Sojourners or a new diaspora? Economic implications of the movement of Chinese miners to the south-west Pacific goldfields

Chinese gold seekers were the largest non-British group on the goldfields of Australasia and constituted the largest nationality on some diggings. In considering the movement of Chinese miners to and throughout the goldfields colonies of the southwest Pacific, this articles argues there existed a more complex pattern of migration than that suggested by the sojourner model of arrival, brief stay and departure. It examines the links between migration patterns and economic activity, and argues that economic history perspectives complement the insights offered by recent social and cultural history in the field

The Public Sphere on the Beach

This article discusses the idea of a 'cultural public sphere' together with related notions of 'the' public sphere, 'counterpublics' and 'discourse publics'. It argues that the cultural public sphere emerges from cultural sources (e.g. ethnic identity) rather than political ones and is organized through private pursuits such as music, domestic life and leisure or entertainment venues. The article investigates the formation of a cultural public sphere by using the December 2005 'race riots' on Australian beaches as a case study. It argues that culture interacts with politics as 'new' media interact with mainstream news; and that counterpublic spheres interact with the cultural public sphere as 'internal' communication coexists with 'external'. The role of mainstream media in reporting and commenting on extreme displays is in part to stage conflict so that the general public can think through cultural-political issues via the theatrics