Colonial Australia, the 1887 Colonial Conference, and the Struggle for Imperial Unity

Mountford, Benjamin

doi:10.1080/03086534.2019.1677341

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…There was a commitment to standardise policies across all colonies to ensure that there was no "easy port of entry" by entering colonies that had less restrictive laws in place. 79 These actions not only showed the acceptance of British authority 80 over the colonies and the need to maintain this relationship, but also the desire to restrict immigration so that a "European Australia would not be drowned in a tide of Orientals" 81 in an attempt to keep the colonies "exclusively European". 82 The British response to the Chinese mission led to a backlash within the Australian colonies who spoke out in defiance of both Britain and China, calling for further immigration policies to be put in place and for them to be consistent throughout all colonies.…”

Section: Colonial Australia's Ontological (In)securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigration, the “Chinese Question”, and Ontological Insecurity in Colonial Australia

Cherry-Smith

2021

Aus J of Politics History

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Existing ontological security studies literature has viewed ontological insecurity as when an actor experiences fear and anxiety, as situationally subjective, and defined by the actor. Drawing from Ronald Laing's categories of anxiety, implosion, engulfment, and petrification and depersonalisation, I argue that these can be applied to actors within international relations. I demonstrate this by exploring how colonial Australia's immigration policies and identity narratives during the late nineteenth century was a response to changes in regional power and the development of ontological insecurity within the politics of colonial Australia. Focussing on how Australia's colonial governments responded to the destabilising potential of a rising China, Australia's colonial governments sought to exercise immigration control within their borders and alleviate ontological insecurity which had been caused by Chinese immigrants. The way that the Australian colonial governments did this was through the implementation of immigration control mechanisms.The settler-colonial state of Australia 1 has previously had long-running national policies in place with the aim to maintain an identity which was an expression of its colonial history, desired community, and perceived place in the world. In 1901, after the British colonies federated into what is now known as Australia, one of the first significant pieces of legislation enacted was what would be known as the "White Australia policy". This series of legislative and administrative measures had the express aim to limit and outright stop immigration from non-English speaking, and later non-European, states. These policies would last seventy-two years, undergo successive reforms, and finally be repealed in 1973 by the Whitlam Labor government. The repeal was due in part to a changing domestic political landscape, with immigrant rights groups and student activism becoming the voice of repeal. However, internationally, Australia risked a diplomatic backlash from regional neighbours and its close allies if the country was to maintain the White Australia policy. The changing domestic and international landscapes, which motivated the successive reforms and the eventual repeal of the White Australia policy, are what led to the policy's initial formation and implementation during the nineteenth centurywhen colonial Australia consisted of British colonies whose governments were led by British subjects.The policies which made up what was termed the White Australia policy did not officially come into existence until 1901, but the policy intent can be traced back to the 1850s. At this time, the Australian colonies saw a rise in immigration, specifically of Chinese workers, coming to work on the Victorian goldfields. Subsequently, there was an increase in resentment towards immigrants, specifically between Anglo-Celtic and

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Section: Colonial Australia's Ontological (In)securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigration, the “Chinese Question”, and Ontological Insecurity in Colonial Australia

Cherry-Smith

2021

Aus J of Politics History

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Informal Empire: The Origin and Significance of a Key Term

Attard

2022

Mod. Intell. Hist.

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Ever since the publication of “The Imperialism of Free Trade” by John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson in 1953, “informal empire” has been a key term for historians. It has, however, always been contentious. The central issue was whether imperial historians were prepared to accept a new concept of empire. This article explains the paradox of informal empire by creating a stronger provenance for the term. Since the early nineteenth century, imperial metaphors have been used to characterize Britain's position in the world economy. Gallagher and Robinson—like their immediate predecessors, Charles Fay and Keith Hancock—wanted to understand British imperialism in the broader context of European expansion while also formulating an alternative to the radical liberal and neo-Marxist interpretations widely current after World War I. Ultimately, the difficulty of using “empire” as a single category led Gallagher and one of his most influential successors to choose an alternative term.

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The making of Canberra as captured on film (1900–1945)

Pikó

Lewi

2021

Planning Perspectives

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Colonial Australia, the 1887 Colonial Conference, and the Struggle for Imperial Unity

Cited by 3 publications

References 26 publications

Immigration, the “Chinese Question”, and Ontological Insecurity in Colonial Australia

Immigration, the “Chinese Question”, and Ontological Insecurity in Colonial Australia

Informal Empire: The Origin and Significance of a Key Term

The making of Canberra as captured on film (1900–1945)

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