Invitation
We are pleased to invite you to the third International Conference on Racisms in the New World: Realities of Culture, Colour and Identity in North Queensland to be held at the Pacific International Hotel, Cairns from 30-31 August, 2012.
The new millennium continues to present us with increased complexities in dealing with racist practice and racialised discourses. The continued unrest across the world fuels debates around national security and the war on terror, debates that in turn focus on and demonize marginalized groups in society. The overarching reach of the media increasingly exacerbates moral panic in the public arena around asylum-seekers, Muslims and all those who are visibly different. State paternalism has led to increased attempts to control the lives of Indigenous Peoples even to the extent of suspending protective legislation, such as anti-discrimination legislation.
Questions of national identity and citizenship continue to hold centre-stage, often conjoined with fears of the ‘other’. Racism continues to permeate our lives in both subtle and overt forms, even as many people continue to assert either that ‘racism does not exist’ or, in a modified form, that ‘all people are racist’.
The replacement of overt forms of racism by indirect and covert forms of ‘new racisms’ that use ideas of insurmountable cultural differences brought about by alien cultural values and lifestyles has made the task of challenging racism all the more difficult. And yet, racism continues to impact severely on the life chances of large sections of people across the world and, as such, cannot be ignored.
The Cairns Institute at James Cook University, in partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission is holding this international conference as an arena for dialogue on the theory and practice of racism. The conference will provide an opportunity to share information on the experiences of racism in a national and in a global context.
The conference further aims to create an impetus for change and development as well as inform public debate by identifying policy and program issues, strategies and education tools, as well as best practice and innovative programs in combating racism.
This two-day event will incorporate keynote speakers, paper presentations, networking opportunities and the showcasing of international good practice.
Proposals for paper presentations at the conference are invited from practitioners, researchers, policy makers, educators and academics, government and non-government services, community groups and individual community members from across Australia and internationally.
August in tropical Cairns should reflect the beautiful North Queensland weather – beautiful one day, perfect the next! As well as the excellent professional development and networking opportunity is the chance to experience the many pleasures of North Queensland - snorkelling or diving on the Great Barrier Reef, visiting the Daintree Rainforest, taking the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda, walking along the esplanade, shopping at the Cairns Night Market or just relaxing at Mission Beach - clearly there is plenty on offer in Cairns.
We look forward to you joining us in Cairns in 2012.
Conference Organising Committee
Hurriyet Babacan (Chair)
Narayan Gopalkrishnan