Geographies of inter‐ethnic intimacy in NSW

In Australia, and other immigrant societies, inter-ethnic couples constitute a sizeable and growing sub‐population with unique experiences of, and exposure to, racism. However, inter‐ethnic intimacy has received scant attention in Australian scholarship, particularly within geography. This thesis uses 2006 Census data to investigate the residential geographies of a socially significant subset of inter‐ethnic couples (known as ‘in‐group/out‐group’ couples) across New South Wales (NSW). Some racism literature has used the terms ‘in‐group’ and ‘out‐group’ to distinguish between those (white) Australian or Anglo‐European ethnicities that form the dominant ‘host’ group in Australian society, and those perceived as incompatible with these dominant imaginaries of national identity and belonging. This thesis explores whether the residential geographies of in‐group/out‐group couples resemble spatial patterns of ethnic diversity, racial intolerance and socio‐economic status. In doing so, it provides a statistical foundation for future qualitative studies on such couples’ spatially contingent experiences of racism, and offers new insights into the spatial distribution (clustering/dispersal) of key ethnic groups. The main conclusion is that in‐group/out‐group couples are highly concentrated in Sydney, particularly in areas of low intolerance, moderate diversity and high socio‐economic status. In‐group/out‐group partnerships appear to expand and shift the residential horizons of out‐group persons in NSW, away from existing concentrations of their respective out‐group populations

A comparison of different methods to maximise signal extraction when using central venous pressure to optimise atrioventricular delay after cardiac surgery.

Our group has shown that central venous pressure (CVP) can optimise atrioventricular (AV) delay in temporary pacing (TP) after cardiac surgery. However, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is influenced both by the methods used to mitigate the pressure effects of respiration and the number of heartbeats analysed. This paper systematically studies the effect of different analysis methods on SNR to maximise the accuracy of this technique. We optimised AV delay in 16 patients with TP after cardiac surgery. Transitioning rapidly and repeatedly from a reference AV delay to different tested AV delays, we measured pressure differences before and after each transition. We analysed the resultant signals in different ways with the aim of maximising the SNR: (1) adjusting averaging window location (around versus after transition), (2) modifying window length (heartbeats analysed), and (3) applying different signal filtering methods to correct respiratory artefact. (1) The SNR was 27 % higher for averaging windows around the transition versus post-transition windows. (2) The optimal window length for CVP analysis was two respiratory cycle lengths versus one respiratory cycle length for optimising SNR for arterial blood pressure (ABP) signals. (3) Filtering with discrete wavelet transform improved SNR by 62 % for CVP measurements. When applying the optimal window length and filtering techniques, the correlation between ABP and CVP peak optima exceeded that of a single cycle length (R = 0.71 vs. R = 0.50, p < 0.001). We demonstrated that utilising a specific set of techniques maximises the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the utility of this technique. [Abstract copyright: © 2024 The Author(s).

Residential patterns of Australian mixed-ethnicity couples: advancing understandings of ethnic geographies

Intimate partnerships between people of different ethnicities signal the decreasing social and cultural distance between ethnic groups. Such partnerships are also powerful agents of social and demographic change. They can further erode barriers between ethnic groups by fostering interactions within partners’ personal networks. Equally, they can re-shape the ethnic identities of future generations as their children typically identify with multiple ethnicities. A geographic perspective on mixed-ethnicity partnerships reveals that these processes of change are spatially uneven. Prejudices against mixed-ethnicity couples persist among some segments of society, and vary geographically. By shifting the scale of ethnic diversity research to the household, a geographic perspective on mixed-ethnicity partnerships sheds new light on ethnic landscapes, challenging established understandings of diversity and segregation across cities. Yet to date, distributions of mixed-ethnicity couples have seldom featured in social geographic analysis, and not at all in the Australian context. This is a significant oversight given rising rates of mixed-ethnicity partnering. This thesis accordingly addresses the question, ‘How does a focus on Australian mixed-ethnicity couples and individuals advance established understandings of ethnic residential geographies?’ It adopts a mixed-methods approach, structured around distinct quantitative and qualitative components. Empirically, the focus is on couples involving an Anglo-European partner, and a partner from a visibly different ethnic minority group. The quantitative component of the study utilises customised census data to conduct Australia’s first-ever geographical analyses of mixed-ethnicity couples and individuals. It adopts finer-grained ethnic groups that have been conflated within broader pan-ethnic or racial categories in much existing geographical research on this topic. The qualitative component draws on in-depth interviews to explore mixed-ethnicity couples’ residential decision-making processes. Results portray the unique residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia. Mixed-ethnicity couples exhibit dispersed settlement patterns that do not align with those of their constituent ethnic groups. Broadly, their residential distributions are skewed towards moderately diverse, inner city localities and fall in-between those of ethnically homogeneous couples, affirming similar findings in the small number of comparable international studies. Their residential geographies counter ethnic majority and ethnic minority groups’ tendencies towards residential clustering. Mixed-ethnicity individuals have similarly dispersed residential patterns. Yet there are multiple geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples and individuals, that vary across ethnic groups. Analysis of subsequent interviews seeks to explain these distinctive geographies. Its findings are surprising, considering the importance ascribed to neighbourhood ethnic diversity in existing international geographic literature on mixed-ethnicity couples. ‘Conventional’ factors (e.g. proximity to jobs) dominated the interviewees’ accounts of residential decision-making. While the couples interviewed did not choose particular neighbourhoods based on their ethnic composition, they did enjoy diverse locales where they described feeling normal, or even invisible. Many preferred diverse contexts for raising mixed-ethnicity children. This thesis concludes that a focus on intra-household ethnic diversity is essential for understanding Australia’s ethnic geographies. For instance, it shows that some suburbs often labelled ‘ethnic enclaves’ are actually key sites of ethnic mixing within the home. It also demonstrates how the geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples speak back to broader theories of ethnic residential segregation, none of which sufficiently account for the observed results. Equally, this thesis has implications for theories regarding mixed-ethnicity couples’ residential outcomes, generating new insights into the ordinariness of their decision-making processes. Taken together, mixed-ethnicity couples’ distinctive residential patterns and explanatory narratives suggest that they do not feel tethered to existing ethnic landscapes, underscoring their role as change agents

Geographies of inter‐ethnic intimacy in NSW

In Australia, and other immigrant societies, inter-ethnic couples constitute a sizeable and growing sub‐population with unique experiences of, and exposure to, racism. However, inter‐ethnic intimacy has received scant attention in Australian scholarship, particularly within geography. This thesis uses 2006 Census data to investigate the residential geographies of a socially significant subset of inter‐ethnic couples (known as ‘in‐group/out‐group’ couples) across New South Wales (NSW). Some racism literature has used the terms ‘in‐group’ and ‘out‐group’ to distinguish between those (white) Australian or Anglo‐European ethnicities that form the dominant ‘host’ group in Australian society, and those perceived as incompatible with these dominant imaginaries of national identity and belonging. This thesis explores whether the residential geographies of in‐group/out‐group couples resemble spatial patterns of ethnic diversity, racial intolerance and socio‐economic status. In doing so, it provides a statistical foundation for future qualitative studies on such couples’ spatially contingent experiences of racism, and offers new insights into the spatial distribution (clustering/dispersal) of key ethnic groups. The main conclusion is that in‐group/out‐group couples are highly concentrated in Sydney, particularly in areas of low intolerance, moderate diversity and high socio‐economic status. In‐group/out‐group partnerships appear to expand and shift the residential horizons of out‐group persons in NSW, away from existing concentrations of their respective out‐group populations

Inter-ethnic partnerships: remaking urban ethnic diversity

Inter-ethnic couples are a growing population with unique and understudied residential geographies. Using customised 2006 Census data for the Greater Sydney region, we investigate the prevalence and geographic distribution of a socially significant subset of cohabiting inter-ethnic couples: ethnic majority-minority couples. These couples are comprised of an Anglo/European or (\u27white\u27) Australian partner and a partner from a \u27visible\u27 ethnic minority group. We find that ethnic majority-minority couples are most concentrated in inner-city areas of moderate ethnic diversity and high socio-economic status; and are more residentially dispersed than their respective ethnic minority groups. Inter-ethnic partnership appears to alter the residential geographies of ethnic minority groups. By shifting the scale of analysis from the individual to the household, our findings complicate established understandings of the ethnic geographies of Australian cities

New patterns of ethnic diversity: exploring the residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity individuals in Sydney, Australia

In multi-ethnic societies, the rise in mixed-ethnicity partnerships has contributed to strong growth in populations of mixed-ethnicity individuals. Yet scholarship on ethnic residential geographies has predominantly focused on individuals with singular ethnic identities. Using 2011 Australian census data, this paper explores the residential patterns of mixed-ethnicity populations in Sydney, Australia\u27s most populous city. I deploy a mapping analysis to show that mixed-ethnicity populations\u27 residential geographies are unique and do not match those of their constituent ethnic groups. In many cases, mixed-ethnicity individuals concentrate in inner-city areas, in contrast to the suburban hubs of their respective ethnic minority groups. They are also more likely to reside outside neighbourhoods with high proportions of their constituent ethnic groups, and instead gravitate towards moderately diverse neighbourhoods. The paper demonstrates the in-between nature of the geographies of mixed-ethnicity individuals, echoing established findings for mixed-race/ethnicity couples. Further, these geographies are powerfully differentiated according to birthplace and educational attainment. Australia-born mixed-ethnicity individuals and those with Bachelor degrees exhibit particularly extensive deviation from Sydney\u27s established ethnic landscape. The growing number of mixed-ethnicity individuals has implications for ethnic residential geographies both in this city, and in other diverse contexts

Mapping the multiple geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia

Mixed-ethnicity partnerships are becoming increasingly common in Australia and other countries of high immigration. Formal and de facto marriages involving partners from different ethnic backgrounds are key indicators of decreasing social distance between groups. Yet mixed-ethnicity couples have received scant attention from Australian geographers. We use customised data from the 2011 Australian census to analyse the nation-wide distribution of several types of mixed-ethnicity couples. We focus on couples comprised of an Anglo-European (ethnic majority) partner, and a partner from a \u27visible\u27 ethnic minority group. Our analyses explore the residential geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples vis-à-vis \u27co-ethnic couples\u27 (where partners share the same ethnicity). We find that mixed-ethnicity couples are more widely dispersed across Australian cities and regions than comparative co-ethnic couples. However, each type of mixed-ethnicity couple has its own unique residential pattern: there are multiple geographies of mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia. These distinctive patterns reflect the migration and settlement histories of the couples\u27 constituent ethnic groups, but also hold great potential to shift seemingly entrenched ethnic residential geographies in the present and future

Together and apart: relational experiences of place, identity and belonging in the lives of mixed-ethnicity families

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Intersectionality, as an ‘analytical sensibility’, demands attentiveness to the multiple aspects of identity that interlock to shape privilege and marginality in specific spatial contexts and moments. Notwithstanding their fluidity, intersectional analyses have retained a core focus on the individualized self. This paper articulates an intercorporeal approach to intersectionality, based on interviews with adult members of mixed-ethnicity (mixed-race) families. In public space, family members are exposed to stares, questions, judgements and racisms that metamorphose depending on who they are with. Alone, with a visibly different partner, with mixed-ethnicity children, or as a family unit, the strands of each family member’s multiple identities intersect with those of their loved ones. Each is interpellated–or feels interpellated–differently, in physical proximity to the other. Our empirical analysis sheds new light on the everyday lives of mixed-ethnicity families. Our theoretical pairing of intercorporeality and intersectionality presents an innovative extension to dominant interpretations of the latter. It highlights the analytical utility of adding an extra-individual lens to the intersectionality toolkit. While visibly different mixed-ethnicity families afford a potent example, our approach has broader resonance. An intercorporeal approach to intersectionality offers nuanced perspectives on place, identity and belonging. It is necessary because privilege and marginality are always lived, relationally

Neighborhood ethnic diversity and residential choice: how do mixed-ethnicity couples decide where to live?

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Ethnically mixed households signify decreasing social distance between ethnic groups, and have potential to transform urban ethnic landscapes. Quantitative research has revealed mixed-ethnicity couples’ distinctive residential geographies, which interrupt established segregation patterns. Mixed-ethnicity couples often concentrate in diverse neighborhoods. Yet few studies have asked these couples to explain the reasons behind their residential decision-making. We respond to this gap, drawing on 48 interviews with mixed-ethnicity couples in Australia. Conventional concerns prevailed in discussions of neighborhood choice: dwelling characteristics, affordability, proximity to workplace and family and accessibility of services. Most expressed affinity for ethnically diverse neighborhoods, but rarely cited this as a primary decision-making factor. Our findings counter assumptions that ethnic differences are front-and-center of mixed-ethnicity families’ everyday decision-making, and highlight their ordinariness. Mixed-ethnicity couples’ seeming lack of focus on neighborhood ethnic composition shows that being surrounded by ethnically similar people is not always a driving force in people’s residential lives