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Stranded Nation: White Australia in an Asian Region
David Walker’s Stranded Nation is a recommended read for anyone, politicians and students alike, seeking to know the history of Australia’s agonising over Asia; how it began, how it evolved and the passionate and colourful characters involved. Stranded Nation is told with authority, insight and wit, and the satisfying readability of a good novel, and that makes it great history.' — Stephen FitzGerald, writer, sinologist and Australia’s first Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China
For well over a century Australia’s place in Asia has been at the forefront of public discussion and controversy. Stranded Nation is a searching examination of how a ‘white’ nation, harbouring deep anxieties about rising Asia, sought to convince both itself and its neighbours that it belonged within the Asian region. This is the strange story of Australia’s momentous turn to the East.
Stranded Nation draws on a wide range of sources — from archival records in Australia, the US, the UK, India and New Zealand to the personal stories of Asian visitors. It introduces a surprisingly varied cast of historical actors with opinions on Australia’s place in Asia — writers, journalists, politicians, policy-makers, students and diplomats from within Australia and across the region. To that list we must add culturally illuminating fictional figures such as James Bigglesworth (airman, orientalist and hero to many young Australians).
This is a history of race, white prestige and belonging in a world shaken and transformed by decolonisation. These changes thrust the perplexing ‘mind of Asia’ to the fore. The psychology of Asia was often seen as the elusive key to understanding the region, rather than social and economic circumstances. With Britain’s withdrawal to Europe came a greater need for accommodation with Asia, leading to insistent calls for a better understanding of Asia and a new, more courteous racial etiquette. In response to these challenges, new image-building programs were created to make Australians appear an Asia-friendly people and not, as some critics in Asia claimed, arrogant white intruders.
For well over a century Australia’s place in Asia has been at the forefront of public discussion and controversy. Stranded Nation is a searching examination of how a ‘white’ nation, harbouring deep anxieties about rising Asia, sought to convince both itself and its neighbours that it belonged within the Asian region. This is the strange story of Australia’s momentous turn to the East.
Stranded Nation draws on a wide range of sources — from archival records in Australia, the US, the UK, India and New Zealand to the personal stories of Asian visitors. It introduces a surprisingly varied cast of historical actors with opinions on Australia’s place in Asia — writers, journalists, politicians, policy-makers, students and diplomats from within Australia and across the region. To that list we must add culturally illuminating fictional figures such as James Bigglesworth (airman, orientalist and hero to many young Australians).
This is a history of race, white prestige and belonging in a world shaken and transformed by decolonisation. These changes thrust the perplexing ‘mind of Asia’ to the fore. The psychology of Asia was often seen as the elusive key to understanding the region, rather than social and economic circumstances. With Britain’s withdrawal to Europe came a greater need for accommodation with Asia, leading to insistent calls for a better understanding of Asia and a new, more courteous racial etiquette. In response to these challenges, new image-building programs were created to make Australians appear an Asia-friendly people and not, as some critics in Asia claimed, arrogant white intruders.
534 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 8, 2019
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About the author
David Walker
9 books1 followerLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
David Walker is an Australian historian who holds Honorary Professorships at the University of Melbourne, Western Sydney University and Deakin University. From 2013–2016 he was the inaugural BHP Chair of Australian Studies at Peking University, Beijing. For many years he has studied Australia’s responses to Asia. His books include Anxious Nation: Australia and the rise of Asia, 1850–1939; Stranded Nation: White Australia in an Asian Region and (with Louise Johnson and Tanja Luckins) The Story of Australia: a new History of People and Place.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
David Walker is an Australian historian who holds Honorary Professorships at the University of Melbourne, Western Sydney University and Deakin University. From 2013–2016 he was the inaugural BHP Chair of Australian Studies at Peking University, Beijing. For many years he has studied Australia’s responses to Asia. His books include Anxious Nation: Australia and the rise of Asia, 1850–1939; Stranded Nation: White Australia in an Asian Region and (with Louise Johnson and Tanja Luckins) The Story of Australia: a new History of People and Place.
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August 22, 2022The saliency of this book in 2021 is greater now more than ever. Let's hope there are plenty of Australian public intellectuals, analysts, commentators and academics dusting off their copies. The quality of the debate surrounding Australia finding its place in the region is now more important than ever.
The geopolitical, geoeconomic, diplomatic and business ties with the Indo-Pacific are coming under tremendous strain.
Australia's identity and relations with its neighbours are once again in flux. Read David Walker's book to help make sense of it all. If you think I am exaggerating consider this;
1. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently made a provocative visit to Taiwan in which he made a speech that incensed the Chinese leadership, further straining our hope of resuming open diplomatic channels of communication.
2. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating recently lashed out at the Morrison government for entering into the trilateral AUKUS agreement.
3. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull questioned Australia's diplomatic handling of the AUKUS decision and the strain this would put on our relations with France, which has a presence in across the Indo-Pacific.
I could go on...
The geopolitical, geoeconomic, diplomatic and business ties with the Indo-Pacific are coming under tremendous strain.
Australia's identity and relations with its neighbours are once again in flux. Read David Walker's book to help make sense of it all. If you think I am exaggerating consider this;
1. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently made a provocative visit to Taiwan in which he made a speech that incensed the Chinese leadership, further straining our hope of resuming open diplomatic channels of communication.
2. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating recently lashed out at the Morrison government for entering into the trilateral AUKUS agreement.
3. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull questioned Australia's diplomatic handling of the AUKUS decision and the strain this would put on our relations with France, which has a presence in across the Indo-Pacific.
I could go on...
Displaying 1 of 1 review