Table Of ContentRace, Ethnicity and Education in Globalised Times
Ruth Arber
Author
Race, Ethnicity
and Education
in Globalised Times
Foreword by Paul James
RuthArber
DeakinUniversity
Melbourne
VIC
Australia
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Foreword
Whatisthespecificityofcontemporaryracism?Andwhathappenstoquestionsof
raceinacontextwheremulticulturalismistakenforgranted.Fewauthorsaddress
these kinds of questions with subtlety. For the most part, questions of racism are
treatedeitherasself-evidentoralternativelyasself-evidenced.
Thefirstapproach,accentuatedineverydaylife,andplayedoutinmediaexposés,
isthetendencytotreatracismasmanifestlyself-evident.Wejustknowwhatracism
is in principle, and we just know what it looks like when we see it in practice.
Dualisticassumptionsdominatethissenseofidentityrelations–personsareracist
or they are not; an act is racist or it is not. However, despite the obviousness of
racismincontextswheredifferentpeoplehavedifferentseatingarrangementsona
bus,orsomebodysays“Iambetterthanyoubecauseyourskin-colourisdifferent”,
this approach barely comes to terms with the depth of embodied politics and the
elusivenessofstructuresofracisminthecontemporaryworld.
Thesecondapproach,stronginsomepost-modernaccountsofraceandethnic-
ity,exposesthisfirstapproachasself-evidentlynaïve.Itsuggestsalternativelythat
racism is built uponself-evidencingnarrativesof culturaldifference.These narra-
tives are said to have no foundation except in the specific narratives that racists
tell themselves, and the broader narrativescarried by a modernistculture that has
arbitrarily pronounced“race” to be a basic category of the human condition. The
firstapproachhardensracismintoasticks-and-stonesphenomena;thesecondeffec-
tively dissolvesit into ghostlyimaginings– wordsthat can onlyhurtif we accept
themasreal.
RuthArber’sbookattemptstogetbeyondbothoftheseinadequateapproaches.
Withacarefulmixofpassionandobjectivedistance,shedescribesthewayinwhich
questionsofracecandisappearbeneaththesurfaceofnarrativesofidentityandyet
stillremainpartoftheconstructionofadeeperimaginary.
There are strong arguments to suggest that we are seeing the development of
newlayersofracisminthepost-colonialworld,includingplacessuchasAustralia,
which in faltering ways maintain a dominant ideology of multiculturalism. The
intensification of contemporary globalisation, particularly the renewed embodied
globalisationofthepost-WorldWarIIperiodbroughtwithitasecondgreatAgeof
Migrations.Populationsfromacross the globeco-mingledin New and Old World
placesfromAustralia,Canada,andtheUnitedStates toBritainandFrance.Inthe
v
vi Foreword
caseofthe“NewWorld”hasoverlaidthecomplexityofearliergenerationsofmi-
grants that arrived in the nineteenth century. It was in this earlier period that the
sense of natural order was becoming increasingly insecure, states began to busily
count“their”populations,statistics and censuseshad an increasinginfluence over
policy,passportsbegantobeusedtocontrolmovement,andtheconceptof“race”
was for the first time naturalisedas partof the humancondition.As we now look
backuponthatperioditbecomesalltooeasytosaythatwehavetranscendedthat
earlier form of racism that once proclaimed the hierarchy of the species and then
lodgeditinstatepolicies.
Older forms of racism still continue in brutal ways, but this is not what Ruth
Arber’s book focuses upon. Her book is written in the context of a less visible
structuralracismacrossthecourseofthelatetwentiethcenturyandintothepresent.
The new racism is dominatednotby assertions of essential biologicalhierarchy–
thatis,assertionsofwhatmightbecalled“traditional-modern”racism–butbythe
claim that cultural difference is insurmountable and gives rise to ethnic conflict,
even violence. The rationale put forward by proponentsof the new racism begins
characteristicallywiththewords“Iamnotaracist,but...”Thiscontradictory(late
modern)racism,legitimatesitselfbyclaimingtoexplainandoffersolutionstothe
sourceofmodernracistconduct:keepdifferentculturesapart,controlimmigration,
andallowtheuniversalisticandprogressivecultures–namelyourown–toflourish.
ThishasbecomeintensifiedwiththeWaronTerror:“Iamnotanti-Muslim,butcan
youreallytrustthem?”A moresubtleversionofthispositionisonewhichargues
for the liberalequalityof all. It suggeststhatculturaldifferenceis onlylegitimate
intheprivacyofone’shome,andonceonthestreetweallmustpartakeofasingle
civicidentity.
Inresponsetotheselatemodernracisms,butwithoutawayofadequatelyartic-
ulatingtheiroppositiontoit, anincreasingnumberofpeoplehavetriedto eschew
thenotionof“race”altogether.Theseincludetheteachersandparentsdescribedin
this book.Such persons, in effect, try to live and talk as if cultural differencecan
be reducedto post-modernpluralism – hybriditythat does not make a difference.
Theapproachsometimestakestheformofavainhopethatifwedonotpersonally
recogniseracisminourowncontainedworldsoftheclassroomorneighbourhood,
and if we do not use the term, then racism does not exist. Such people are more
comfortabletotalkaboutmulticulturalorethnicdifference,andthusteachingprac-
ticescentreonhowtohelp“them”inthesupposedlyeasystepoffindingbelonging
as“one-of-us”,theundefinedcategoryofnormality.
Howdoesaresearchergoaboutunderstandingsuchacomplexlayeringofsocial
relations? Ruth Arber has set up a methodologicalapproach which moves across
severallevelsofanalysisfromtheparticularandrelativelycontingenttothegeneral
and patterned in a way that is truly novel. The three levels are vantage points for
describingthecomplexityofideasandpractices.Thebookstartswithnarrational
practice – whatpeopletalk aboutand doin the worldof everydaylife;individual
experiencesandstories;particularandseeminglyadhococcasionsor expressions
of meaning. These expressions of personal experience are then understood as set
within a narrational field of discourses and practices, including multiculturalism,
Foreword vii
nationalism and racism, patterns of gender relations, home–school relations and
processesofpedagogy.Thissecondvantagepointseekstounderstandeachofthose
fields in themselves. The third vantage point is to move the analysis to the level
ofnarrationalmaps,allowingtheauthortoconsidertheconnectionbetweenthese
differentways of acting in and talking aboutthe world. This is the levelof social
beingandknowing–ontologyandepistemology.
Oneoftheeffectsofcontemporaryglobalisationhasbeentointensifythelayer-
ingprocess,bringingdifferentculturalunderstandingsandontologiesintothesame
space, linking the localand the global.Withoutsuch a methodof analysis as pre-
sented in this book, the world just looks to be a dauntinglycomplexand swirling
messofdetail.Weseetheintersectionandsometimesthe(ontological)clashingof
themasscirculationofmodernpopularcultures,thepost-modernexcessofpastiche
cultures,theoralmemoriesoftribalcultures,andthewrittenmemoriesandcodifi-
cationsoftraditionalcultures.Thisisnotthe“clashofcivilisations”assomewould
argue,howeveritisamatrixofontologicaltensionsthatneedscarefulattention.It
hasconsequencesforincreasingconflictintheworldtodayasweconstructothers
asbarbariansorjustasothers.Ignoringthisprocesswillnotmakeitgoaway.This
makesitimperativethatweattendbothtotheparticularinstancesofsuchnarratives
ofmeaningandthenarrationalmapswhichframetheverywayinwhichwethink
andknowabouttheworld.
PaulJames
ProfessorofGlobalismandCulturalDiversity
intheGlobalismInstitute,
RMITUniversity,
Melbourne,Victoria,
Australia
Acknowledgements
Thisbookdescribesmyworktounderstandethnicandracerelationsintimeswhich
have appearedto manyto be increasinglydangerous.There are manypeoplewho
have worked with me during that time. Paul James’ meticulous, but sympathetic
andcaring,supervisionoverthelastyearsofthisprojectandtheintellectualrigour,
which he provided, helped me to structure what began as an undeveloped notion
that conceptions about race and ethnic relations needed to be listened to in other
ways.Inparticular,Iamindebtedtohisworkinanalyticalabstractionwhichhelped
providedirectionto myanalysisandtomyworktosetouta morecomprehensive
approach to writing about ethnic and race issues. Although we worked together
only for a short time, Lesley Farrell’s engagement with my research project has
beenconsiderableandprovedinvaluableasameanstomakingmyworkcoherent.
MariettaElliothasdiscussedthisresearchanditswritingsinceitsinceptionnearly
twodecadesago.Iamindebtedtohercollegialityandreadyearduringitswriting
andherhelptoeditthisbook.ThankstoSusanKrussforherhelpfulcommentsin
thefinaleditofthiswork.
Thestoryofthisresearchisinterwovenwithmyjourneytounderstandtheways
ethnicandracerelationsarespokenabout.ItisimpossibletorelatetheexcitementI
feltwhenIcametoworkwithFazalRizviatthebeginningofthiswork.Underhis
guidance,IfirstcametounderstandthatifIwastoproperlyexploretheconversa-
tionsIcollectedinschools,Iwouldneedtolookattheminotherways.Hisintroduc-
tion to other literatures, particularlythose of culturalstudies and post-colonialism
andmorerecentlythoseofglobalismandWhiteness,completelychangedtheway
inwhichIwasabletoapproachmywork.IwouldalsoliketothankBethGoldstein
forourlongandcomplexdebatesaboutwhatthesetheoriesmeantinschools,Alan
BishopforhissupportandadvicethroughoutthelastyearsofthebookandMichael
Singhfordiscussingthesesametheoriesmanytimeswithme.Ialsowanttothank
the people who supportedmy 1988research. Lois Foster supervisedthe research,
and her engagement with the issues of multiculturalism, her encouragement and
her interest in my work continue to be important to me. Darrell Caulley’s infec-
tious interest in naturalistic research inquiryand in a phenomenologicalapproach
providedme with the toolsto listen to the day-to-dayexperiencesof teachersand
parents.DavidStockley,DougWhiteandTonyKnightintroducedmetoliteratures
ofradicalandcriticaltheory.
ix
x Acknowledgements
Iparticularlywanttothankthepeoplewhopatientlyremindedmethatconversa-
tionsaboutraceandethnicrelationsmightneedtobelistenedto“otherwise”.These
peopleincludetheteachersandparentswhogenerouslyspentsomuchtimeinmy
interviews. It also includes the good friends who would remind me that my own
experienceasaWhitemiddle-classteachermightnotproperlydemonstratetheway
thingshappeninschools.
Finally,Iwanttothankmyfamilyandfriendswhohavelivedwithmethrough-
outthe ups and downsof the thesis-writing process. In particular,I want to thank
JohnRosenbergforhisspiritualsupport,myparentsEllinorandMartinMoorefor
thinkingthatIcansucceedinanything,andofcourseHoward,BenandDanielfor
alwaysbeingthereforme.
IwouldalsoliketoacknowledgethepublicationsthatIhavemadeontheway:
References
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Contents
1 EncounteringSilentNoise ....................................... 1
1.1 AConsideredApproach...................................... 6
1.2 TheTermsofRace .......................................... 9
1.3 WhisperinginMyHeart ..................................... 14
2 EncounteringSilentNarrations:BeginningtheResearch ............ 17
2.1 SettinguptheResearch ...................................... 19
2.2 Re-EnteringtheSchool ...................................... 22
2.3 Interrogation“Muddles” ..................................... 27
3 BeyondSilentNoise:ArticulatingMethodology..................... 39
3.1 FramingNarrations.......................................... 41
3.2 MappingIdentity ........................................... 45
3.3 Mappingthe“Other” ........................................ 49
3.4 MappingRelationships....................................... 51
3.5 MappingSilence............................................ 55
3.6 AnAnalyticalFrame ........................................ 58
4 RaceandEthnicityinGlobalisedTimes............................ 61
4.1 ImaginingCommunities...................................... 63
4.2 Snapshots:ThePress ........................................ 66
4.2.1 1989 ............................................... 66
4.2.2 1999 ............................................... 71
4.2.3 2003 ............................................... 75
4.2.4 MergingBoundaries.................................. 78
4.3 Snapshots:PolicyDocuments ................................. 79
4.3.1 1989 ............................................... 79
4.3.2 1999 ............................................... 81
4.3.3 2003 ............................................... 82
4.4 TheStateofVictoria ........................................... 84
4.5 ConceptsofMulticulturalism.................................... 87
xi
xii Contents
5 ChangingIdentitiesinaLocalSchool.............................. 93
5.1 1988 ...................................................... 94
5.1.1 ChangingDemographics .............................. 94
5.1.2 DealingwithDemographicChange ..................... 97
5.1.3 MulticulturalWeeks .................................. 98
5.1.4 TeachingEnglish..................................... 99
5.1.5 TeachingLanguagesOtherthanEnglish .................100
5.1.6 Experiencingit ......................................101
5.1.7 DisruptiveFragments .................................104
5.2 1998 ......................................................107
5.2.1 ChangingDemographics ..............................107
5.2.2 DealingwithDemographicChange .....................111
5.2.3 MulticulturalDays ...................................111
5.2.4 TeachingEnglish.....................................112
5.2.5 LearningLanguagesOtherthanEnglish .................113
5.2.6 InternationalisingStrategies............................115
5.2.7 Experiencingit ......................................117
5.2.8 DisruptiveFragments .................................118
5.3 BeyondPracticesandFields ..................................121
6 Mappingthe“Other”............................................123
6.1 SpeakingAbout“Other”Groups...............................124
6.2 OfGreatLoveandImmenseHate..............................132
6.3 SafeSpaces/DangerousPlaces ................................143
6.4 OtherNarrations............................................153
7 MappingOurselves..............................................155
7.1 Speakingofus..............................................156
7.2 NegotiatingIdentity .........................................158
7.3 TheTerrorofit .............................................172
7.4 BetweenDisruptedNarratives.................................176
8 AnotherIdentity ................................................179
8.1 Re-imaginingResearchMethodology ..........................181
8.2 Re-writingtheTermsofRace .................................184
8.3 Re-assessingClassroomConversations .........................187
8.4 BeyondNoisy–SilentWhispering..............................192
Bibliography......................................................197
Index ............................................................209
