Postcolonial bildungsroman: indigenous subjects and identity-formation

In the bildungsroman as it has conventionally been defined, individuals attain self-actualisation through a series of experiences whereby they accommodate their individuality to a social order.  Protagonists negotiate their transition from childhood to young-adulthood by way of educative experiences, trials of various kinds, and a search for identity, which is generally formulated as a fixed or stable essence which they must discover or accept.  In this paper I focus on two examples of bildungsroman by Indigenous Canadian and Australian authors: Jeannette Armstrong’s Slash (1985),and Richard J. Frankland’s Digger J. Jones (2007).  Both novels feature male protagonists whose stories play out against the background of Indigenous activism in the 1960s.  As they track the identity-formation of their protagonists, the two novels deconstruct simple or fixed ideas of national identity by pointing to the complex cross-cultural relationships which have characterised settler societies.  At the same time,these novels dramatise the power of socialising practices which promote white superiority and position Indigenous peoples as supplicants or victims.  Both novels draw on what Paul Havemann terms the "new politics of identity and cultural recognition" which characterise contemporary Indigenous activism, re-reading events and settings of the 1960s in the light of discourses of cultural recognition and self-determination.

China's Burra Charter: the formation and implementation of the China principles

In 2000, the China Principles were promulgated by the China ICOMOS as professional guidelines for the conservation of historic sites. In writing the China Principles, China ICOMOS worked in collaboration with heritage experts from the USA and Australia and adopted ideas from Western conservation codes, particularly Australia's Burra Charter. While acknowledging the influence of international trends on the heritage profession in China, the paper identifies the Chinese characteristics of the China Principles by comparing them with the Burra Charter, and raises issues about the application of the China Principles to conservation practice.

A cross-cultural study of consumer purchase intention and planned behaviour

This study investigates for two cultures differences in consumers’ purchase intention formation and their association with planned behaviour using the model of reasoned action. It also seeks evidence of exposure to a new dominant culture influencing change in behavioural intentions. Australian and Malaysian students are used as participants in the study. The results indicate that there is an association between intention and planned behaviour for Australian students, while no association exists for the Malaysian students. Additionally, the Malaysian students living in Australia for more than two years do not show a tendency to adopt the Australian students’ intention formation in an ‘individualistic’ culture.

Towards cultural competence : Australian Indigenous content in undergraduate psychology

This paper discusses the development and preliminary analysis of psychology undergraduate courses on cultural competence in relation to Indigenous Australians. The paper summarises the process that led to the formation of draft curriculum guidelines for psychology academics, including the need to critically examine the assumptions and history of Western psychology in relation to Indigenous peoples, the inclusion of non-conventional teaching and learning methods, staff and institutional support, and appropriate staff development. The paper then discusses the responses of students to one of the courses developed from these guidelines. The courses were well received by students and although they do not in themselves teach professional psychological skills in working effectively with Indigenous people, they provide a solid basis for the development of such skills. Because this is a relatively new area, it is likely that there will be much refinement of these courses in coming years.

Migrant youth, cultural identity and media representation

The current social climate of heightened intercultural tensions in culturally pluralist societies such as Australia highlights the need to develop a more nuanced understanding of the complex cultural adjustment processes  encountered by migrant youth in developing and articulating a sense of  national belonging, To this end, this chapter examines migrant settlement experiences as a 'process by which individuals and groups ... maintain their cultural identity while actively participating in the larger societal framework' (Karac 2001). Research into these critical aspects of integration and  acculturation examines identity formation as a cultural process of  renegotiating individual and group identity, and focuses on concepts of belonging, recognition and self-respect (Berry '997). While cultural factors are considered critical indicators of successful integration into the host community, insufficient research has been conducted into the particular processes of group and individual identity formation that take place amongst migrant youth. In the case of Australia, this process has been made  particularly difficult for some cultural groups due to the contemporary resurgence of populist and exclusionary discourses of national identity. In such a context, the construction of identity amongst migrant youth is all the more challenging, especially when this process exhibits notions of dual attachment, hybridity and difference. For migrant youth, the engagement with different social institutions such as family, school and wider societal networks often affects the processes of identity 'formation that are inherently  dynamic and 'necessarily multiple and fluid' (Noble & Tabar 2002, pp.I28). Negotiating life in-between cultures, youths from migrant backgrounds experience identity construction as a highly contested territory.

Cultural identity is a central issue for immigrants, regardless of how much time has elapsed since leaving their country of origin. This issue is particularly salient for first- and second-generation1 migrant youth, who negotiate identity space comfortably alongside, in opposition to, or more commonly, somewhere in between, their immigrant parents' conceptions of culture and the receiving culture in which they live. Unlike their native peers,  the children of immigrants arc exposed to intra-ethnic and inter- ethnic   dynamics and experiences in their journey towards cultural identity formation. These experiences are complex and diverse, and are navigated within multi- layered ethnic, racial, familial, gendered, socioeconomic and educational  contexts.

The chapter begins by providing theoretical frameworks for conceptualising  cultural diversity and cultural identity. It then examines how migrant youth  negotiate cultural identity in the public realms of family networks and school  environments and how these translate into key educational and behavioural  outcomes. It will draw on some qualitative snapshots as a way of illustrating  shifting migrant youth attitudes towards society, school and culture.

Cultural diversity in the Australian classroom and the experience of Arab-Muslim students

Table of Contents : Preface Introduction 1. Building the Australia-India Relationship- Bruce Bennett 2. Plural Cultures, Monolithic Structures- Kapila Vatsyayan 3. The Homogenised Other: Cultural Diversity and Social Inequality- Alan Mayne 4. Deliberative Democracy and Modern Pluralism- Subrata Mukherjee 5. ‘A long and winding road’. From Cultural Homogeneity to a Multicultural Society: An Analysis of Inclusion and Exclusion in Australia- David Roberts 6. Limits of Multiculturalism in a Liberal Polity: Need for a Shared Identity-Sushila Ramaswamy 7. “Australia is a Multicultural Community –you’ll feel at home”:Cultural Diversity and the Promotion of Australia Internationally- Andrew Hassam 8. Accommodation of Cultural Diversity in India: Reflections on Past and Present- Abdulrahim P. Vijapur 9. Gandhian Ideas on Cultural Diversity and Unity in India- Sailaja Gullapalli 10. Multiculturalism: Australian and Indian Approach-Sonu Trivedi 11. Post Colonial Formation, Paradigm Consolidation and Economic Marginalization- S. Ram Vemuri 12. Dalits and Indigenous Australians: Affirmative Actions and Existing Realities- Swaraj Basu 13. Exploring a Critical Tradition in Communications Research: A Cultural Discourse- Amita Singh 14. Education and Empowerment: Dalits and the Demand for Modern Education in Colonial India- Shashi Bhushan Upadhyay 15. Recent Developments in Indian Migration to Australia (with Special Reference to Academics)- Graeme Hugo and Gouranga Lal Dasvarma 16. Cultural Diversity in the Australian Classroom and the Experience of Arab-Muslim Students- Sally Percival Wood 17. Working Australia Efficiency and Equity- Liz Hall 18. North-East India’s Cultural Diversity: Trends of Unrest and Marginalization- Sudhir Jacob George 19. Socio-economic Inequities of Tribal Communities in India- Priti Singh 20. Reinventing Australian Identity-D. Gopal 21. Identity and Rights of the Diaspora in the Post-colonial Era- R. Narayanan 22. Understanding Cultural Diversity: Reflections from the Americas- Satya R. Pattnayak Contributors Index

Spaces of empire : culture, discourse, and urban formation with particular reference to British Hong Kong, 1842-1914

Traces the ideological formations of British colonialism using the techniques of modern European cartography to examine the practices of spatial production in Hong Kong's capital city, Victoria. This examination demonstrates how notions of British cultural identity and self-representation were inscribed throughout the colonial urban environment by considering the ways in which the British colonial authorities sought to condition, control, and maintain the organisation of space.

Reflective positioning : the impact of conversations in the social and cultural environment of midwifery practice settings on professional learning for students

Literature reviews on the topic of reflection and reflective practice encompassed midwifery, nursing, medicine, allied health, education and professional education. This investigation also included socio-psychological theories by leading authors such as Benner (nursing), Schön (professional education) and positioning theory by Harré and others. Positioning is a psycho-sociological ontology in which individuals metaphorically position themselves within three entities: people, institutions, and societies, where conversations are constructed and make an impact upon the social world. The social and cultural structures and interactions developed in Archer’s morphogenesis were examined in terms of the impact of possible encounters and the transformational effects of learning experiences in practice settings. These bodies of work provided the theoretical framework for the author’s research of students’ experiences in midwifery education for postgraduate students from which selected excerpts with three participating students and their supervising midwives are presented. These excerpts are related to reflective practices and the professional conversations conducted between students and midwives. It was found that reflective positioning applied in midwifery education by students can serve as an analytical tool in explaining social and cultural elements of clinical placements to influence and transform their learning. The potency of conversations that occur in everyday moment-to-moment interactions do contribute to students’ induction in professional midwifery practice and their identity formation as a midwife.

Promoting "critical awareness" and critiquing "cultural competence" : towards disrupting received professional knowledges

There is a compelling argument that universities should be committed to advancing the Indigenous agenda. With respect to social work, as well as to nursing, psychology, and allied health, this commitment is often translated into a single goal: that graduates should be ‘‘culturally competent’’. While acknowledging that there can be tactical advantages in pursuing this goal the current paper develops a practical critique of the expectation that cultural competence is an unproblematic ‘‘add on’’ to professional education. Using a single case study as an example*how the subject ‘‘individual development’’ is transmitted as a monocultural and unproblematic formation*we argue that it is impossible to learn to work cross-culturally without developing a capacity for reflective self-scrutiny. Less likely to be a flag of convenience than ‘‘cultural competence’’, an allegiance to ‘‘critical awareness’’ prompts the interrogation of received knowledge, for example how human development and personhood is understood, as well stimulating an engagement in the lifelong process of reflecting on one’s own ideological and cultural location.

Indigenous climate change adaption in the Port Philip Bay region : a longitudinal investigation into the physical and cultural transformation of the bay from an indigenous and landscape architectural perspective

Currently there is a dearth of research into Australian Indigenous knowledge and their understanding of climate change especially in regard to how it fits into their world view. Recent discussions by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research facility (NCCARF) have highlighted this deficiency but also the need to source relevant research projects that may address this knowledge and perspective, and enable the incorporation of Traditional ecological Knowledge into the planning climate change adaptions strategies in the Port Phillip Bay region thereby increasing their engagement in this discussion. Within this context, this paper examines the use and understanding of landscape, both urban and regional, surrounding Port Phillip Bay and the risks and opportunities climate change adaptation brings to the local Indigenous communities. It synthesises focused interviews with the (Wurundjeri (Yarra Valley), Wathaurong Geelong-Bellarine Peninsular) & Boon Wurrung (Mornington Peninsula)) to elicit a contemporary and local response to issues raised by NCCARF but importantly to articulate a possible Indigenous position about the formation, change and direction that Port Phillip Bay and its environs should take from their perspectives. Research draws upon how these communities have adapted to climate change physically, mentally and spiritually over their long habitation of a shared geological asset and their perceptions of climate change in respect to forecasting and adapting to climate change for this century. The project looks to uncover a longitudinal perspective of change and adaptation focused upon Indigenous views of ‘country’ and traditional custodial obligations to ‘country’ including accumulated cultural and environmental histories.

Charting Australia Felix : re-interpreting cultural landscape creation through a land health lens

The landscape of the Western District of Victoria has been extensively transformed in the imagery and aspirations of United Kingdom estates but markedly modified to address the climatic and agricultural prospects of the District landscape. By assembling land, the original squatters had a clean sheet to map, comprehend, and configure an economically viable pastoral estate. ‘Charting Australia Felix’ seeks to ascertain the spatial and geographical logic and rationale that informed this pastoral estate formation. These settlers mastered an economically viable estate that respected climate, soil quality and ensured water security which were the essential ingredients of a quality land holding; their successful grazing and specialisation were dependent upon these attributes. Thus, they successfully comprehended the essences of the landscape in line with contemporary land care and rural land management strategies. Charting Australia Felix involves the use of the historic landscape characterisation method to map, assess and model some 5 exemplar pastoral stations in the Western District to quantify their temporal landscape characteristics, their responses to landscape evolution, and change to test and quantify what the archetypes are that may have informed these patterns. Using Murndal and Glenormiston pastoral stations as the lens of investigation, a preliminary appraisal is offered in this paper.

Intellectual property rights in indigenous cultural heritage : basic concepts and continuing controversies

The developments at international level in the debate on what intellectual property (IP) lawyers refer to as traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) have to be seen in the context of the decolonisation movements after the Second World War. Post-war developments saw the formation of the United Nations (UN) and the emphasis on human rights in the UN Charter. With this emphasis came development programmes for indigenous peoples and the recognition of indigenous rights in the ILO Convention No. 107 of the 1957 Concerning the Protection and Intergration of Indigenous and Other Tribal and Semi-Tribal Populations in the Independant Countries. The decolonisation movements also initiated or renewed a parallel debate about the repatriation of items of cultural heritage. There was a remarkable shift in this discussion from 'cultural heritage of mankind' to cultural particularism and an emphasis on 'cultural property' ....

Adoption and rejection : re-appraising the Soviet influence on townscape formation in Indochina

The Soviet socialist form of urban development was implanted in countries that came under the Soviet Union's influence in the Cold War period, including Vietnam,. Laos and post-Pol Pot Cambodia. These environmental impacts were not only out of tune with traditional cultural patterns when first built, but also now add to the hurdles of urban readjstment facing these countries as they struggle to prepare themselves for reintegratioin into the twenty-first century world.

Cultural influence on peer relationships in early childhood settings

This paper presents a cultural perspective of young children’s peer relationships. Through reporting on a study of a group of Chinese immigrant children’s learning experiences with peers of the same cultural backgrounds in English dominant early childhood contexts, it reveals that the sharing of a similar cultural heritage may play an important role in the development of relationships for young children in diverse cultural learning communities. This paper is written from the perspectives of socioculture and culture theory. Central to my argument is the contextual dimension of culture. This dimension provides an explanatory structure for understanding immigrant children’s formation of home-culture oriented peer togetherness and peer culture within the paradigm of English dominant spheres. My position is to recognize that the children’s responses to peers are both subject to the influences of their home cultures, and the relationship between different cultures. The notion of cultural relationship is important in this paper, leading to the suggestion that early childhood settings should create an enabling and empowering sociocultural milieu that provides immigrant children with opportunities for intercultural ways of learning and development.

International education, the formation of capital and graduate employment : Chinese accounting graduates’ experiences of the Australian labour market

Since the late 1970s, international education has steadily gained in popularity in China.An emerging middle class seeks to strengthen its position in China’s rapidly stratifyingsociety under its socialist market economy with the shift from wealth creation for all towealth concentration for a few. Previously, a foreign qualification was considered apassport to success in either the host or home country’s labour market. But the growingpopularity of overseas study, coupled with the massification of the Chinese highereducation, means Chinese international students are seeking to distinguish themselvesin an increasingly competitive global labour market. This longitudinal study of internationalgraduates, backgrounded by Australian employer perceptions, examines thejourneys of 13 Chinese accounting graduates as they attempt to transition from anAustralian university into the Australian labour market. Bourdieu’s thinking tools offield, capital, disposition and habitus are utilised to consider how different cultural,social and linguistic capitals inform employer understandings of ‘employability’ meantChinese accounting graduates significantly adjusted their life goals.