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Chargement... Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australiapar John Fitzgerald
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Short listed for the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History. Much has been written about the White Australia Policy, but very little has been written about it from a Chinese perspective. Big White Lie shifts our understanding of the White Australia Policy--and indeed White Australia--by exploring what Chinese Australians were saying and doing at a time when they were officially excluded. Big White Lie pays close attention to Chinese migration patterns, debates, social organizations, and their business and religious lives and shows that they had every right to be counted as Australians, even in White Australia. The book's focus on Chinese Australians provides a refreshing new perspective on the important role the Chinese have played in Australia's past at a time when China's likely role in Australia's future is more compelling than ever. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)325.94Social sciences Political Science International migration and colonization Oceania and Polar regions AustraliaClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne: Pas d'évaluation.Est-ce vous ?Devenez un(e) auteur LibraryThing. |
When I discovered from the Australian Women Writers Challenge that a wide variety of peoples had migrated to Australia, I was fascinated. I know the story of immigration to America and the opposition to immigrants this nation has periodically displayed. I was curious about how immigration had played out in Australia. This book was a first step toward learning that story.
Fitzgerald has specialized in researching Chinese history and teaching it in Australia. He is well qualified to write this book and has thoroughly researched the topic, identifying misconceptions that Australians have had about the Chinese in their country. Without any background in Australian history, I stumbled at times trying to follow events and debates he assumed I understood.
His main points, however, were clear. Chinese had filled important roles in Australian history, not simply as laborers but as leaders of businesses and reform organizations. Given the relative closeness of China and Australia, they often provided links between the two countries. They created their own organizations in Australia and worked in reform movements in China before the fall of the Manchu dynasty. Individuals and ideas moved back and forth more than was possible for Chinese migrants who went to the United States.
As Fitzgerlad explains, Australians were narrow-minded in defining themselves and excluding Chinese by declaring that the Chinese lacked particular Australian values of freedom, justice, and “mateship.” As their activities show, the Chinese did not lack these values. Countries need to define themselves in universal human terms, not the more limited national ones.
I found Fitzgerald’s book helpful, if not ideal for me. I recommend it to others interested in the topic and somewhat knowledgeable about Australian history.