The Indochinese in Australia, 1975-1995

Australian government officials generally burnt the boats the Indochinese boat people sailed to Australia. This burning not only symbolised no return to their homelands for most of these Indochinese, but also the beginning of a new journey of settlement in Australia. This book seeks to understand the experiences of the Indochines in Australia over twenty years. The book looks at five major issues that are important to Indochinese and to other Australians. These are the politics of...
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Australian government officials generally burnt the boats the Indochinese boat people sailed to Australia. This burning not only symbolised no return to their homelands for most of these Indochinese, but also the beginning of a new journey of settlement in Australia. This book seeks to understand the experiences of the Indochines in Australia over twenty years. The book looks at five major issues that are important to Indochinese and to other Australians. These are the politics of entry and settlement, residential concentration, employment and umemployment, Indochinese living inside and outside their communities, and social relations between Indochinese and Australians. An eclectic approach is taken: several disciplines and conceptual frames are drawn upon to explore these issues. The approach is driven by the question: is Australian society still sufficiently open in its structures and social attitudes to allow Indochines to get ahead in the ways that earlier migrants have? One theme of the book is the disproportionate amount of attention given in public and policy debates to what is after all a small group of people from Indochina. Another theme is the failure of specific government policies on entry and settlement. A broader theme of the book is the confusion and division engendered by the policy and ideology of multiculturalism. It is argued that Australia has lost its way on the issue and that it is long past time for rethinking our national priorities on managing a multi-ethnic and multi-racial society.This lively and authoritative book will appeal to those interested in the Indochinese and in multiculturalism, immigration, Australian society, Social Work, Social Administration, Sociology and Political Science.