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Narratives of nationhood : Young Australians’ concepts of nation and their attitudes towards ‘boat people’
Laughland-Booÿ, Jacqueline Skrbiš, Zlatko Tranter, Bruce
Laughland-Booÿ, Jacqueline
Skrbiš, Zlatko
Tranter, Bruce
Abstract
In Australia, questions surrounding national identity often feature in public discussions on asylum seekers. Using qualitative interview data collected from 40 participants in an ongoing study of young people in Queensland, we explore the connections between young people’s understandings of Australian national identity and their attitudes towards ‘boat people’. We identify distinct points of interconnection and disjuncture between participants’ notions of being ‘Australian’ and their thoughts on how Australia should respond to asylum seekers. With respect to the asylum seeker debate, we find narratives of Australian nationhood are flexible in interpretation and can serve contrasting and competing functions.
Keywords
asylum seekers, Australia, ‘boat people’, cosmopolitanism, national identity
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Sociology
Book
Volume
53
Issue
2
Page Range
367-381
Article Number
ACU Department
Research Office
Non-faculty
Non-faculty
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as green open access
License
File Access
Open
Controlled
Controlled