Asian invisibility/Asian threat

Australians talking about Asia

Bibliographic Data

ID2399311
AuthorsFarida Fozdar (0000-0003-3463-7299, The University of Western Australia, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume52
Issue4
Pages789-805
Publication date2016-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1440-7833 • E-ISSN: 1741-2978
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1440783315593182
OpenAlexW2120436969
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited23

Members of a marginal Australian political party recently sparked controversy by claiming China wants to 'take over' Australia. While apparently the opinion of a minority fringe, little is known about how Australians actually feel about Asia. This article explores the ways in which Asia is constructed in the Australian imagination, arguing it is both 'invisible', yet also a source of deep anxiety. Data from 26 focus groups conducted across Australia offer evidence of this invisibility, with Australians preferring to discuss domestic issues over international ones. But Asia is simultaneously a source of anxiety, in that when Australians do talk about Asia, it is in relation to a perceived threat from Asia's economic power, its large population, its polluting practices, its military might, and its pursuit of mineral and agricultural resources. Such concerns mask fears of a cultural threat. Discursive analysis reveals how the threat from Asia is articulated, and implications for national and post-national identities

China · Development economics · Invisibility · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Power (physics) · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global Education and Multiculturalism · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Law · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development

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