In learning about Globalisation this semester I have been
relating it to the Australian perspective, the Australian History; The story
that is not made readily available in mainstream media nor masqueraded in our
modern education system.
As previously understood, a large amount of a countries contemporary
culture is the product of interactions with other cultures and countries as the
result of migration, trade or conquest. In Australia’s case this has been the
result. Many resources are available that depict this conquest and the atrocities
that followed. In the same way, many more resources tell the story of modern
day Australia; the multicultural hub of the world.
One such resource that really illustrates the negative effect
of globalisation on Australia’s first peoples is the map depicting Aboriginal massacres
(shown below) that appeared in Judith Monticone’s book “healing the land”. The large amounts of Aboriginal men and women
that were killed during the globalisation process is a story that is largely
untold. Some records indicate that the Aboriginal population fell by an estimated
between 1788 and 1900 (Aboriginalart, 2014). This is particularly an issue when
Australia’s schools are focused on colonial mythologies of the development of
Australia and patriotic issues such as war, The Eureka Stockade and Ned Kelly
(Westaway, M. The Conversation). For a big part, this unfortunately means that
the unjust treatment and acquisition of Australian land is realistically unknown
by the general population of Australia.
In the same way, Australia’s first nation peoples were also
exposed to issues such as slavery that emulate similarities between conquests
in America, South American countries and many others. Open access to settler’s
documents and government policies depicts the forced labour of Aboriginal men,
women and children hidden behind ideas of “Aboriginal Protectionism” that by
some accounts only ended in the 1970’s (abc, 2014). For illustrative purposes I
have provides an image below that may shock some readers.
Another devastating issue that has recently grabbed a lot of
media attention is the effect of the stolen generation. The stolen generation
saw the implementation of Government policy that involved the removal of
Aboriginal children from families in order to assimilate them into ‘White
Australia’, this was largely seen as an attempt to breed out and eradicate
Aboriginal Australia (The Stolen Generations, 2013). This process is well
represented in the movie “Rabbit Proof fence” by Phillip Noyce. Unfortunately,
this has led to a flow on effect with the displacement of many Aboriginals and
generations of families who have little idea of their background, heritage and
culture.
Coming from another country myself, I was honestly amazed to
hear of the atrocities that occurred in Australia given its positive and laid
back characteristics that are well known all over the world. However, these are
all negative effects we have seen as a result of globalisation in Australia.
Unfortunately as previously stated it remains largely an untold story, however
the Australian story also reveals many positives that I have also personally experienced.
In assessing the effects of globalisation in an Australian
perspective it is remarkable to look at Aboriginal Australia in 2014, verses
pre and post colonisation. Firstly, the Geographical effect of globalisation
has can be illustrated by a comparison between pre settlement and post
settlement maps. The image below shows the range of Indigenous tribal areas in parallel
to the current Australian demographic. As a result we see a loss of Indigenous
identity and an intrinsic link to country that is well known as inextricable to
their culture. As a result, we also see
an introduction of a state-based demographic system adopted from English
backgrounds.
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Subsequent to the ‘Settlement’ of Australia a large amount
of Europeans, Germans and Chinese travelled to Australia in hopes of securing
financial prosperity as a result of the gold rush. This saw Australia’s
cultural mix increase significantly with a range of languages, foods and
customs. This also saw the development
of a range of facilities and really kick started the Australian culture we have
today. At the same time the Australian dynamic was exposed to racism and
discrimination that led to the White Australia policy in 1901 that restricted
the migration of non-Europeans.
Immigration to Australia was also heavily experiences post
world-war 2 as a result of dispossession in Europe and Australia’s poor economic
shortages. Migration agreements were
also established with many countries that really shaped Australia with the
development of major facilities such as railway’s and telegraph poles. In
essence, Australian migration has largely changed as a result of world issues
such as war and poor economic experiences in Australia (immi.gov, 2014).
Now in Australia we have a range of diverse cultures,
languages, foods and customers that were largely a result of government pushes
in the last 40 years (australiancollaboriation, 2014). We have seen a level of
social cohesion, integration and acceptance of peoples that is not as common
around the world as we would perhaps like. This has seen Australia’s identity
really flourish as Global citizens of the world and made Australia a very
envious place to live.
It is also important to note that prior to the English “settlement”
of Australia there were pre-existing forms of Globalization that existed
without the same losses experienced. The northern end Aboriginal tribes of
Australia had experienced trading routes with Asia for many years. During this
period several countries travelled to Sulawesi that was seen as a major trading
hub. People then travelled to the north of Australia for trade and fishing that
saw a large contribution to Northen Aboriginal culture, language and genetics
(austhrutime, 2011). This goes to show that Globalisation can actually be
achieved without great detriment to our intrinsic level of ethics and without
the dispossession of another race.
In the future it will be interesting to see how movements
such as the reconciliation movement, close the gap and the First peoples of
Australia movement will affect the cultural climate of Australia. In particular
it will be interesting to watch how tools such as technology, better health and
access to education will allow Indigenous peoples of Australia to leverage
ideas of globalisation for positive future outcomes.
In the same way, it will be interesting to see how recent
government pushes such as ‘Stop the boats’ will impact on the worldwide
perspective of Australia as Global Citizens and will also affect the continuing
globalisation process of Australia into the future.
In summary, it has been an interesting process to be able to
deduce the fact that globalisation can occur with mutual benefits between
peoples and without the mass disadvantage of one person in comparison to the
conquests seen throughout the world. In an Australian context, it is also
interesting to see how the gains and losses of globalisation have produced the
Australia we know today and how it will continue to shape Australia into the
future.
For further reading please see the following resources:
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