Australia's Ambivalent Re-imagining of Asia

Johnson, Carol; Ahluwalia, Pal; McCarthy, Greg

doi:10.1080/10361140903517718

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…22 Australia has had what can be described as an ambivalent relationship with Asia dating back to the nineteenth century. 23 From 1901 until 1973 Australia operated racist exclusionary practices in relation to migration known as the White Australia Policy. This policy was driven by a desire to maintain 'racial homogeneity' and a fear of 'Asian invasion'.…”

Section: Sleeping Giantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 These 'fears' reappear throughout the twentieth century including during the Second World War and more recently through the successful rise, and anti-immigration platform, of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. 25 Nevertheless Australia's geographical and economic interests have undeniably been shaped through an imagination focused on Asia. China and Japan are Australia's first and second largest trading partners respectively and Japan has shifted from enemy, and subsequent source of resentment following the Second World War, to a strategic regional ally.…”

Section: Sleeping Giantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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'Ono, oh Yes!': An A-League Tensai (Genius) Made in Japan

McDonald

Knijnik

2019

The International Journal of the History of Sport

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In 2005, Football Federation Australia (FFA) launched its latest attempt to create a professional men's soccer football league in Australia, the A-League. The new competition aimed to distance itself from the old National Soccer League, which was based around ethnically affiliated clubs and in doing so appeal to a bigger, more mainstream, market. The formation of the A-League also coincided with Australia's alignment with the Asian Football Confederation for World Cup qualification and related championship play. Ambitious thinkers within FFA envisaged soccer football providing a vehicle to facilitate economic, cultural and political linkages into Asia in what has been termed the 'Asian Century'. However, while teams boosted their rosters with international players, there was a noticeable lack of players from Asia. In this paper we focus on Japanese international Shinji Ono, a marquee signing for the Western Sydney Wanderers (WSW) in 2012, who arguably became the first 'Asian' sporting celebrity in Australia. Hs impact on the A-League is considered both for fans of the WSW and in the marketing of the league more generally. Affectionately known as tensai (genius), Ono embodied characteristics that marked him as uniquely Japanese and captured the imagination of Australian football fans as few other players have.

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Section: Sleeping Giantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sleeping Giantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Ono, oh Yes!': An A-League Tensai (Genius) Made in Japan

McDonald

Knijnik

2019

The International Journal of the History of Sport

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“…The 2007 election saw John Howard defeated by the Mandarin-speaking Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister Rudd came to power with high expectations that he would offer a more nuanced approach to Asia in general, and China in particular (Johnson, Ahluwalia and McCarthy, 2010: 71). However, Rudd was concerned not to be seen by the Australian press or the US administration as a Sinophile (Cotton and Ravenhill, 2013: 12).…”

Section: Historic and Contemporary Anxiety About Asia In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between centrality and anxiety

Jain

McCarthy

2016

Asian Journal of Comparative Politics

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China’s centrality to Australia’s economy, migration, tourism, and student population is obvious today and likely to continue. And yet there appears to be anxiety among some in Australia about China’s ‘rise’, especially its growing military power, seemingly aggressive behaviour in disputed maritime space, global economic influence, and apparent quest for global leadership. This article analyses the two parallel realities (centrality and anxiety) of Australia’s relationship with China.

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“…First, Australia is said to be a culturally Western nation dominated by people with European ethnicity and, therefore, an outsider in Asia often perceived to be socially, economically, and politically separate (Capling, 2008: 603). During the 1980s and 1990s, for example, following attempts by Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating to promote economic interdependence with Asia, political leaders in Malaysia and Singapore argued that Australia should not be accepted into regional organizations because it was not culturally Asian (Johnson et al ., 2010: 66). Second, Australia is sometimes labelled a racist country because of the legacy of the White Australia policy (Bowring, 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…( The Australian columnist Greg Sheridan (2010) following a series of violent assaults on Indian men in Melbourne). A central theme in Australian foreign policy over the past 20 years has been that of ‘Asian engagement’, reflecting increased interactions with the countries of Asia, especially in economic and security issues (Capling, 2008: 601; McDougall and Edney, 2010). Concurrently, various scholars have asked whether the Australian public supports greater integration with the region (Milner, 1997; McAllister and Ravenhill, 1998; Johnson et al ., 2010; Pietsch et al ., 2010). However, although politicians and journalists appear to believe it is significant, how Asian publics view Australia has rarely been the focus of scholarly studies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaged or Not? Perceptions of Australian Influence among Asian Publics

Goldsmith¹,

Linley²

2012

Japanese Journal of Political Science

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Despite Australia's increasing economic ties with Asia, little is known about how it is perceived by the typical citizen in the region. This paper seeks to contribute to the Australian discussion on ‘Asian engagement’, as well as to a general understanding of the structure of foreign policy beliefs, by examining perceptions of Australia's influence among the mass publics of 14 Asian polities. Despite some anxiety in Australia on national op-ed pages and among political leaders over how the country is perceived, we find that the average person in Asia probably does not have a strong or meaningful opinion about Australia's foreign policy. Using survey data covering the years 2006 through 2008 from the AsiaBarometer project, we find that, on average, far more people view Australia's influence on their country favorably (40.5%) than view it unfavorably (6.1%). A similar percentage (41.5%), however, have neutral views of Australia's influence, and 12% of people in Asian nations express no opinion on the topic. We suggest these high frequencies of neutral perceptions and non-response are evidence of considerable indifference towards Australia. Furthermore, we investigate the correlates of perceptions of Australia's influence and find that in almost all cases citizens’ views about US and Chinese influence on their country are much better predictors of their views of Australia's influence than core values, identity, information, and demographic characteristics. We posit that opinions about Australia, even those that are favorable, may have less to do with perceptions of Australia specifically, and more to do with respondents’ general internationalist sentiment or perceptions of major powers.

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Australia's Ambivalent Re-imagining of Asia

Cited by 15 publications

References 11 publications

'Ono, oh Yes!': An A-League Tensai (Genius) Made in Japan

'Ono, oh Yes!': An A-League Tensai (Genius) Made in Japan

Between centrality and anxiety

Engaged or Not? Perceptions of Australian Influence among Asian Publics

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