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Australian-Asian Sociability, Student Activism, and the University Challenge to White Australia in the 1950s

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 14:32 authored by Katherine Darian-SmithKatherine Darian-Smith, Waghorne, J
During the 1950s, staff, students and graduates of Australian universities were increasingly critical of the racial restrictions on immigration, and their activism contributed to a broader government and community reassessment of the White Australia Policy. Personal experiences of cross-cultural interactions between Australian students and an increasing number of international students from Asia, including those sponsored by the Australian government's Colombo Plan, underpinned the university challenge to immigration policy. Tertiary curriculum offering new academic interpretations of Asian history and decolonisation also contributed to a growing awareness among university-educated Australians of Asia, and fostered empathy for its peoples. The publications of the Immigration Reform Group extended this critique of White Australia, and were driven by a moral indignation towards a policy that affected individuals personally known to the critics.

History

Publication title

Australian Journal of Politics and History

Volume

62

Pagination

203-218

ISSN

0004-9522

Department/School

College Office - College of Arts, Law and Education

Publisher

Blackwell Publ Ltd

Place of publication

108 Cowley Rd, Oxford, England, Oxon, Ox4 1Jf

Rights statement

© 2016 The Authors

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Conserving collections and movable cultural heritage

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