Community perspectives on settlement issues affecting new and emerging communities in rural and regional Australia

This case study aims to make a contribution to the discussion on rural and regional settlement by providing community perspectives on how access to government services and community attitudes impact new and emerging communities’ economic participation, social integration, sense of belonging and settlement outcomes. The study draws on feedback gathered during FECCA’s Access and Equity consultation in Shepparton, held in March 2015. The focus of the consultation was to assess the effectiveness and availability of government services accessed by members of new and emerging communities, as well as to explore the impact of services on their economic participation and social cohesion in a rural and regional context. Several sessions were hosted in Shepparton across two different days. On the first day FECCA met with local service providers and stakeholders including representatives of the Shepparton Police, Red Cross, Department of Human Services, Kildonan Uniting Care, GOTAFE, Primary Care Connect and many others to explore their perspectives on the barriers that local new and emerging communities were facing in accessing their services. The second day was dedicated to four separate consultation sessions with members of the most preeminent ethnic communities in Shepparton: the Iraqi, Sudanese, Congolese and Afghan communities. Both days of consultations generated substantive discussions on a broad range of issues, including employment, education and training, Centrelink, housing and translating and interpreting services. The case study that follows summarises some of the key feedback received from the local new and emerging communities on these issues. • The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) is the peak, national body representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. We work to promote fairness and responsiveness to our constituency in the delivery and design of government policies and programs. At the heart of FECCA’s work is promoting multiculturalism, embodied in equitable policies and non-discriminatory practices for all Australians, regardless of their cultural, linguistic, ethnic, racial or religious backgrounds. Towards this end, FECCA strives to ensure that the needs and aspirations of various cohorts of Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse population are heard by policy and decisions makers, as well as the broader public. The rural and regional settlement of refugees and other humanitarian entrants has been discussed by a series of reports and papers analysing the social or economic benefits of such programs, as well as the challenges and opportunities that they present for the local communities and the families settled in those areas. One of the most recent analyses of rural and regional settlement was produced by Deloitte Access Economics and AMES, in March 2015. Small towns. Big returns—Economic and social impact of the Karen resettlement in Nhill 1 provides a fresh insight into the economic and social value of refugee settlement in regional or rural Australia by looking at the success story of the Karen community settled in Nhill, Victoria. Previous FECCA reports, submissions and issues papers have discussed the opportunities and barriers to sustainable rural and regional settlement faced by migrants, refugees and the wider community. Migrants and refugees settled in rural and regional areas can address sparse population issues, maintain economies, foster innovation and contribute with a wide range of skills to the growth of a region or industry. Attracting and retaining migrant and refugee communities in rural and regional Australia requires adequate policy frameworks, appropriate support systems and the coordinated action and commitment of local communities, local government and businesses. The settlement of new arrivals in rural or regional location can raise certain challenges. FECCA has recognised that some of these challenges, including limited availability or lower quality of services, poorer infrastructure, limited employment opportunities, and social and cultural isolation, are faced by all people living in rural and regional locations in Australia, but for new and emerging communities, these issues can be exacerbated due to specific circumstances. Some of these factors include low English proficiency, limited access to cultural and religious institutions, experience of torture or trauma, racism, labelling and stereotyping. All of these factors have a great impact of effective settlement and social cohesion. As FECCA has previously noted on several occasions, adverse reactions towards immigrants or humanitarian entrants settling in rural and regional areas can create tensions amongst community members and destabilise community harmony. The negative effects can be seen not only on the levels of social cohesion in a location, but they can also adversely impact productivity and economic development 2. FECCA believes that these barriers can be mitigated through adequate settlement services, access to culturally appropriate support mechanisms and improved infrastructure. Coordinated and effective service delivery is also key to ensuring that community needs and expectations can be catered for, in conjunction with strategies to promote community harmony and improve social cohesion, particularly in regions where local attitudes towards new immigrants and cultural diversity tend to be predominantly negative. FECCA thanks the Ethnic Communities Councils of Shepparton and District and FECCA Rural and Regional Advisory Committee for the generous assistance provided in hosting FECCA’s Shepparton consultation. We also thank the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) for assisting with the translation of flyers for promotion of these consultations. [1] AMES and Deloitte Access Economics(2015), Small towns. Big returns – Economic and social impact of the Karen resettlement in Nhill, March 2015 [2] FECCA Submission on the Green Paper on Developing Northern Australia, August 2014 [links below in Related content

Ethnic In-Group Favoritism Among Minority and Majority Groups: Testing the Self-Esteem Hypothesis Among Preadolescents

The self-esteem hypothesis in intergroup relations, as proposed by social identity theory (SIT), states that successful intergroup discrimination enhances momentary collective self-esteem. This hypothesis is a source of continuing controversy. Furthermore, although SIT is increasingly used to account for children’s group attitudes, few studies have examined the hypothesis among children. In addition, the hypothesis’s generality makes it important to study among children from different ethnic groups. The present study, conducted among Dutch and Turkish preadolescents, examined momentary collective self-feelings as a consequence of ethnic group evaluations. The results tended to support the self-esteem hypothesis. In-group favoritism was found to have a self-enhancing effect among participants high in ethnic identification. This result was found for ethnic majority (Dutch) and minority (Turkish) participants.

Invitation: Celebration of Ethnic America 2000.

Invitation to Celebrate Ethnic America on Wednesday, August 16, 2000 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel with envelope. Los Angeles, California

Welcome to the 2019-20 School Year! 1:1

Message from the Chair, Dr. Angel Hinzo Joins the ETHN Department, Welcome New ETHN Lecturers, ETHN Community Spotlight: Ivonne Salas: Empowering Self & Community, Michaela Tyus: Making Space, Save the Date! Labovitz-Perez Lecture: Thursday, October 24, 2019https://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-newsletters/1000/thumbnail.jp

Photovoice and House Meetings Within Participatory Action Research

Participatory action research (PAR) is an epistemology where community members and researchers collaborate to (a) determine the problem to be researched, (b) collect data, (c) analyze data, (d) come to a conclusion, (e) determine an intervention, (f) implement the intervention, and (g) evaluate the intervention (Fals Borda, 1987). We refer to PAR as an epistemology rather than as a method because most PAR theorists view it as a way for those typically situated outside of science to insert their lived experiences and perspectives into the process of knowledge construction (Fals Borda, 1987). Specifically, PAR allows for the democratization of knowledge production by engaging multiple constituents. Through this PAR process, problem definitions shift, thus posing meaningful implications for community-based interventions and social action that focuses on addressing community members’ needs. Indeed, some argue that PAR is an epistemology that is intimately connected to empowerment and social change (Fals Borda, 1987). We begin our chapter by discussing the two methods within the PAR process, specifically, how photovoice and house meetings work as tools toward social action and empowerment. We highlight some of the relevant literature where these tools have been used. For each method we discuss the steps involved in the process, as well as the benefits and challenges of each. Next, we provide reflections from two of our participant-researchers, who are also coauthors. We end the chapter with implications for community-based PAR and consider how photovoice and house meetings work as tools toward critical consciousness, empowerment, and social action

Welcome to Spring 2020! 1:2

Message from the Chair, The Turning Wheel Project: Honoring Community Knowledge and Resilience, Dr. May Fu Co-Authors Article about #Asians4BlackLives, Dr. Josen Diaz Receives ASA Critical Ethnic Studies Essay Prize, Dr. Angel Hinzo Awarded Faculty Research Grant for Book Project, JOIN US! Third World Coalition @ USD, Yasmeen Abushahla: Power, Justice & Community, Khea Pollard, Class of 2015: Transformative Knowledge = Transformative Leadershiphttps://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-newsletters/1001/thumbnail.jp

Ethnic Studies in the Time of COVID-19. 1:3

Message from the Chair, ETHN Senior Spotlight Sarah Gueno, ETHN Senior Spotlight Gabe Fallis, ETHN Senior Spotlight Michaela Tyus, Faculty updates, Dr. Josen Diaz: Puppy Fashion & Online Joys, Dr. Gail Perez: Food, Labor & Disaster Capitalism, ETHN Students Stand in Solidarity with the Protect Mauna Kea Movementhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-newsletters/1002/thumbnail.jp

COVID-19 Activism & Mutual Aid. 1:4

Message from the Chair, Ethnic Studies Graduation Ceremony, New Fall 2020 Courses!, ETHN 494: Latinx Migrant & Refugee Communities with Professor Alexis Meza, ETHN 494: Hip Hop & The Politics of Culture with Professor Leon Lee, ETHN Senior Spotlight Angela Sajche, ETHN Senior Spotlight Jasmin Ross, ETHN Senior Spotlight Yasmeen Abushahla, Faculty Updates, Dr. Angel Hinzo: Bricks and (Pet) Balloons, Dr. Alberto Pulido: Music Within, Healing Throughout, Alumni News, Class of 2015: Olivia Glazner Cassil, Class of 2013: Andrew Grimes, Getting Down With the #AuntieSewingSquadhttps://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-newsletters/1003/thumbnail.jp

USD Department of Ethnic Studies Newsletter 2:4

Special Message from Faculty: Lessons from the Bus, SAVE THE DATE! Ethnic Studies Graduation Ceremony, APPLY NOW! Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards, Senior Spotlight Mariana Flores Chavez: Honor Your Roots, Senior Spotlight Vicenta Martinez Govea: Precrastinate on Deadlines, Meet Our Amazing Lecturers!, Professor Leon Lee, Professor Alexis Meza, Alumni News Taylor Fuentes, Class of 2015, Resources for Body, Heart & Mind.https://digital.sandiego.edu/ethn-newsletters/1008/thumbnail.jp

Crossing Disciplinary Borders: Latino/a Studies and Latin American Studies in the 1990s

Over the 30 years of their existence, studies of Latinos/as in the U.S. and the field of Latin American Studies have emerged largely as divided disciplines. That is, despite what would appear to be similar sensibilities including comparable criticisms of Western hegemony and the neocolonial practices of the U.S., as well as the political, economic, and cultural displacement of similar populations, the two areas of study have more often regarded each other as competitive colleagues rather than complimentary practices. In the following study, I examine the nature of the two disciplines paying particular attention to the political context surrounding their formations and the foundations of their discursive frameworks. I examine changes to these disciplines in the methodological and ideological shifts surrounding the emergence of empirical and postmodern studies, and the relationship between these theoretical shifts and the expansion of globalization. Finally, I conclude with a discussion of the emerging field of transnational and bi-national studies and the opportunities for crossing the disciplinary borders between Latino/as studies in the U.S. and Latin American Studies presented in this literature