Abstract
This paper examines the historical emergence of the debates on multiculturanism in Australia by seeing them as part of the evolution of what it defines as Australia’s colonial white paranoia. It examines the way white paranoia has shaped Australian society until its marginalisation in the early seventies. The paper argues that Australia’s multicultural debates are grounded in the economic, social and historical circumstances which made dominant sections of the political class and the media willing from the mid-eighties onward to exploit white colonial paranoia and bring it to the fore as a potent politcal force once again.
Résumé
Cet article porte sur l’apparition historique du débat sur le multiculturalisme en Australie dans le contexte de l’évolution de ce que nous appelons la paranoïa des coloniaux blancs dans ce pays. Nous étudions l’influence formative de cette paranoïa sur la société australienne jusqu’à sa marginalisation au début des années 70. Nous maintenons que le débat australien sur le multiculturalisme repose sur les circonstances économiques, socialest et historiques qui ont favorisé l’exploitation et l’actualisation comme force politique importante, par des secteurs dominants de la classe politique et des médias, de la paranoïa des coloniaux blancs.
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Hage, G. Multiculturalism and white paranoia in Australia. Int. Migration & Integration 3, 417–437 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-002-1023-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-002-1023-6