Farida Fozdar

Looking for a “Missing Link”: Formal Employment Services and Social Networks in Refugees' Job Search

Finding employment and developing social networks that can facilitate this task can be major challenges for migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in Australia and comparable countries, and even more so for refugees who represent a potentially more disadvantaged section of the immigrant intake. This paper explores refugees’ perception and use of the Job Network (JN), a group of employment service providers contracted by the Australian government. Using data from a survey of 150 skilled refugee settlers from former Yugoslav, African and Middle Eastern backgrounds in Perth, Western Australia, as well as data collected through interviews with employment service providers and other key informants, we report a mismatch between service providers’ and refugees’ perceptions and expectations of the employment services. Refugees perceived the JN services and especially JN-provided job training as an opportunity to develop social networks rather than to learn specific job search-relevant skills. On the basis of this finding, and within the social capital framework, we apply the concept of “linking social capital” – the capacity of individuals to leverage resources, ideas and information from institutions beyond their immediate communities – to the labour market integration of refugees in Australia. We conclude that despite the failure of the JN to provide the services refugees need, their activities may be useful for developing linking social capital.

“I’d Say it’s Kind of Unique in a Way” The Development of an Intercultural Student Relationship

This article tracks the emergence, maintenance, and evolution of a positive intercultural relationship between a multilingual international student from Vietnam and a monolingual local Australian student in their first year at university. The literature overwhelmingly suggests that in institutions where English is the language of instruction, monolingual local students rarely mix with international students who are not fully proficient in English. This dyad thus provided fertile ground for exploring the development of an unusual intercultural student relationship. Narrative analysis explores the extent to which individual agency and the institutional environment coshaped this relationship over time and in various contexts. In the context of the internationalization of the tertiary education sphere, this study offers a prototypical case highlighting affordances and constraints that may influence the development of productive and amicable intercultural relationships on diverse university campuses.

Australia Day, flags on cars and Australian nationalism

This article reports the results of research into the recent popular phenomenon of flying Australian flags on one’s car for Australia Day. A survey was undertaken in Western Australia in 2011 to ascertain who flies the flag and why. Results indicate the phenomenon was widespread, with a quarter of those surveyed displaying car-flags. A clear relationship between car-flag-flying and exclusionary nationalism is demonstrated. Car-flag-flyers rate more highly on measures of patriotism and nationalism, and feel more negative towards Muslims and asylum seekers, and more positive about the White Australia Policy. They are also significantly more likely to feel their culture and values are in danger, and have a nativist vision of Australian identity. While both groups are positive about Australia’s diversity, car-flag-flyers are more likely to feel that migrants should assimilate. The results support other literature that suggests that in some contexts the Australian flag has come to be associated with exclusionary nationalism.

Social cohesion and skilled Muslim refugees in Australia: Employment, social capital and discrimination

Muslims are often the target of those arguing that diversity threatens social cohesion. However, little research has focused on the settlement and integration of migrant Muslims. This article reports research comparing skilled Muslim refugees’ experiences of integration into the Australian employment market and the wider society with the experiences of skilled non-Muslim refugees. Quantitative data from the study indicates no relationship between religion and social exclusion as evidenced in negative employment outcomes, social networks, satisfaction with life or perceptions of discrimination, although qualitative data shows some skilled Muslim refugees and some employers see religion as a key facet of cultural difference disadvantaging Muslims. The influence of religion on other aspects of settlement, including social engagement, integration and well-being is also surprising, demonstrating that Muslims in the sample generally feel no more excluded than other refugees. The findings challenge the assumptions that skilled Muslim refugees find it more difficult than others to adapt to ‘western’ culture, and that religious difference threatens social cohesion.

Adolescent experiences of 'family meals' in Australia

Popular discourse laments the decline of the ‘family meal’, leading to family fragmentation and nutritional compromise. This article reports findings of a study investigating beliefs and practices surrounding the ‘family meal’, using data drawn from an on-line survey completed by 625 adolescents in Perth, Western Australia. The results challenge current concerns about the loss of the ‘family meal’, demonstrating that, for a majority, meals are eaten together rather than in isolation; are home-made rather than store bought or fast food; and are sites of conversation regardless of the presence of a television. Adolescents are divided, however, on the value of the ‘family meal’, with half seeing it as a positive experience of family togetherness and half regarding it negatively or as unimportant. The findings go some way to dispelling the notion that the ‘family meal’ no longer exists in Australia.

The 'Choirboy' and the 'Mad Monk': Christianity, Islam, Australia's Political Landscape and Prospects for Multiculturalism

This paper considers the effects of explicit professions of Christianity by two of Australias political leaders and their characterisations of Australia as a Christian country. It explores the ways in which this limits the possibilities for imagining a truly multicultural political landscape. It argues this ‘religion on the sleeve’ version of politics, one that breaches several principles of the modern secular nation-state but is popular with a post-9/11 public, reinforces a monocultural version of Australian identity. It aligns with similar phenomena around the world that are part of a retreat from multiculturalism in Western liberal nation-states. Implications for members of minority religions such as Muslims who are the implicit, and occasionally explicit, contrast category, in terms of their sense of national belonging and social inclusion, are discussed.

Students’ perceptions of school climate as determinants of wellbeing, resilience and identity

This study examined the relations between school climate variables and students’ feeling of wellbeing, life satisfaction, ethnic identity, moral identity and resilience. Furthermore, the study also examined the interrelationships between these five outcome variables. Six aspects of the school climate were measured: teacher support, peer connectedness, school connectedness, affirming diversity, rule clarity and reporting and seeking help. The participants included 2202 students, the data from whom included 2122 cases that were complete and usable (1058 boys and 1059 girls) from six public high schools in Perth, Western Australia. These data were analysed by means of structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. All six school climate factors were related to student wellbeing. These relations were primarily indirect (with the exception of teacher support, school connectedness and affirming diversity which had a direct influence), mediated through the students’ sense of ethnic and moral identity, resilience and life satisfaction.

Diablogging about asylum seekers: Building a counter-hegemonic discourse

New technologies provide new forums for the expression and challenging of racism. This article explores the potential of an interactive blog about asylum-seekers to serve as part of the Habermasian ‘public sphere’, facilitating debate between those with opposing views. We offer evidence that pro- and anti-asylum seeker arguments made in blogs construct a binary between those in favour and those against. Arguments are collectively constructed producing relatively coherent discourses, despite being articulated by different individuals. We then explore the ways in which pro-asylum seeker postings utilize strategies which social scientists have identified as effective in challenging racism. As such, the blog is a site where what has come to be called ‘bystander anti-racism’ is being practised, producing a counter-hegemonic discourse. Our evidence suggests that despite arguments to the contrary, blogs are potentially useful sites for the development of communicative consciousness in relation to race issues, particularly the challenging of racism.

Battling Boatloads of Prejudice: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Activism with Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Australia

The arrival of asylum seekers in Australia during the 1980s through to the first decade of the twenty-first century caused much controversy. A number of prejudicial false beliefs have formed around this phenomenon. This chapter discusses and counters four common false beliefs: ‘most asylum seekers arrive by boat’, ‘seeking asylum without authorisation from Australian authorities is illegal under Australian law’, ‘refugees get all sorts of government handouts’ and ‘giving temporary protection visas will stop asylum seekers coming to Australia by boat’. We note these myths are often found in political rhetoric indicating the social nature of individual attitudes. We also examine refugee advocates’ public rhetoric in challenging common false beliefs by arguing that they are ‘just like us’. While this is a useful strategy to challenge dominant discourse, it can backfire in that it implies the impossibility of social harmony based on diversity. We also examine the need for community-based action to engage with and counter prejudice and its bases. We conclude with an argument for the value of an interdisciplinary approach and the need to address both micro and macro issues within the framework of peace psychology in order to effect social change.

Housing and the Creation of Home for Refugees in Western Australia

Abstract Safe, appropriate housing is vital for the successful settlement of refugees, since establishing a home is part of the process of redeveloping a sense of ontological security. However humanitarian entrants in Australia have a far greater likelihood of moving multiple times in the early years of settlement and are far less likely to be purchasing their homes compared to other migrants. Using data from interviews, focus groups and a photovoice exercise, positive home-building experiences of refugees are illustrated, while factors leading to negative outcomes are also identified. The more positive story came from the photovoice exercise with images of the remaking of home as a place of connection with others, of personal pride, of comfort and leisure, of family and commensality. Interview and focus group data focused on structural issues including the cost of housing, limited choice in the rental market, lack of public housing, poor quality, negative attitudes of real estate agents, lack of access to services, and complex tenancy procedures which are key factors influencing insecurity of tenure. The effects on refugees’ sense of ontological security are discsused.