ABSTRACT
255In this chapter, we consider the issue of Australia’s national identity in a period of globalisation—a process allegedly eroding the identity and authority of the nation-state and the attractions of local ethnic identity. We first consider ideas like colonialism, race and racism, and look at some of the problems inherent in these ideas as we explore the colonial experience which produced both dispossession and a demographic catastrophe for the Aboriginal people. We then use the idea of ethnicity to examine the patterns of immigration and immigration policy in Australia—especially since 1945. Both the history of black and white relations and the entry of large numbers of non-British immigrants to Australia after 1950 raise large questions about Australia’s identity and the problem of inequality.
