Sustaining interfaith dialogue - A case study from Australia
Author(s)
Schottmann, Sven A.
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Present-day Australia is often described as a successful example of a modern multicultural state.1
A growing number of non-British and non-European migrants have helped transform the country
into an increasingly plural society. Intolerance and even outright racism persist in a few sectors,
but on the whole, Australia’s political, cultural and intellectual elites have accepted the need for
migration, even if they have not always rushed to embrace the concept of multiculturalism. The
most cursory of surveys of Australian cities, suburbs and even rural areas would readily reveal the
extent to which the country has changed from ...
View more >Present-day Australia is often described as a successful example of a modern multicultural state.1 A growing number of non-British and non-European migrants have helped transform the country into an increasingly plural society. Intolerance and even outright racism persist in a few sectors, but on the whole, Australia’s political, cultural and intellectual elites have accepted the need for migration, even if they have not always rushed to embrace the concept of multiculturalism. The most cursory of surveys of Australian cities, suburbs and even rural areas would readily reveal the extent to which the country has changed from the days of the ‘white Australia’ policy. Ethnic and cultural pluralism are just two measures of this new social pluralism; the growing diversity of religious expression is another very important dimension of Australia’s multicultural reality. As Michális S. Michael points out, a key ‘antidote to the politics of fear’ has been the range of interfaith and multi-faith councils and networks that were set up in the course of the last 10 years.2
View less >
View more >Present-day Australia is often described as a successful example of a modern multicultural state.1 A growing number of non-British and non-European migrants have helped transform the country into an increasingly plural society. Intolerance and even outright racism persist in a few sectors, but on the whole, Australia’s political, cultural and intellectual elites have accepted the need for migration, even if they have not always rushed to embrace the concept of multiculturalism. The most cursory of surveys of Australian cities, suburbs and even rural areas would readily reveal the extent to which the country has changed from the days of the ‘white Australia’ policy. Ethnic and cultural pluralism are just two measures of this new social pluralism; the growing diversity of religious expression is another very important dimension of Australia’s multicultural reality. As Michális S. Michael points out, a key ‘antidote to the politics of fear’ has been the range of interfaith and multi-faith councils and networks that were set up in the course of the last 10 years.2
View less >
Journal Title
Global Change, Peace and Security
Volume
25
Issue
3
Subject
Policy and Administration not elsewhere classified
Criminology
Policy and Administration
Political Science