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Australia Day from Citizenship to Multiculturalism: 1948–1988

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Political Memories and Migration

Part of the book series: Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies ((PMMS))

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how Australia Day became a tool for the Australian government to promote its immigration and integration policies in the second half of the twentieth century. The two forms of political memory, civic and cultural memory, that expressed the conflict over belonging and migration in the previous 150 years, presented two sides of Australia Day, each of which provided narratives of belonging conducive to changing immigration policies. At the same time, the commemoration was utilized also to express oppositional opinions about migration policies. Discussing citizenship conventions, Australia Day councils and the bicentennary celebration, Kleist shows how official commemorations shifted from civic to cultural memories in order to integrate migrants. While Australia Day was used to promote citizenship for newcomers in the 1950s and 1960s it represented a multicultural or nationalistic Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. An epilogue to the chapter shows how the conflict between multiculturalism and nationalism continued to influence migration policies and political memories for the following two decades. In concluding the chapter, Kleist explains the transformation of the relationship between civic and cultural memory after 1948 and their relevance for migration policies as part of global shifts of social relations.

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  1. Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS), Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

    J. Olaf Kleist

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Olaf Kleist, J. (2017). Australia Day from Citizenship to Multiculturalism: 1948–1988. In: Political Memories and Migration. Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57589-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57589-0_3

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