Intersectional Lives: Chinese Australian Women in White Australia

Description

Intersectional Lives explores the lives of contemporary Chinese Australian women and how their everyday experiences have played out in diverse and uneven ways across time and place. Interrogations of personal reflections are coupled with a postcolonial feminist reading of official records, demonstrating that the women’s varied experiences as migrants, mothers, daughters, wives, students, workers, business owners and cultural custodians are influenced by their multiple and fluid identities. This book offers new ways to conceptualize Chinese women in the diaspora as gendered, classed, culturally varied and racialized individuals with multiple identifications, forms of agency and mobility. It offers a revision of patriarchal understandings of Chinese Australian history and broader understandings of overseas Chinese migrations and settlement experiences. It also demonstrates how historical geography, informed by postcolonial feminist approaches, can facilitate more nuanced understandings of past (and present) times and places that include women’s diverse experiences at a variety of scales. This book will appeal to social and cultural geographers with additional audiences of interest in ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, diaspora studies, migration studies, gender and feminist studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Acknowledgements A Note on Terminology A Note on Historical Photographs Chapter 1: Introduction Chinese migrations, settlement and restrictive legislation in the Australian context, 1800–1973 Book outline Notes References Chapter 2: Intersectionality and postcolonial feminist geography as a way of inclusion Revisiting the national epic and including ‘home’ and household geographies Overcoming ‘numerical paucity’ and methodological challenges Moves to correct the gender lacuna Postcolonial feminism and intersectional approaches in geography Listening to women’s voices Re-examining historical census data Historical geographies and contemporary contexts Conclusion Notes References Chapter 3: Presence, diversity and mobility Evidence of female presence Birthplace statistics Presence of wives and mothers Presence of unmarried Chinese Australian women Presence of Australian-born female children Uncovering an enduring presence International migration and mobility Migrant wives International mobility of Australian-born females Geographical distribution and intra-national mobility Conclusion Notes References Chapter 4: Domestic roles and the family economy Confucianism in Australian family contexts Memories of childhood: creating future wives A complex negotiation Homemaking and contributions to the family economy Pushing the boundaries of ‘women’s work’ Challenging gender expectations Employment beyond family businesses Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: Cultural maintenance in homes and families Chinese Australian families and the context of isolation Language The role of mothers in language maintenance Fathers, language and identity Food culture and ‘Chineseness’ Mothers and the maintenance of food culture Beyond the everyday: rituals and seasonal festivities Celebrating Chinese New Year Ancestor worship Adopting ‘Australian’ traditions Conclusion Notes References Chapter 6: Interactions and identity School-yard bullying and feelings of difference Assumptions of foreignness Everyday’ discriminatory practices and prejudice Intersections of ‘race’ and class The limits of assimilation Experiences of inclusion Conclusion Note References Chapter 7: Conclusions and looking forward Key findings and contributions Presence and mobility Homes and family responsibilities Cultural maintenance and pluralism Interactions and identity beyond the home (Re)constructing Chinese Australian historical geographies Directions for future research References Appendix A: Brief biographies of interview participants Appendix B: List of census publications Index