos, Kampen) pp 243-258
41. Flood J, 1995 Archaeology of the Dreamtime: The Story of Prehistoric Australia and its People (Angus and Robertson, Sydney)
42. Fortier A, 1999, "Re-membering places and the performance of belonging(s)" Theory, Culture and Society 16(2) 41-64
43. Gale R, Naylor S, 2002, "Religion, planning and the city: the spatial politics of ethnic minority expression in British cities and towns" Ethnicities 2 387-409
44. Goodall H, Jakubowicz A, Martin J, Mitchell T, Randall L, Seneviratne K, 1994 Racism, Ethnicity and the Media (Allen and Unwin, Sydney)
45. Grassby A, 1973 A Multi-eultural Society for the Future Department of Immigration (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
46. Gunew S, 1990, "Denaturalizing cultural nationalisms: multicultural readings of 'Australia'", in Nation and Narration Ed. H K Bhabha (Routledge, London) pp 99-120
47. Gunew S, 1993, "Against multiculturalism: rhetorical images", in Multiculturalism, Difference and Postmodernism Eds G L Clark, D Forbes, R Francis (Longman Cheshire, Melbourne) pp 38-53
48. Hage G, 1998 White Nation (Pluto Press, Annandale)
49. Hall S, 2000, "Conclusion: the multi-cultural question", in Un/ settled Multiculturalisms Ed. B Hesse (Zed Books, London) pp 209-241
50. Hamilton A, 1990, "Fear and desire: Aborigines, Asians and the national imaginary" Australian Cultural History 9 14-35
51. Hanson P, 1996 Appropriation Bill (No.1) 1996-97 Second Reading, Member for Oxley, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 10 September, pages 3860-3863
52. Hesse B, 2000, "Introduction: un/settled multiculturalisms", in Un/ settled Multiculturalisms Ed. B Hesse (Zed Books, London) pp 1-30
53. Hirst J, 1994, "National pride and multiculturalism" People and Place 2(3) 1-6
54. Howard J, 1995 The Australia I Believe in: The Values, Directions and Policy Priorities of a Coalition Government. Fourth Headland Speech 13 December, Liberal Party of Australia, PO Box 6004, Kingston, ACT 2604
55. Howard J, 1996 Address to the Queensland Division of the Liberal Party State Council transcript, 22 September, Office of the Prime Minister, Liberal Party of Australia, PO Box 6004, Kingston, ACT 2604
56. HREOC, 2004 Isma? Listen: National Consultations on Eliminating Prejudice Against Arab and Muslim Australians Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
57. Isin E F, Siemiatycki M, 2002, "Making space for mosques: struggles for urban citizenship in diasporic Toronto", in Race, Space, and the Law: Unmapping a White Settler Society Ed. S H Razack (Between the Lines, Toronto) pp 185-209
58. Jakubowicz A, 1981, "The myth of the menace of multi-culturalism: a reply to Lauchlan Chipman" Quadrant 25(2) 85-87
59. Jayasuriya L, 1990, "Rethinking Australian multiculturalism: towards a new paradigm" The Australian Quarterly 62(1 ) 50-63
60. Jayasuriya L, 2002, "Understanding Australian racism" Australian Universities Review 45(1) 40-44
61. Knopfelmacher F, 1984, "Save Australia's British culture" The Age 31 May
62. Kobayashi A, Peake L, 2000, "Racism out of place: thoughts on whiteness and an antiracist geography in the new millennium" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 90 392-403
63. Kong L, 2001, "Religion and technology: refiguring place, space, identity and community" Area 33 404-413
64. Lewins F, 1987, "'The Blainey debate' in hindsight" Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology 23 261-273
65. Ley D, 1999, "Comparative urban research", conference paper presented at Immigration, Integration and Social Cohesion: Sydney and Vancouver in Comparative Perspective, 15-17 June, University of New South Wales, Sydney
66. Lygo I, 2004 News Overboard: The Tabloid Media, Race Politics and Islam Southerly (Change Media, Sydney)
67. Lyotard J, 1984 The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN)
68. McLaren P, 1993, "Multiculturalism and the postmodern critique: towards a pedagogy of resistance and transformation" Cultural Studies 7(1) 118-146
69. McLeay C, 1997, "Inventing Australia: a critique of recent cultural policy rhetoric" Australian Geographical Studies 35(1 ) 40-46
70. Mahtani M, 2002, "Tricking the border guards: performing race" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 20 425-440
71. Marr D, Wilkinson M, 2003 Dark Victory (Allen and Unwin, Sydney)
72. Miles R, 1989 Racism (Routledge, London)
73. Mitchell K, 1993, "Multiculturalism, or the united colours of capitalism?" Antipode 25 263-294
74. Mohammad R, 1999, "Marginalisation, Islamism and the production of the 'Other's' 'Other' " Gender, Place and Culture 6 221-240
75. Morrissey M, Mitchell C, 1993 Community Relations Strategy: An Evaluation Office of Multicultural Affairs (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
76. Naylor, S, Ryan J R, 2002, "The mosque in the suburbs: negotiating religion and ethnicity in South London" Social and Cultural Geography 3(1) 39-59
77. NMAC, 1995 Multicultural Australia The Next Steps Towards and Beyond 2000 volume 2, National Multicultural Advisory Council (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
78. NMAC, 1999 Australian Multiculturalism for a New Century: Towards Inclusiveness National Multicultural Advisory Council (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
79. OMA, 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia ... Sharing Our Future Office of Multicultural Affairs (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
80. OMA, 1995 Our Nation: Multicultural Australia and the 21st Century Office of Multicultural Affairs (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
81. Park R E, 1950 Race and Culture: The Collected Papers of Robert Ezra Park volume 1, Ed. E C Hughes (The Free Press, New York)
82. Perera S, Pugliese J, 1994, "The limits of multicultural representation" Communal/Plural 4 91-113
83. RCIADIC, 1991 National Report Volume 2: The Underlying Issues Which Explain the Disproportionate Number of Aboriginal People in Custody Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
84. Review of Migrant Services and Programs, 1978 Report of the Review of Migrant Services and Programs (Galbally Report) (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra)
85. Roach N, 1999 Launch of the National Multicultural Advisory Council report, 5 May, Parliament House, Canberra
86. Roy B, 1999 Bitters in the Honey: Tales of Hope and Disappointment Across Divides of Race and Time (University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, AR)
87. Said E W, 1978 Orientalism (Vintage Books, New York)
88. Sawer M, 1990 Public Perceptions of Multiculturalism Centre for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra
89. Sedgwick E K, 1993 Tendencies (Duke University Press, Durham, NC)
90. The Macarthur Advertiser 1990, Letter to the editor, 22 August, page 4
91. The Macarthur Advertiser 1991, Letter to the editor, 26 June, page 10
92. The Review Pictorial 1986a, Letter to the editor, 20 August, page 5
93. The Review Pictorial 1986b, Letter to the editor, 3 September page 6
94. The Review Pictorial 1986c, Letter to the editor, 8 October, page 4
95. The Review Pictorial 1986d, Letter to the editor, 22 January, page 45
96. The Review Pictorial 1986e, Letter to the editor, 17 September, page 5
97. The Torch 1984a, Letter to the editor, 1 February, page 9
98. The Torch 1984b, Letter to the editor from a 'British migrant', 8 February, page 9
99. The Torch 1984c, Letter to the editor, 11 January, page 9
100. The Torch 1984d, Letter to the editor, 15 February, page 10
101. Thrift N, Dewsbury J-D, 2000, "Dead geographies-and how to make them live" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 18 411-432
102. Vasta E, 1996, "Dialectics of domination: racism and multiculturalism", in The Teeth are Smiling: The Persistence of Racism in Multicultural Australia Eds E Vasta, S Castles (Allen and Unwin, Sydney) pp 46-72
103. Wallace M, 1994, "The search for the good-enough mammy: multiculturalism, popular culture, and psychoanalysis", in Multiculturalism Ed. D Goldberg (Blackwell, Oxford) pp 259-268