HIST106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Thomas Petrie, Andrew Bolt, Coranderrk
HIST106 Lecture Notes Monday 4th September 2017
Assimilation
Todas Letue
- Assimilation: what it is, and what it has meant for Indigenous Australians
- Evolution of 20th etu poliies: fo potetio to assiilatio
- The Stolen Generations and The Bringing Them Home report (1997)
- Contestation of the report
o Controversial
o Objections to its content
- Arguments
o That although the causes and effects of assimilation policies are more
complex than racism, the idea of assimilation stems from an assumption of
white superiority and has roots in racial science
o That assimilationist policies came in part from a desire to help Indigenous
Australians join white society, but caused harm due to the denial of agency,
the devaluating of culture, and the separation of families
▪ One of the arguments against the report is the governments
intentions.
What is assiilatio?
- The forcing of a minority to conform to the majority
- Assuming there is a culture to assimilate into and that the dominant culture is willing
to have foreigners assimilate into them.
- Integration through cultural destruction whether it is a by-product or the intention
to begin with
- A disputed term
- The process by which a minority group adapts to the customs and lifestyles of the
dominant culture
- This process is assumed to be uniform and self-evident
- It may also mean the disappearance of differences between the minority group and
the dominant culture
- It can also refer to government policies, which are underpinned by and ideology of
national sameness and the superiority of the dominant culture.
Assimilation in Australia
- For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Australian attitudes to assimilation were
understood in terms of racial science
- Two facets, both enshrined in Government policy after Federation:
o Assimilation of Indigenous Australians
o Assimilation of postwar migrants
o Dominant culture white English speaking Europeans
- Both facets were forced upon migrants and Indigenous Australians, as opposed to
freely chosen
o Because of government policy
Before Federation
- Frontier violence and dispossession in the contact zone
o Provides a key part of the background
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Assimilation: what it is, and what it has meant for indigenous australians. Evolution of 20th (cid:272)e(cid:374)tu(cid:396)(cid:455) poli(cid:272)ies: f(cid:396)o(cid:373) (cid:858)p(cid:396)ote(cid:272)tio(cid:374)(cid:859) to (cid:858)assi(cid:373)ilatio(cid:374)(cid:859) The stolen generations and the bringing them home report (1997) Contestation of the report: controversial, objections to its content. Australians join white society, but caused harm due to the denial of agency, the devaluating of culture, and the separation of families: one of the arguments against the report is the governments. The forcing of a minority to conform to the majority. Assuming there is a culture to assimilate into and that the dominant culture is willing to have foreigners assimilate into them. Integration through cultural destruction whether it is a by-product or the intention to begin with. The process by which a minority group adapts to the customs and lifestyles of the dominant culture. This process is assumed to be uniform and self-evident. It may also mean the disappearance of differences between the minority group and the dominant culture.
