Introduction

This introductory chapter sets the scene for Intersectional Lives, beginning with a textured first-hand account of one Chinese Australian woman’s (Stella Sun’s) family history of migration and mobility, settlement, family relationships, gender roles, isolation, identity, belonging, sacrifice, resistance and contribution. This opening ‘voice’ provides grounding for the rest of the book which privileges the perspectives and accounts of living in White Australia as told by Chinese Women themselves. I use Stella’s story to introduce the postcolonial feminist approach taken in the book’s subject and analyses, to introduce the central themes of the book and highlight research gaps and silences. Stella’s story is also used to introduce the book’s conceptual focus on intersectionality and the politics of belonging and exclusion. In this chapter, I also provide a brief overview of Chinese settlement in Australia in colonial times and throughout the White Australia period, specifically focused on the entry of Chinese women. This functions as an important contextual backdrop to the following chapters. I conclude this chapter by outlining the structure of this book.