Racism in Australia: findings of a survey on racist attitudes and experiences of racism

There is a general dearth of concrete evidence as to the extent of racism in Australia. This paper reports on research into the extent and distribution of intolerant attitudes in Australia, as well as data on the reported experience of racism. A telephone survey of residents throughout the states of Queensland and NSW generated a completed sample of 5056. The constructs of racism that were tested included: tolerance of cultural difference, perceptions on the extent of racism, tolerance of specific groups, ideology of nation, perceptions of Anglo-Celt cultural privilege, and racialism, including separatism and hierarchy. Findings suggest a substantive degree of racism in Australia. Anti-Muslim sentiment is very strong. There is a persistence of intolerance against Asian-, Indigenous and Jewish Australians. Most Australians recognise the problem of racism, yet less than half recognise the cultural privileges that racism accords. Racist attitudes are positively associated with age, non-tertiary education, and to a slightly lesser extent with those who do not speak a language other than English, the Australia-born, and with males. About 15 percent of Australians have experienced racism within institutional settings like the workplace and in education. About one-quarter of Australians report the experience of ‘everyday racisms’. Reporting experiences of racism was higher among indigenous Australians, those speaking a language other than English, those born overseas (excluding UK and NZ), and males. While racism is quite prevalent in Australian society its manifestation is everywhere different. Locally sensitive antiracism initiatives are required to engage the racisms within Australian society

Contemporary racism and Islamaphobia in Australia

Contemporary anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia is reproduced through a racialization that includes well rehearsed stereotypes of Islam, perceptions of threat and inferiority, as well as fantasies that the Other (in this case Australian Muslims) do not belong, or are absent. These are not old or colour-based racisms, but they do manifest certain characteristics that allow us to conceive a racialization process in relation to Muslims. Three sets of findings show how constructions of Islam are important means through which racism is reproduced. First, public opinion surveys reveal the extent of Islamaphobia in Australia and the links between threat perception and constructions of alien-ness and Otherness. The second data set is from a content analysis of the racialized pathologies of Muslims and their spaces. The third is from an examination of the undercurrents of Islamaphobia and national cultural selectivity in the politics of responding to asylum seekers. Negative media treatment is strongly linked to antipathetic government dispositions. This negativity has material impacts upon Australian Muslims. It sponsors a more widespread Islamaphobia, (mis)informs opposition to mosque development and ever more restrictive asylum seeker policies, and lies behind arson attacks and racist violence. Ultimately, the racialization of Islam corrupts belonging and citizenship for Muslim Australians

Carrington: Community of difference?

Newcastle is a city redolent with images. Perhaps the most dominant of these is of a male industrial working environment deriving from the days of the \u27coally seaport\u27, while other aspects of its identity, such as the female and the Aboriginal, are suppressed and obscured (Dunn et al., 1995). Another recurrent image is of profound community, of solidaritty. This is evident in the \u27Our Town\u27 epithet applied to numerous local businesses. 5uch an image is portrayed in the cartoon by Eggleston, where the SS Newcastle is under siege from economic, political and physical forces, where the (all male) inhabitants, clinging together in adversity, are ignored by the Canberra rescue service. Such imagery is demonstrative of community but it is largely negative. The community is parochial, defensive and whinging, complaining of discrimination against it by \u27them\u27, the authorities in Sydney and Canberra, yet expecting \u27them\u27 to be a saviour when in distress. It is aJso a commrmity which is partial andd exclusionary, consisting solely of the Anglo males in their sinking industrial ship (Dunn, 1992)

Deletion of Mgr2p Affects the Gating Behavior of the TIM23 Complex

The TIM23 complex is a hub for translocation of preproteins into or across the mitochondrial inner membrane. This dual sorting mechanism is currently being investigated, and in yeast appears to be regulated by a recently discovered subunit, the Mgr2 protein. Deletion of Mgr2p has been found to delay protein translocation into the matrix and accumulation in the inner membrane. This result and other findings suggested that Mgr2p controls the lateral release of inner membrane proteins harboring a stop-transfer signal that follows an N-terminal amino acid signal. However, the mechanism of lateral release is unknown. Here, we used patch clamp electrophysiology to investigate the role of Mgr2p on the channel activity of TIM23. Deletion of Mgr2p decreased normal channel frequency and increased occurrence of a residual TIM23 activity. The residual channel lacked gating transitions but remained sensitive to synthetic import signal peptides. Similarly, a G145L mutation in Tim23p displaced Mgr2p from the import complex leading to gating impairment. These results suggest that Mgr2p regulates the gating behavior of the TIM23 channel.Peer reviewe

Countering Islamophobia in the Victorian Population

Islamophobia underpins extremist verbal and physical attacks on Muslim communities. It has become widespread in Australian society, and normalised in everyday settings such as in mainstream media. There is general agreement among Australian researchers and community representatives that the concept of Islamophobia is a useful tool for understanding and developing ways to challenge anti-Islam attitudes. However, despite it becoming widespread, Islamophobia should not be treated as a singular problem as it takes many different forms (see Peucker and Smith 2019), which require targeted responses. This brief provides contemporary empirical insights into the extent of Islamophobia in Victoria, and how it is manifest, in order to help develop policy responses. In November 2019, we undertook an online representative survey of 4019 Victorians to examine Islamophobia in Australia. We asked questions about respondents’ attitudes towards cultural diversity, racial equality and privilege; trust and fairness; Muslims and Islam; and other ethno-cultural groups in Australian society; their experiences of racism and discrimination; their contact with Muslims and knowledge of Islam; their trust of institutions; political affiliation; and support for extreme politics (e.g., violence, non-democratic governance). To our knowledge, this was the largest representative survey undertaken in Victoria with the purpose of measuring Victorians’ perceptions of and attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. Based on respondents’ answers, we used latent class analysis to reveal groups in the Victorian population. Latent class analysis is an advanced statistical method that identifies related sets of responses in a dataset that may be hidden even from trained observers (Hagenaars and McCutcheon 2002; Uebersax 1993; Heinen 1996)

Public questions spur the discovery of new bacterial species associated with lignin bioconversion of industrial waste

A citizen science project found that the greenhouse camel cricket (Diestrammena asynamora) is common in North American homes. Public response was to wonder “what good are they anyway?” and ecology and evolution guided the search for potential benefit. We predicted that camel crickets and similar household species would likely host bacteria with the ability to degrade recalcitrant carbon compounds. Lignocellulose is particularly relevant as it is difficult to degrade yet is an important feedstock for pulp and paper, chemical, and biofuel industries. We screened gut bacteria of greenhouse camel crickets and another household insect, a hide beetle (Dermestes maculatus) for the ability to grow on and degrade lignocellulose components as well as the lignocellulose-derived industrial waste product black liquor. From three greenhouse camel crickets and three hide beetles, 14 bacterial strains were identified capable of growth on lignocellulosic components, including lignin. Cedecea lapagei was selected for further study due to growth on most lignocellulose components. The C. lapagei secretome was identified using LC/MS/MS analysis. This work demonstrates a novel source of lignocellulose-degrading bacteria and introduces an effective workflow to identify bacterial enzymes for transforming industrial waste into value-added products. More generally, our research suggests the value of ecologically-guided discovery of novel organisms

Thirty years of marine debris in the Southern Ocean: annual surveys of two island shores in the Scotia Sea

We report on three decades of repeat surveys of beached marine debris at two locations in the Scotia Sea, in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. Between October 1989 and March 2019 10,112 items of beached debris were recovered from Main Bay, Bird Island, South Georgia in the northern Scotia Sea. The total mass of items (data from 1996 onwards) was 101 kg. Plastic was the most commonly recovered item (97.5% by number; 89% by mass) with the remainder made up of fabric, glass, metal, paper and rubber. Mean mass per item was 0.01 kg and the rate of accumulation was 100 items km−1 month−1. Analyses showed an increase in the number of debris items recovered (5.7 per year) but a decline in mean mass per item, suggesting a trend towards more, smaller items of debris at Bird Island. At Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, located in the southern Scotia Sea and within the Antarctic Treaty area, debris items were collected from three beaches, during the austral summer only, between 1991 and 2019. In total 1304 items with a mass of 268 kg were recovered. Plastic items contributed 84% by number and 80% by mass, with the remainder made up of metal (6% by number; 14% by mass), rubber (4% by number; 3% by mass), fabric, glass and paper (<1% by number; 3% by mass). Mean mass per item was 0.2 kg and rate of accumulation was 3 items km−1 month−1. Accumulation rates were an order of magnitude higher on the western (windward) side of the island (13–17 items km−1 month−1) than the eastern side (1.5 items km−1 month−1). Analyses showed a slight decline in number and slight increase in mean mass of debris items over time at Signy Island. This study highlights the prevalence of anthropogenic marine debris (particularly plastic) in the Southern Ocean. It shows the importance of long-term monitoring efforts in attempting to catalogue marine debris and identify trends, and serves warning of the urgent need for a wider understanding of the extent of marine debris across the whole of the Southern Ocean

Understanding Varied Attitudes Towards Muslims

The focus of this research was to determine the prevalence and type of Islamophobia in the Victorian population. Islamophobia sentiment feeds the actions of right-wing extremist attacks on Muslim communities. But it has also become widespread in Australian society, and normalised in everyday settings, such as our mainstream media. Islamophobia cannot be treated with a singular approach or mode of intervention. Our study comes at a critical time; it provides empirical evidence on the extent of the problem, as well as documenting the varied manifestations of Islamophobic sentiment, with the view to developing potential action points and policy. In November 2019 we undertook a survey of 4019 Victorians. We asked questions on their attitudes towards cultural diversity, racial equality and privilege; trust and fairness; Muslims and Islam; and other ethno-cultural groups in Australian society; their experiences of racism and discrimination; their contact with Muslims and knowledge of Islam; and their political affiliation. To our knowledge, this was the largest survey undertaken in Victoria with the purpose of solely measuring Victorians perceptions of Muslims and Islam. Based on respondents’ answers, we used latent class analysis to segment the Victorian population. Five groups were generated: Islamophobic, Islamophobic with assimilationist tendencies, Undecided, Progressive with concerns about Islam, and Progressive. We then distilled the demographic and attitudinal attributes of these groups, with the view to identifying roles and drivers to help guide policy and intervention. We tested this five group segmentation with community organisations in Victoria working in the broad areas of diversity and multiculturalism, and with a particular emphasis on Muslim and non-Muslim relations. The groupings made sense on-the-ground, and they provided a strong pathway forward for program and policy design