Social Exclusivism Versus Cosmopolitan Acceptance

Competing Constructions of 'Australian Values' in Discourse Surrounding People Seeking Asylum

Bibliographic Data

ID3637068
AuthorsAshleigh Haw (0000-0001-5080-1699, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume42
Issue4
Pages460-477
Publication date2021-07-04
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-6868 • E-ISSN: 1469-9540
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07256868.2021.1939279
OpenAlexW3181066478
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited45

Australia is highly polarised about its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, with the available literature indicating that public, political, and media discourse routinely constructs them as culturally incompatible with the broader society. These discourses present refugees and asylum seekers as undesirable ‘others’ and in turn, their deservingness of protection becomes contingent upon arbitrary notions of who gets to belong (and why). Rhetoric about what it means to be Australian pervade these discussions, however little is known about the various linguistic functions these ideas serve. This paper presents the findings arising from Critical Discourse Analysis of interviews with 24 Western Australians. Findings revealed that notions of ‘Australian values’ were regularly called upon to further arguments that both deny and advocate for the nation's acceptance of people seeking asylum. While some constructed ‘Australian values’ as incompatible with asylum seekers’ cultural practices and beliefs, others asserted that open, compassionate, and charitable treatment of people seeking asylum is a key facet of ‘being Australian’. Examined with consideration of the literature on Social Exclusivism and Cosmopolitan Acceptance, I discuss the discursive features of these contrasting ideas, emphasising key implications for both societal and scholarly understandings of Australia’s ongoing asylum debate

Asylum seeker · Cosmopolitanism · Critical discourse analysis · Discourse analysis · Discursive psychology · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Rhetoric · Sociology · Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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