Migrant Security 2010: Refereed Proceedings of the National Symposium Titled Migrant Security 2010: Citizenship and Social Inclusion in a Transnational Era

Abstract

The national symposium 'Migrant Security: Citizenship and Social Inclusion in a Transnational Era‘ was hosted by the University of Southern Queensland‘s Toowoomba campus on the 15th and 16th July 2010. The symposium attracted delegates from across Australian universities, as well as delegates from New Zealand, the United States and Europe. In addition, presentations and papers were provided by governmental and non-governmental bodies affiliated with the provision of services for migrants and refugees. The conference proceedings that follow offer a selection of some of the over seventy papers presented during the two days of the main symposium. Each of the papers included in the proceedings have been double peer-reviewed in their entirety, prior to acceptance in this online collection. Migration has been central to Toowoomba‘s history for thousands of years, with a major Indigenous meeting place located close to the city. More recently, Toowoomba has welcomed large numbers of African refugees from various backgrounds. Indeed, twenty five per cent of Toowoomba‘s overseas population has arrived within the last decade. The new presence of these visibly different and culturally diverse groups has prompted large proportions of the city to recall and to question the historical and contemporary nature of whiteness and blackness in the Darling Downs region and south-east Queensland. As such, it was particularly apposite that the symposium was hosted at the University of Southern Queensland. The symposium probed new formulations of migrants‘ experience of community and individual security through their engagement with civic life. It drew particular attention to the changing nature of belonging in modern societies, and the implication of this for citizenship. Contributors proved especially interested by the various forms of insecurity that prevented migrants from attaining a sense of inclusion and belonging, and how local and transnational networks might mitigate this. Key themes that are explored in the proceedings include the nature of inclusive education, the role of interculturality in the modern society, and ways to develop meaningful forms of cultural security and social.