National Identity, Australian Values and Outsiders

Abstract

This chapter examines the Australian identity and values, and Australians’ treatment of outsiders. A historical overview of the ways in which Australian identity has been defined is accompanied by a review of relevant research. We explore the construction and contestation of the Australian identity on an explicit and implicit level, and its relation to other identities such as the inclusive human category, or identification as a White/European Australian. We describe a programme of research in which identification as an Australian is associated with hostile or favourable attitudes to outsiders across a range of contexts. These associations of social attitudes and the Australian identity are understood in terms of influence processes, and in particular the operation of group norms (standards or rules for social behaviour). A theoretical model of the operation of identity politics to create or alter conflictual relations between social groups is described, and implications for peace-building interventions are discussed.