Undermining Cosmopolitanism - Cyber-racism Narratives in Australia

Abstract

Cyber-racism is a relatively new and yet increasingly pervasive form of racism that adds another dimension to the proliferation of race hate. Multi-cultural countries such as Australia share a concern for the effective development of online strategies to alleviate this problem. Understanding the connections and disjunctions between cyber-racism, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism as an ideal and as an everyday practice provides insight into the underlying issues that contribute to the persistence of cyber-racism. Using a narrative approach, this research investigates an Australian Facebook page that has been reported to the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPi) as racist. Specifically explored is how the narrative on this Facebook page impacts on cosmopolitanism as a worldview that encourages and sustains productive engagement with cultural difference. While Facebook offers the potential for cosmopolitan engagement, the findings of this research show that the worldview perpetuated on this page is one of cultural exclusion, undermining the prospect of cosmopolitanism in Australia.

The digital racist fellowship behind the anti-Aboriginal internet memes

“…The deletion of these pages sent a message to meme-proponents that their space to uphold these derogatory anti-Aboriginal racializations was widely condemned and under threat. Facebook, as a social media platform, is a ‘powerful tool for the spread of narratives based on the rejection of some minority cultures from the dominant culture’ (Connelly, 2016: 160). Digital technologies and the internet can transform understandings of racism and affirm racial inequalities (Nakamura and Chow-White, 2012).…”

Racismo y antirracismo: comprender para transformar

“…que van de las expresiones más sutiles a las más explícitas y agresivas (Mason y Czapski, 2017). Si bien el ciberracismo apareció con la creación de Internet y aumentó exponencialmente desde la aparición de la web 2.0; su creciente proliferación y expansión del fenómeno no puede explicarse ni comprenderse sólo por la existencia de internet (Connelly, 2016).…”

Care, Cosmopolitanism, and Anthropology: Introduction to Special Section

“…A recent Special Issue of SiteS (George, Fitzgerald, and Jaye 2016) showcased Australian and New Zealand anthropological research into a variety of cosmopolitan theoretics. These included cosplay (Langsford 2016), multiculturalism in New Zealand urban settings (George 2016) and a Sydney suburb (Williamson 2016), romantic relationships conducted across national boundaries (McKenzie 2016), cyber-racism in Australia (Connolly 2016), inequity and social injustice (Lewis 2016;Robertson 2016), and biological cosmopolitanism (Herbst 2016).…”