A spatial and organisational analysis of Asian panethnic association in Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Purpose“Asian” is an aggregating descriptive term commonly used in Australian media, politics and everyday speech to describe people of diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which “Asian” Australian residents living in Perth, Western Australia demonstrate spatial or organisational panethnic association.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses quantitative population data from the 2011 Census using GIS to visualise the spatial residential distribution of individuals born in Asian countries and individuals with Chinese ancestry within the Perth metropolitan area. The paper further uses qualitative data drawn from fieldwork conducted in Perth to consider evidence of organisational panethnic association.FindingsFor first generation migrants there is currently little spatial or organisation evidence of “Asian” panethnic association in Perth. Migrants from different ethno-national backgrounds exhibit very different residential patterns. Incipient ethnoburbs are developing that appear to be based on ethnicity rather than panethnicity. Migrant organisation in Perth is likewise arranged primarily on the basis of ethnicity although some panethnic work is observed.Research limitations/implicationsFindings indicate trends towards ethnic residential segregation. Further longitudinal research could expand upon these findings. Qualitative research could determine causes of segregation and implications of (pan)ethnic identities, and explore how individuals from Asian countries respond to the dominant linguistic aggregation of “Asians”.Originality/valueThis paper offers an original analysis of a common frame of reference that has received little critical attention in the Australian context. It applies the framework of Asian panethnicity developed in the USA and finds it wanting, highlighting an inconsistency between the racialised language used in Australia to describe migrants from Asia and the ways these migrants associate.