Out of Place, in a Hostile Space: ‘Australian Values’ and the Politics of Belonging

ABSTRACT

The trauma associated with resettling in a new country is considerable for young people who have experienced (forced) migration. The loss of place and loss of connection with family and friends is significant. Resettlement in unfamiliar, suburban and rural places can accentuate this sense of loss. In Australia, the difficulty of this challenge is amplified by nationalistic discourses of Australian identity and citizenship, which construct and preserve a particularly British notion of ‘Australian-ness’. This article explores the relationship between place and displacement and problematises the development and use of nationalistic identities as a spatial management method for creating social division and exacerbating the impacts of displacement, particularly for young people resettling in a new environment following (forced) migration. Building on this we suggest that theorisations of space, place and belonging offer new opportunities for social work education to enhance students’ understanding of displacement and social work practice, particularly in relation to young peoples’ experiences of (forced) migration.

KEYWORDS:

• Displacement
• national identity
• place
• politics of belonging
• place belonging
• ethics of place
• racism
• resettlement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Patrick O’Keeffe is a Lecturer at RMIT University, working in the Social Work and Human Services cluster. Patrick’s research and teaching interests centre on the relationship young people have with place. In particular, understanding how place can be produced by young people, and how constructions of place can also exclude young people.

Sharlene Nipperess is a Senior Lecturer in social work at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on human rights, social work ethics, critical multicultural practice, environmental justice and policy and practice with refugees and asylum seekers and homelessness. Sharlene is Book Editor and member of the Australasia-Pacific Board of the international journal Ethics and Social Welfare and co-editor of Critical multicultural practice in social work: New perspectives and practices (Routledge 2018) and Doing critical social work: Transformative practices for social justice (Routledge 2016).