Haydon-Allen Building, Seminar Room HA2175.  Light lunch served.  RSVP by 4pm, Friday 12 November to alden.klovdahl@anu.edu.au

Presented by: Heba Batainah (PhD candidate, Sociology, RSSS)

Popular discourse on Islam and Muslims in Australia has challenged the notion that, rather
than multiculturalism, ‘citizenship’ can and should act as the cohesive force in Australian society. This thesis re-­contextualises some of the salient historical legacies in immigration and ‘ethnic affairs’, such as the White Australia Policy and Multiculturalism, and re-­presents them as cultural productions that silence ‘the political’. The politics of belonging during the Howard government’s 3rd and 4th terms (post-­11 September 2001), in conjunction with analysis on the discourse on Muslims and Islam in Australia (from Hansard during 2000 to 2006 in the House of Representatives), are used to demonstrate conceptions of
who belongs and who does not’. Although outmoded ideologies and practices of exclusion such as the White Australia Policy have been discredited and abandoned, they continue to have enduring effects through the historical legacies manifesting in the political and cultural institutions, social attitudes and immigration policies that contradict the calls for ‘social cohesion’. This seminar provides an overview of the main themes addressed in this thesis.

Heba Batainah is a PhD candidate in the School of Sociology. Her publications include:
Batainah, H. (2008) Issues of Belonging: Exploring Arab-­‐Australian Transnational Identities in Lee, H. (ed). Ties to the Homeland, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing; and
Batainah, H. & Walsh, M. (2008) From Multiculturalism to Citizenship in Aulich, C. & Wettenhall, R. (eds). The Howard Government’s Fourth Term, Sydney: UNSW Press.