| Abstrakt: |
Far from being a neutral category, »white« as a self-designation has often been linked to the notion of being the most »racially« advanced and as such entitled to take possession of the world while shouldering the burden of a »civilising« mission. With the first European settlers, »whiteness« as a hegemonic relation arrived on the Australian continent. Over the next hundred years of British settlement, the nascent working class adopted and enforced whiteness as a state doctrine. However, its ideology had to be socially and politically implemented and culturally embedded as a manifestation of a racial power relationship that was by no means a natural perception. In White Australia, social struggles arose that emphasised the central role of whiteness as a societal bonding agent, bridging or overriding other social distinctions. At the »zenith of whiteness« – the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia – the nationally invoked »triumph of whiteness« was intended both to defy the globally proclaimed »crisis of whiteness« and to help overcome intrasocietal tensions. The symbolism and actual application of White Australia is well illustrated by the history of its sugar industry. Eventually, the political colour symbolism of Australian whiteness, which manifested itself ideologically before the turn of the century, found material manifestations in the first decades of the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
