000 02708nam a22003494a 4500
001 26606
008 111111t2010 xx || 00| 0 en
100 _aMapedzahama, Virginia
_934527
110 _aThe Australian Sociological Association
_915049
245 1 0 _a"Where are you from" : the paradox of African identity and belonging in Australia /
260 _bunpub.
_c2010
300 _aPDF
500 _aConference paper presented at The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference. Social Causes, Private Lives (2010 : North Ryde, N.S.W.)
520 _aThis paper interrogates the question 'where are you from' by drawing on our experiences and points of view as visibly different African migrants who get asked this 'quintessential question of identity' almost on a daily basis. While acknowledging that a certain 'curiosity' sometimes drives the asking of this question, we still question the implications and multiplicity of meanings to those whom it is asked. We contend that being asked the question raises three key issues for us. First, we perceive it as exclusionary, in that in a white dominated society it is asked, mainly of certain groups of people who are visibly different. Second, the assumption behind the question - that one is not 'from here', constructs an/other whose identity is fixed and tied only to one faraway place, thereby erasing our hyphenated identities, which define our everyday lived realities. Third, it invokes feelings of ambivalence about place when it is interpreted as demanding a justification of the claim to belonging and being 'from here'. Our paper shows that the question is a matter of identity politics and exposes the complexity of identity work that occurs whenever this question is asked of us. In so doing, it highlights the contradiction between our Australian 'selves' and migrant 'other'.
521 _aMapedzahama_TASA10.pdf
650 1 0 _aSocial Policy
_bCongresses
_9868
650 1 0 _aImmigrants
_bSocial Aspects
_93341
650 1 0 _aAfricans
_bSocial Conditions
_93211
650 1 0 _aRefugees, African
_b
_91129
650 1 0 _aEthnicity
_b
_91135
650 1 0 _aMigration, Internal
_b
_92021
650 1 0 _aResidential Mobility
_bSocial Aspects
_92861
650 1 0 _aNational Characteristics, Australian
_b
_9609
650 1 0 _aPluralism (social Sciences)
_b
_9797
690 1 0 _aConferences
_924820
690 1 0 _aSettlement
_925976
690 1 0 _aMigrants
_925592
690 1 0 _aCultural Identity
_93502
690 1 0 _aThe Australian Sociological Association (tasa). Conference (2010: North Ryde, N.S.W.)
_920915
856 _uhttps://library.bsl.org.au/showitem.php?handle=1/2261
_3Electronic copy
_z
942 _cELECTRONIC
_h
999 _c6679
_d6679