Constructing Racism in Sydney, Australia's Largest EthniCity

Abstract

Contemporary Australia is in a contradictory situation as a nation where multiculturalism co-exists with various forms of what are collectively called racisms. Based on a survey of Sydney residents, this study uses a social constructivist approach to investigate the nature and sociospatial context of racist attitudes in Sydney, Australia's largest EthniCity. Results show a mix of compositional (aspatial) and contextual (spatial) associations with racisms. The former indicate a general but inconsistent relationship between socioeconomic status and tolerance, and also between cultural diversity and tolerance. The latter, however, reveal place-based cultures of tolerance and intolerance cutting across compositional relationships. A geography of racism in Sydney therefore adds a level of understanding which cannot be obtained from aspatial analysis alone. This helps to understand the complexity of local political cultures and can assist with the formulation of anti-racism interventions.