Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | Arena Magazine

Assimilation for the millennium.

Publication: Arena Magazine
Publication Date: 01-AUG-07
Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: Assimilation for the millennium.(Editorial)

Article Excerpt
When the cries of our young bring us together as one; that's Australian.

So ends a recent television advertisement for The Australian. It lists a set of feel-good Australian characteristics: hard work (cancer research); common resource wealth (mining); multicultural acceptance (Muslim-girl-becomes-surf-lifesaver). Assuring images are linked up with jingoistic doggerel that turns on the happy coincidence of 'Australian' and 'Australian'.

Yet that final verse is striking. It is accompanied by the image of an Indigenous child staring into the sun, shading her eyes with an up-held hand. It is, of course, no surprise that The Australian might be seen to be endorsing the government's extraordinary intervention in the Northern Territory. The newspaper has, for a number of years now, consistently targeted Indigenous communities, with salacious and politically triumphalist attention paid to their social problems. So this is a pernicious addition to what has become annoyingly familiar.

However, if we pause for a moment to seriously consider what the ad is attempting to naturalise and reconcile in a quick and smooth gesture, we might think further about the particular difficulties inherent to: 'our', 'us' and 'one'. The problems tied down in this use of these three short words actually reach past this example and run...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!



More articles from Arena Magazine
Reconnecting nature.(AGAINST THE CURRENT)(the importance of biodiversi..., August 01, 2007
Aboriginal land rights and uranium mining.(AGAINST THE CURRENT), August 01, 2007
Making modernity in Timor-Leste.(AGAINST THE CURRENT), August 01, 2007
The humourless state.(AGAINST THE CURRENT)(criticism on the policy aga..., August 01, 2007

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.