Session 6(a): Role of Education, Media and Studies

Session 6(a): Role of Education, Media and Studies
Chair: Kuah-Pearce Khun Eng

A Commercially Constructed Identity? : The Antipodean Image in London
Robert Crawford
Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King’s College London and Honorary Research Associate, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, Australia

This paper examines the construction and representation of the ‘Antipodean’ image in London during the 1990s and the 2000s. Prior to this period, the term had been limited to Australians and New Zealanders living in the UK. However, over the course of the 1990s the definition of an ‘Antipodean’ was extended to include the growing number of South Africans moving to London. While this expanded application has generally been accepted by members of all three nationalities living in the British capital, this paper will contend that the contemporary use of Antipodean owes more to commercial interests than to any real collective sense of identity amongst the Australian, New Zealand, and South African diasporas in London. It begins with a brief historical comparison of the migratory patterns of South Africans and Australians to London, examining their respective numbers as well as their distribution across the city. Having identified the similarities and differences, it then goes on to analyse the ways in which diaspora press outlets (such as TNT Magazine, the South African and the Australian Times) and websites (such as antipodean.co.uk, sanza.co.uk, and inlondon.com) have sought to construct and represent an identity for their respective target market(s). By comparing and contrasting the experiences of South African and Australian disaporas resident in London over the past twenty years, the paper explores the distinct identities cultivated for and, indeed, by these diasporas as well as the degree to which they might actually share a common sense of being Antipodean.

Download Conference Paper –

Diasporas, Difference and Dialogue: The Case of Africans and Europeans in London
Ursula Troche
University of East London, London, United Kingdom

In this paper, I am concerned with African-European (intercultural) dialogue, and how our understanding of diaspora is confusing and obstructing this dialogue. Further, in this dialogue, we are dealing with a double-issue, which is, in part, inseparable: on the one hand there is what Gordon calls the ‘black-white duality’, and, on the other hand, the diversity of diasporas that can be involved in this encounter.
The ‘Diaspora Enquiry’ has come out of the field of race relations, and ‘race’ and diaspora are mostly being dealt with in tandem. In the British context, for example, Africans / black people are assumed to have come from ‘outside’ and whites assumed to be English. I, the researcher, am breaking this assumption by being a white person but a foreigner. My presence brings up questions around where I belong, a question that has usually been an issue for black people.
Fryer shows that black people came to Britain before the English, therefore questioning who belongs to Britain and who is of the diaspora and, consequently, what belongs to whom – and further, who is who?  These questions influence African-European dialogue, as I shall show below.

Download Draft Conference Paper –

Integration through Education: Muslims of North America and Europe
Kent F Schull &Jeffrey M. Byford
University of Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Arguably one of the greatest challenges facing the Western world today is the integration of Muslim communities into mainstream society.  With continuing attacks by Muslim extremists and social unrest by disgruntled Muslim immigrant populations, there is a desperate need to understand and integrate better this demographic.  Our presentation explores the challenges faced by states today dealing with large Muslim immigrant populations and the benefits of using education as a means to integrate these communities into mainstream society.  We argue that education is the most effective path to integration.  Therefore, we propose to use an education curriculum targeting high school students adapted from the Social Studies Curriculum Movement of the 1960s U.S.  This movement originated out of the social turmoil and upheaval of the Civil Rights Era.  It significantly aided the better integration of African-Americans into mainstream society by extending education benefits to this community and by educating mainstream America regarding the experiences of African-Americans and their histories.  This dual focus is crucial to effective integration.  This curriculum, however, has not been updated for the demographic challenges of today, namely Muslim immigrants.  Our educational curriculum focuses on educating mainstream America regarding the history, culture, and development of the Islamic world.  At the same time we must study these Muslim communities themselves in order to ascertain their unique experiences as immigrants.  Both of these parts are incorporated into the curriculum in order to educate simultaneously mainstream society and the Muslim immigrant population.  Both groups then benefit from an increased mutual understanding.  In turn, this facilitates the integration of immigrant populations while respecting their traditions and culture.  This program acts as a model for Muslim integration in both North America and Europe.