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With English hegemony sustained in 'multicultural' Anglophone universities, non-English speaking research students often develop diverse strategies to improve their English. While such strategies demonstrate a form of resilience, the symbolic power of English remains intact. To grapple with this paradox, we draw on the work of Pierre Bourdieu to probe Chinese international research students' academic language practice in response to English monolingualism in Australian universities. Findings from semi-structured interviews with 18 Chinese international research students in Australian universities indicate that participants' academic language practice is influenced by both the doxic English monolingualism and the evolving exercise of academic multilingualism. Drawing insights from Bourdieu-informed sociology of resilience and post-monolingual theorising, we problematise English monolingualism and provide recommendations for (Chinese) international research students, supervisors, and universities to capitalise on linguistic repertories for the sake of enriching academic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the meanings and practices of multiculturalism among young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in one of Australia's most multicultural cities. It is based on a three-year ethnographic study exploring refugee and migrant youth engaged in sports and arts in the suburbs of Melbourne known as "migrant", "ethnic" and "multicultural" areas. The result of the study indicates that multiculturalism from below can happen differently from the "place making" strategy or "ethnic enclave" idea in which ethnic minorities are viewed as creating their own ethnic colonies in isolation from the mainstream society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary research into community music programmes highlights diverse contexts for collaborative music making. This article contributes a case of the collaboration in music making to a growing literature on creative practice in community music initiatives led by major orchestras. The authors reflect on field research involving an after-school programme that provides free, classical instrumental music instruction to primary school-age students who would not normally have an opportunity due to their socio-economic circumstances. The Pizzicato Effect, run by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in the City of Hume, Australia has operated in the northern suburbs of Melbourne since 2009. Through focus group interviews with students, family members and teaching artists, the researchers examined community experiences of accruing cultural capital in conditions of social inequality and multicultural practice. Using qualitative methods, the case study aimed to position respondents as experts in their own lives, who own their knowledge of their worlds. Collaboration was central to a model of improvisation developed locally by teaching artists and applied on site. Furthermore, improvisation took the programme in different directions to the El Sistema model of youth orchestra training in Venezuela, which had been the original source of inspiration for the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we unpack how ideologies of ethnonationalism and multiculturalism in the Australian and Japanese contexts present tensions in self-identity and national belonging for youth of mixed Japanese and Australian background. With the aim of furthering our understanding of multiculturalism and its place in Australia, we investigate the complex ways in which these individuals are positioned in-between such ostensibly antithetical ideologies in their transnational lives to provide unique insight into a little studied community in Australia. To do so, we draw on interview data conducted with youth aged 18 to 25 who live in Australia or Japan and are the child of one ethnically Japanese and non-Japanese parent. Our findings demonstrate that multiculturalism in Australia encourages a sense of belonging and community by attributing meaning towards the ubiquity of ethnic, racial and cultural differences in urban Australian spaces. However, feelings of inclusivity or belongingness which derive from a sense of multiculturalism are often overshadowed by discourses of ethnonationalism, such as 'whiteness' or 'Japaneseness', which contradict and unsettle their mixed identities as people of Japanese and Australian backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world acted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through lockdowns and border closures that had specific impacts on temporary residents (migrants, asylum seekers and refugees). In Australia, there were differential responses across states and territories, and a critical distinction made at Federal government level between permanent residents and citizens as compared to temporary migrants. The result has been the continued Othering of certain groups of Australians of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as well as migrants and refugees on the basis of racial characteristics and visa status. This paper will consider the period where arguably multicultural policies were 'on hold' by investigating the timeline leading up to major policy decisions and the immediate and longer-term after-effects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arguably the way in which multicultural communities were treated has shown the superficial nature of multicultural policies in Australia and the lack of more solid foundations in support of what now demographically constitutes a majority of the country's population. Drawing on secondary data analysis, the paper will outline the distance these actions have put between political leaders and multicultural communities, and queries the implications for a sustained commitment to multicultural policies in an era of temporary migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-invasion Australia, English has been a key instrument of colonisation. English education was tasked with producing subjects both loyal to the Australian nation and the British Empire with little recognition given to people from other languages and cultures, least of all First Peoples. Despite Australia now being considered a successful multicultural nation, it remains haunted by the 'white possessive' of the Frontier. In this essay we interrogate the tensions between language education policy, curriculum, and practice arising from Australia's incapacity to come to terms with its colonial wounds: an incapacity starkly revealed by the failure of the 2023 'Voice' to parliament referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the Australian experience of Lunar New Year, a festival originating in mainland China that has allowed its participants to navigate the identity politics of the private sphere alongside the national politics of the public sphere. For the Chinese-Australian community, it has been a means to reaffirm ancestral traditions and forge new transnational identities. Local councils have further capitalised on celebrations to unify cities under a broader social image of multicultural harmony during Australia's post-imperial disorientation and subsequent search for a new sense of nationhood. Finally, as Australia continues to navigate a turbulent relationship with China, Australian politicians have adopted the vibrant rhetoric of the festival to ground Australia's regional identity in the Asia Pacific. The festival thus exists as a lively, contemporary focal point used to hone, reconstruct and complicate a range of Australian identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how non-native English-speaking teachers' (NNESTs) professional identities can be affected by their employment experiences in Australia. Hermeneutic phenomenological narrative analyses of the written narratives of lived experiences of a group of NNESTs demonstrate how their professional identities were negatively affected by hiring discrimination, which also had psycho-emotional impacts on their professional selves. Socio-cultural representations of race, language, and other cultural attributes convergingly contributed to their unemployment despite meeting country-specific eligibility criteria to be English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers. The interplay between their professional identities and socio-cultural constructs took shape in modes of power relations enmeshed in the historic processes: economic, political, and cultural, which included discourses of native-speakerism, neo-racism, post-colonialism, neoliberalism, and multiculturalism. Despite these modalities, the NNESTs furthered their hybrid professional actions, recognising the value in the global community of multiple and diverse professional experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides empirical knowledge on the functioning of the French paradox in integration policy at the mezzo level. The research problem is to explain how immigrant organisations take part in bringing out and sustaining the contradictions inherent in the French model of integration. The analysis is based on 48 individual in-depth interviews conducted in the frame of grass-roots research carried out among activists of Polish voluntary associations in France as well as representatives of French public institutions and non-governmental organisations. The individual in-depth interviews concerned the conditions under which Polish associations function, including the characteristics of France as a host country. The main conclusion of the article is that despite their legal and institutional invisibility, migrant minorities - the elephant in the room of integration policy in France - are able to achieve their own specific goals and forge a public presence through associations operating pursuant to Loi 1901. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article follows the story of prohibited immigrant Noory Aziz and the long battle between Department of Immigration officials and Tasmanian Liberal MP Michael Hodgman over his residency status. It examines how Hodgman and the Department presented competing narratives around Aziz with each narrative informed by the shifting racial politics and social contexts of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Drawing on the Department's detailed archival record, it is argued that each contending side in this battle constructed a concept of 'immigrant' that represented, on the one hand, the undeserving migrant of poor character and, on the other, the ideal migrant, exemplary of the 'type' of immigrant that Australia ought to favour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the political representation of Asian minorities in Australia. Utilising the case studies of the 2018 Victorian State Election and the 2019 Federal Election, it analyses how Asian candidates' migratory, ethnic and politico-economic backgrounds shaped their pathways to politics. Based on publicly available data on Asian-heritage politicians and interviews with Asian Australians involving in party politics, the study finds both underlying challenges and emerging opportunities that Asian candidates continue to experience within Australia's liberal nationalist multiculturalism. The study finds that institutional barriers, cultural fitness and Australia's relations with Asian neighbours are key factors that contribute to the changing nature of Asian Australian political representation. Finally, it argues that while Australia's migration programs have invited the skilled youth from Asia, the country's historical White Australia policy and modern suspicion of 'silent invasion' still present challenges for Asian candidates in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education has often acted as a social microcosm that reflects the growing levels of religious and cultural diversity in Australia, with educators facing the daily task of responding pedagogically and interculturally to the challenges this evolving context brings. This paper engages critically with intercultural initiatives and policies and their role in fostering inclusivity and cross-cultural understanding in education practice across Australia. It explores the discourses, policies, and curricula developments that attempt to address growing levels of diversity both within and beyond educational settings. The paper argues that policy statements and educational policies alone are not sufficient to ensure broader uptake of an intercultural pedagogic ethos. Rather, such initiatives need to be augmented by broader institutional leadership, adequate resourcing, and context-sensitive enabling strategies. This argument is corroborated by current evidence indicating that principled approaches to introducing intercultural perspectives in education require certain conditions before they can disrupt long-standing racist attitudes and exclusionary discourse. The implementation of systematic and transformative intercultural approaches in schools can create more inclusive pedagogic practices and respectful intercultural relations that transcend the boundaries of the schoolyard and extend into broader society. Targeted, long-term intercultural understanding trainings can also engender more constructive discourse within and beyond schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how Lao and Filipino consumers' ethnicity and ethnic identity may influence consumer behavior and how individual acculturation may affect ethnic identity and ethnic consumer behavior in a multicultural environment. Multi-culturalism is a global phenomenon that has impacted how firms and consumers interact in Australia and Asian countries. Using self-ascribed samples from two ethnic groups (Lao and Filipino) residing in Australia, an exploratory mixed-method approach was used to examine how an individual's ethnicity and ethnic identity influence individuals' consumer behavior who ascribe to their respective ethnicities. To observe acculturation tendencies and any effects on consumer behavior, each ethnic group was divided into three generational sub-groups. The study revealed varying degrees of individual acculturation between three generations of consumers from the same ethnic background and between consumers from two different ethnic backgrounds. Inter-generational and inter-group differences affected the consumption of ethnic products such as food, clothes, movies, music, and choice of service providers. Implications for doing business in Asia are explored, drawing on the insights and connections that emerge from understanding the Lao and Filipino consumer behavior considering the increased intra-regional movement and multicultural clusters in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is the first-generation Turkish immigrants who went to Australia to work after the bilateral agreement signed between Australia and Turkey in 1968 and their second and third generation relatives. The objective is to reveal the communication processes of different generations of Turkish immigrants living in Australia with Turkey in terms of transnationalism. The research was designed as a holistic single case study in accordance with the qualitative method. Accordingly, triangulation was ensured by using data collection tools such as online observation, semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The field research was carried out in Sydney, Australia between September 2018 and January 2019. During the research, semi-structured interviews were held with 30 participants who were reached by snowball sampling. Of the 30 participants, 14 are from the first generation, 13 are from the second generation and 3 are from the third generation. Findings show that the means of communication and engagement with their homeland, which have evolved significantly since the beginning of Turkish immigration to Australia, directly affected the migrants' lives. Additionally, it has been observed that transnational ties are strengthened by the choice of communication tools that provide instant communication. It was also revealed that the developing technology and historical conditions had different effects on different generations of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ways in which multicultural youth leadership programs reflect a model of participatory citizenship and individual empowerment that risks affirming white institutional worlds. Drawing on data from a national study of migrant and refugee youth in Australia, it suggests that while these activities offer useful forms of civic and vocational training for its participants, leadership programs can burden migrant youth with forms of cultural labor that other young people are not expected to perform. Programs of multicultural youth leadership make young migrants responsible for their communities, while also obscuring these communal attachments and responsibilities via an emphasis on individual achievement. It is argued that such programs form part of a wider discourse of neoliberal nationhood and youth futurity, where ideas about the productive potential of migrant youth are shaped by normative ideas about what the nation should be. These programs could instead be reoriented to emphasize the critical and creative capacities of migrant youth. Strategies of co-production can enable young people to take up a more flexible range of positions through which they share their expertise, and contribute to collective forms of cultural citizenship that can challenge, rather than affirm, the white institutional worlds through which they are governed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs narrative policy analysis to examine how community playgroups are constructed in the ECEC policy framework, in order to understand what might exclude families, and how more families can be included in community playgroups. Playgroups are a widespread and important component of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision in Australia, where parents and carers meet weekly with their babies, toddlers and preschool children. They are sites of social support for parents, together with play‐based learning and socialisation activities for the children. Through the lens of intersectionality theory, four narratives are constructed through analysis of interviews with policy elite informants. The classic narrative draws on the enduring model of community playgroups from the 1970s, and the vulnerability narrative centres the supported playgroup model. The belonging narrative and the intercultural narrative indicate possibilities for future policy approaches to community playgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]