Deimperialising Asia-related history: An Australian case study

Abstract

History curriculum in Australia has moved beyond its traditional British imperial roots and currently takes a world history approach. Postmodern and postcolonial approaches have challenged the dominant Western metanarrative projected on and by curriculum and the inclusion of Asia-related histories has contributed to the diversification of the narratives represented. Nonetheless, as the analysis presented in this paper demonstrates, the traditional points of reference for framing Asia – imperialism, colonialism, cold war structures, and the nation-state – continue to play a significant role in the way Asia is positioned. This paper reports on a study that investigated the representation of Asia in Victorian senior secondary history curriculum documents of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) over the last three decades. Chen’s Asia as method and deimperialisation are employed to critically examine how Asia is imagined by curriculum. The paper examines the potential of deimperialisation as an intervention for disrupting dominant curricular constructions of Asia. It argues that in order to reconceptualise Asia as relational, dynamic, and an active participant in historical processes, history curriculum needs to provide opportunity for reflection on the ongoing effects of imperialism on subjectivity formation and engage with contemporary historiographical developments.

Keywords:

• Deimperialisation
• Asia as method
• history curriculum
• Asian history
• subjectivity
• transnational history

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the reviewers for generously sharing their expertise and providing helpful feedback on this paper. Thanks also go to Professor Christine Halse and Dr Michiko Weinmann for their guidance with this project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the Indigenous peoples in Australia and are composed of more than 250 language groups (AIATSIS, 2020).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Cairns

Rebecca Cairns is based in the School of Education at Deakin University. Her research spans curriculum inquiry, history education and studies of Asia. It examines how constructions of race, culture, nation, history and subjectivity shape curriculum policy. Her forthcoming co-authored book, Rethinking Asia-related Curriculum, will be published by Routledge.