Disciplining Asian Australian Studies: Projections and Introjections

Locating Asian Australian Studies

“…32 Lo's argument here would appear to mirror Stuart Hall's distinction between transformation and transgression and as such it speaks to a long-standing debate over the best ways of challenging majority discourses, without idealising and/or essentialising 'minorities' as a result of the recognition of its suppressed status. I am placing 'minorities' in inverted commas here, because they would include groups who may not be demographic minorities.…”

“…29 Lo argues as does Ang that the personal is crucial, if one wishes to understand what drives Asian Australian Studies, but contrary to Ang she also stresses the role of 'the Asian Australian scholar as cultural and political agent', 30 which indicates a direct connection to the intellectual's role as an interventionist. Lo creates a fine trajectory which maps out her response as an Asian Australian scholar and individual, and shows how those roles are intimately interwoven, and necessarily projected against a backdrop of racialised and stereotypical forms of representation.…”

“…33 The struggle over the relative importance of the forces of globalisation versus the strength of the nation as the discursively defining entities is a central argument within Asian Australian Studies as it seeks to define its parameters. It would be foolish to suggest that a definitive answer or final positioning will emerge; rather one could hope that the struggle continues to be a defining characteristic of Asian Australian Studies.…”

More than a Game: Embodied Everyday Anti-Racism among Young Filipino-Australian Street Ballers

“…The term 'Asian' is a complex term (Lo 2006). It can encompass a range of groups depending on the application of geographical, cultural, historical and linguistic definitions in different societies.…”

Perceptions of Australian Cultural Identity among Asian Australians

“…In the Australian context, studies of Asian Australian transnational communities show that Asian Australians feel a sense of detachment from the 'national community'. For example, research suggests that Asian Australians tend to identify with a complex and fragmented hybrid identity (Ang, 2001;Ang, Chalmers, Law, & Thomas, 2000;Gilbert, Khoo, & Lo, 2000;Joshi, 2000;Julian, 2004;Lee, 2006;Lo, 2000Lo, , 2006Thomas, 2003;Wise, 2003). 2) The second view suggests that even with increasing cultural diversity, national attachment is not weakening and indeed attachment to the national is still felt strongly among culturally diverse citizens in western democracies.…”