Are slums the cause of social problems or are they the symptom?

Research Paper Outline

Name Comment by Microsoft Office User: Essential information

Section

Teacher

Question:

Benedict Anderson described nations as socially constructed and imagined by the people who view themselves as members of a particular group. Do you agree or disagree?

Introduction

Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities argues that in order to create a new society, first it has to be imagined. For example, in the case of a nation like Australia, created by settlers from Britain, it was important to establish the form that this new nation would take. This was achieved through a variety of means including the Constitution in 1901 that balanced the needs of the individual colonies with the desire for an overarching national government that was tied to Britain. However, the process of imagining does not stop with the creation of a new community. As historical and political circumstances have changed, there has been the need for re-imaginings especially in relation to the identity of the Australian. With successive waves of immigrants from Europe, Asia and North Africa, there has been a need for a broader notion of Australian identity. However, these re-imaginings have not always been welcomed throughout the Australian community. Benedict Anderson’s argument that nations are socially constructed and are therefore first imagined is only partially helpful when we look at the Australian situation. All communities are subject to the inevitable change of historical circumstances and new imaginings are required and these may become the subject of conflict and dispute. Comment by Microsoft Office User: Restate the question. The rest of the paragraph is the context you will use to talk about the question. Comment by Microsoft Office User: Thesis statement. This is a partial agree with the question.

1. Imagining the new nation of Australia – A British enclave. Comment by Microsoft Office User: First main idea

A. Australia as an extension of the British economic system – Quote. ‘Australia was colonized by a Britain in the precocity of the Industrial Revolution for economic, political and strategic motives’ (Lockwood, 1964, p. 23). Comment by Microsoft Office User: Include the quote and reference in correct APA

B. The British Head of State – Australia adopted the British head of state that was seen as a shared monarch with other members of the British Commonwealth.

C. The representation of Australia as British– Painters created paintings of Australia that showed an English landscape rather then the Australian landscape. Australia was imagined as an extension of England in all things.

This first imagining was singular and was the foundation of the original settlement project. However, there were changes in the composition of the Australian population since settlement that required changes in perception.

2. Multiculturalism – starting with Europe Comment by Microsoft Office User: Second Main Idea

A. European Immigrants – Paraphrase. There has always been a substantial immigrant population from Continental Europe. During the gold rush of the 1850s there were 60,000 migrants from Europe. There were also substantial numbers from the United States and New Zealand. – Paraphrase (Migrant Heritage Centre 2010) Comment by Microsoft Office User: Include the paraphrase in correct APA

B. The Need for Workers – Paraphrase. Schemes were in place to encourage British people to migrate to Australia, but as the need for workers increased the opportunity to immigrate to Australia was offered to other European groups from the 1950s to the 1970s. The preferred nationalities were Germans. Dutch, and other Western Europeans. The Changing Face of Modern Australia 2013). Paraphrase. This was contested by the ‘Bring out a Briton’ campaign (Hassam 2007).

3. Multiculturalism including Asian immigrants Comment by Microsoft Office User: Third Main Idea

C. The White Australia Policy Paraphrase: Australia imagined itself as a place for European immigrants and settlers from its earliest years. The first official policy that allowed for Asians to live in Australia was after WW2 (Racism No Way! 2013). Changing to a multiculturalism policy meant overcoming dissent.

D. Migrants from Asia – Paraphrase: Becoming a multicultural society was a top down policy that was challenged by many parts of the community and was unpopular enough for it to cause the election defeat of the Labour government in 1996 (Ang 2010)

4. There is still division between the ideal of Australia as an extension of Europe and as a multicultural society. As a result, should Australia still have a British monarch? Comment by Microsoft Office User: Conclusion

References Comment by Microsoft Office User: References list using correct APA

Hassam, A. (2007). ‘The `Bring out a Briton’ Campaign of 1957 and British Migration to Australia in the 1950s’. History Compass, vol 5 issue 3, 818- 844. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/command/detail?sid=d355aa64-32a6-4ba3-b815-b522429a4bf5%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=106

Lockwood, R. (1964). ‘British Imperial Influences in the Foundation of the White Australia Policy. Labour History, no 7, 23-3. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=0fc7c319-6ffc-4caa-b192-55e8f717f79a@sessionmgr198&hid=105

Migration Heritage Centre, (2010). ‘Australia’s Migration History’. Retrieved from http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/belongings-home/about-belongings/australias-migration-history/ Comment by Microsoft Office User: APA citation for a web document

Racism. No Way!, (2013). ‘Fact Sheet, The “White Australia” Policy’. Retrieved from http://www.racismnoway.com.au/teaching-resources/factsheets/59.html Comment by Microsoft Office User: APA citation for a web document