12 – 14 March 2020 Borders, Identities and Belonging in a ...

#ASG20201Borders, Identities and Belonging in a Cosmopolitan Society

Arts Hall (Room 222) Old Arts Building,Parkville Campus, University of Melbourne

Convened by the African Studies Group

Borders, Identities and Belonging in a Cosmopolitan Society

12 – 14 March 2020

Perspectives from African Migrants in the Diaspora


University of Melbourne Arts Hall (Room 222) Old Arts Building,Parkville Campus

The Old Arts building is located north of the South Lawn.

The building is a 10 minute walk from Tram Stop 1 on Swanston Street.

It can Also be accessed via tram stops on Royal Parade.

Old Arts Building

VENUE


PARTNERSAND SPONSORS

We thank our sponsors and partners: • Scanlon Foundation

• Jesuit Social Services

• African Engagement Platform

• School of Social and Political Sciences

• Melbourne Social Equity Institute

• University of Melbourne Graduate Student Association


WELCOME MESSAGE

We are excited to welcome you all to the inaugural conference of the African Studies Group (ASG). For those of you who have travelled from overseas and interstate for this conference, welcome to the University of Melbourne, Australia! And to those of you at the University of Melbourne or within Victoria, you are equally welcome.

ASG is an association of researchers with interests in African studies hosted by the University of Melbourne. We provide an enabling platform for informative and supportive collegial discussions. We meet once a month, and we’re open to scholars of African descent, scholars interested in African studies and the general public. As part of our commitment, ASG engages with a range of activities which include monthly seminars, workshops, and community engagement.

We have committed as a group to host an annual conference, starting the year 2020, that draws on academic and practitioner experiences to explore deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in Australia, and beyond. This conference is organised in fulfillment of this pledge.

Borders, Identities and Belonging have been at the centre of debates on the profound transformations wrought by globalization. But perhaps the movementof people across geographical borders, and the transformative impact of the digital revolution thathas ushered in the information age, are the most illustrative examples. Extant literature and discourse has primarily analysed issues of borders in isolation, thus overlooking the intersection of these two issues. Where this intersection has been examined, it has been in the analogue sense, especially physical geographical borders. There is therefore a lacuna, in literature and discourse, on the intersection of borders and identity, in both the analogue and digital realms.

Moreover, debates on these issues have been largely confined either in academic platforms or public policy and community forums, but rarely engaging all sides. Given the increasing salience of migration and identity issues in politics world over, there is a renewed need for innovative platforms on which to foster these debates. That is, there is a need to engage scholars, practitioners and community members in these deliberations, especially in Australia where there are high waves of migrant issues in recent

times.

The Borders, Identities and Belonging conference will be organised around the following thematic questions:

1. The Concept of Home : What and where is home? Where, when and how do we feel a sense of ‘belonging’?

2. Relevance of Borders : How do borders permeate our social lives?

3. Digital Transformation : How have digital communication platforms transformed the concepts and experiences of borders, identity and belonging?

4. Multiculturalism and Integration : What are the experiences and prospects of multiculturalism in increasing our sense of belonging and social integration?

The Borders, Identities and Belonging conference will comprise three key elements:

1. Masterclass and Public Lecture;2. Academic panels;3. Practitioners panels

These three elements are distinct but interrelated, and will comprise the first, second and third days of the conference, respectively. The program for this conference is exciting.

We have two distinguished international keynote speakers, several academic and practitioner panels, a public lecture and a masterclass!

Please join us in thanking our partners, the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne for availing the conference venues; Melbourne Social Equity Institute, Scanlon Foundation, African Engagement Platform, Jesuit

Social Services, Graduate Student Association, the conference volunteers, our academic adviser (A/Prof. Bina Fernandez) and many others who have supported in making this conference a reality. Also, a big thank you as participants in the conference.

Welcome and enjoy!

ASG Conference CommitteeKennedy Liti Mbeva, Franka Vaughan, Matthew MabefamDr. Emmanuel Lohkoko Awoh


09:30 - 10:00 Registration

10:00 - 10:15 Welcome Remarks and Acknowledgment of Country Matthew Mabefam

10:15 - 10:45 Session 1: Setting the SceneWhat is the purpose of research?

10:45 - 11:15 Session 2: Research UptakeBorderless Research: Why the need for it?

11:15 - 11:30 Break

11:30 - 12:00 Session 3: Research-Practice Nexus How does academic research influence public policy

12:00 - 12:30 Session 4: Mutual Engagement How can academics and practitioners collaborate?

12:30 - 13:00 Concluding PlenaryProf. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatesheni

Day 1Thursday, 12 March 2020

MASTERCLASS: PROF. MICHAEL BAFFOE

PUBLIC LECTURE (REMOTE): PROF. SABELO NDLOVU-GATESHENIMC: KENNEDY LITI MBEVA AND A/PROF. BINA FERNANDEZ

LUNCH

Forum Theatre (North Wing, Room 153), Arts West

9:30 - 13:00

16:30 - 18:00

13:00 - 13:30

Planetary Human Entanglements and the Crisis of Living TogetherThe Politics of Borders, Migrations, Belonging, Identities and Citizenship in the 21st Century


Day 2: Academic PanelsFriday, 13 March 2020

REGISTRATION AND OPENING

SESSION 1: MULTICULTURALISM

8:00 - 9:30

9:40 - 10:50

08:00 - 08:30 Registration

08:30 - 09:00 Welcome to Country Uncle Dave Wandin, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung

09:00 - 09:10 Welcome RemarksASG & A/Prof. Bina Fernandez

09:10 - 09:30 Keynote: Evaluating Positive Sense of Identity and Belonging of Newcomers as Indicators of Successful Integration in New SocietiesProf. Michael Baffoe

9:40 - 9:50 Creative Laboratories of Belonging: A Toolkit for Boosting Sense of Place and Cultural Agency Among Resettled Migrants and Asylum seekers Sarah De Nardi

9:50 - 10:00 “You are my Negro” and “One Too Many”: Owning Blackness in Order to Contain the NoirLicho Lopez Lopez

10:00 - 10:10 From Third Space to Sixth Region - African Diaspora and AU’s Agenda 2063 Way ForwardChika Anyanwu

10:10 - 10:20 ‘An Excess of Inclusion Over Belonging’: Police as Key Actors in the Governance of BelongingLeanne Weber

10:20 - 10:30 Refugee-background Africans in Australia: Reflections on Key Indicators of IntegrationTebeje Molla Mekonnen

10:30 - 10:50 Q & A

ChairElsa Licumba

COFFEE BREAK10:50 - 11:20


SESSION 2: WHERE IS HOME?

SESSION 3: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS

LUNCH

11:30 - 12:40

14:00 - 15:10

12:50 - 13:50

11:30 - 11:40 Place Renaming as the Fluid, Relational and Temporary Discursive Production of Place and Belonging in ZimbabweDorcas Zuvalinyenga

11:40 - 11:50 Reimagining Fluidity of Home(s)Surjeet Dhanji

11:50 - 12:00 How Will I Age Well in this Foreign Land? Prospects for Older Aged African Former Refugees in AustraliaSatwinder Rehal

12:00 - 12:10 Freedom to Belong. From Mozambique to Australia: My Journey of Blending Cultures in AustraliaElsa Licumba

12:10 - 12:20 A home Away from Home… Nigerian Migrant Secondary Students’ Journey from Isolation to Integration in TasmaniaLouise Kidmas

12:20 - 12:40 Q & A

14:00 - 14:10 Setting the Tone - Creating a Digital Media Platform with Young Australians of South Sudanese DescentShannon Owen

14:10 - 14:20 The African Diaspora and Public Policy in Australia and AfricaSamuel Makinda

14:20 - 14:30 Spirituality and Health: Southern African Migrants’ Health Beliefs and Spaces for Seeking Appropriate ServicesLloyd Changaira

14:30 - 14:40 Contested Communications and Diminished Dignities? The Role of Image-making in the Resistance to ViolenceVivian Gerrand

14:40 - 14:50 The Impact of Migration on Identity Discourse within the AustralianElizabeth Lang (via Zoom)

14:50 - 15:10 Q & A

ChairCharlene Edwards

ChairSamuelson Appau


SESSION 4: RELEVANCE OF BORDERS

CONCLUSION & LOGISTICAL ANNOUNCEMENT ASG TEAM

15:50 - 17:00

17:00 - 17:10

15:50 - 16:00 “Border Militarization and the Re-articulation of Sovereignty” in the Memoirs of Edwidge Danticat and Ghada KarmiChinelo Ezenwa (via Zoom)

16:00 - 16:10 AfREC: Linking Australia-Africa Research, Policy and CommunityDavid Mickler

16:10 - 16:20 The Vision of an Eco-socialist World System: Beyond Borders and Toward Cosmopolitanism and MulticulturalismHans Baer

16:20 - 16:30 New Mobilities and the Humanitarian Work of Refugee Diaspora Organisations in AustraliaLouise Olliff

16:30 - 16:40 “No-one Can Stay Without Someone”: The Role of Transnational Networks in Shaping the Lives and Livelihoods of the Nuer-speaking Peoples of Ethiopia and South SudanSara Maher, Santino Atem Deng & Bichok Wan

16:40 - 17:00 Q & A

ChairDominic Dagbanja


LAUNCH OF UBUNTU REPORT

CONFERENCE DINNERAdonai Foods, 478 Drummond Street, Carlton, 3053

17:20 - 18:00

18:10 - Late

Reintegration and Resettlement of African Australians Released from Prison: Towards an Ubuntu Framework of SupportGerald Osando et. al.


Day 3: Practitioner PanelsSaturday, 14 March 2020

WELCOME

SESSION 1: JESUIT SOCIAL SERVICES’ PANEL

SESSION 2: AFRICAN SOLIDARITY

COFFEE BREAK

SESSION 3: DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC POLICY

9:00 - 9:10

09:20 - 10:20

11:00 - 12:00

10:30 - 10:50

12:10 - 13:00

Welcome Remarks Prof. Karen Farquharson

Working Alongside African Communities in VictoriaPaige Van Every, Leanne Acreman, Sarah Oliver, Matthew Gmalifo Mabefam, Jeremie Nyetam

The Practice of Ubuntu in Reintegrating and Empowering African Australians in and out of the Justice SystemDiana Johns, Karen Farquharson, Gerald Onsando, Selba Luka, Mamadou Diamanka, Greg Armstrong

RoundtableDi Fleming (Mauritius Consulate Melbourne), Irina Herrschner (University of Bayreuth), Anthea Hancocks (Scanlon Foundation), Ministry of Planning, Housing and Multicultural Affairs

LUNCH13:00 - 13:50



SESSION 4: PAN-AFRICANISM14:00 - 15:00

14:00 - 14:10 Bounded Pan-Africanism. Navigating 21st Century Regional Integration, its Consequences to a New Africa and its Relationship with the EorldReuben Makomere

14:10 - 14:20 Law-making in a Borderless Cosmos: What Implication for Access-to-Medicine Policy Space in the East African Community?Olugbenga Olatunji

14:20 - 14:30 The System of Castes and Slavery in Africa: Where the Insuperable Borders Between Law and Customs Oblige Individual to Cross Physical Borders in Order to Find Protection AbroadCristiano D’Orsi

14:30 - 14:40 Migration Law, Modern Slavery and Multiculturalism in AustraliaDominic Dagbanja

14:40 - 15:00 Q & A

ChairBina Fernandez

SESSION 5: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT15:40 - 16:40

15:40 - 15:50 The Black Rhinos Basketball Program: An Innovative Approach for Reintegrating Young African Australians Using the Concept of Ubuntu and The Positive Change ModelSelba Gondoza Luka

15:50 - 16:00 Developing a Business Program for Africa Australian EntrepreneursSamuelson Appau

16:00 - 16:10 African Studies Group @UNIMELBFranka Vaughan, Kennedy Liti Mbeva

16:10 - 16:20 Engaging African Students in Australian UniversitiesKevin Kapeke

16:20 - 16:40 Q & A

ChairMatthew Mabefam

SUMMARY, EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION 16:40 - 17:10


Masterclass and Public Lecture

Day 1


Research is a process that aims to discover and advance the frontiers of knowledge. It is concerned with increasing our understanding of issues in our localities/immediate environments and outside our localities. Research begins when we become inquisitive about a phenomenon. It can assume many forms, depending on the discipline to which it pertains. It may pursue the proving or disproving of theory for the purposes of developing or contributing to a body of knowledge in a field. It is a tool for facilitating learning. Research is also a quest to understand various issues that enhance public awareness and knowledge. It can be a process to impeach lies and to support truth.

Research is guided by its accoutrement of seed money to love reading, writing, analyzing and sharing valuable information. As scientific organizations vie for an ever-expanding global audience, transcending national borders, researchers in other disciplines are now embracing this concept too, leading to the emergence of one of the new frontiers - Borderless Research. As a form of internationalization, it posits the growing network of communication, transactions and organization that transcends national frontiers . This movement can be seen as a coordinated process, geared towards the production of knowledge and the dissemination of the knowledge created across international boundaries. To this extent, Borderless Research and higher education transcend time and space, moving from the national, the international and finally to transnationalism.

There is therefore, the need for an increasing nexus, especially in research and higher education, between local and international actors, within the increasing globalization arena, in which the actors (citizens) are inter-connected and inter-dependent. The world is now regarded as a global village, in which whatever happens in one small corner of the globalized village has increased, and sometimes present instant, repercussions on other segments or actors in the global arena.

This Masterclass will explore the obvious necessity of the new Borderless Research trend and its impact in higher education, in politics and policy formulation/implementation, community development, global diplomacy and the direction of the world economy.

Can Human Knowledge Dismantle Time and Space? A Masterclass Exploring the Application of Borderless Research to Enhance globalised reality in Academia and Policy-making

Michael Baffoeis a Professor of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (University of Ghana), Bachelor of Social Work (McGill), Master of Social Work (McGill), PhD (Social Work/Educational Studies, McGill). He is the Chair of the Ph.D Program at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Baffoe’s areas of research interest and teaching are on world migration and refugee movements, settlement and integration in new societies, especially settlement implications for youth in new societies. Since 2008, he has founded, and been the Chair of a renowned International Conference on migration and settlement dubbed Strangers in New Homelands, at the University of Manitoba.


The paradox of the 21st century is that of greater planetary human entanglements enabled by globalisation, technological conquest of space and distance, marked by migrations and repopulations of the earth on the one hand and on the other the upsurge of narrow nationalisms, exclusionary xenophobic feelings, and rising of walled states at a global scale. This keynote address is focused on this paradox of the 21st century and it returns to the foundational question of who belongs to the earth—a question which underpinned and drove the colonial expansion of the fifteenth century, the emergence of the broader politics of social classification of human species and their racial hierarchisation.

The fundamental thesis here is that the 21st century is haunted by the colonial modernity’s paradigm of difference. Which enabled not only social classification and racial hierarchisation but also the colonial conquest, cartography, naming, and owning of the world by the drivers of the colonial project. Such offshoots of modernity as nationalism inevitably embraced and were driven by the paradigm of difference as they envisioned modern nation-states. Here was born the complex politics of borders, belonging, identities, and citizenship. The foundational colour line defined byWilliam EB Dubois mutated into multiple other lines of gender, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, citizenship, and other markers of difference that are currently haunting the modern world.

Consequently, sharing the earth and living together as humans as well as co-existence with other beings, has become a major challenge within a modern world cut-across by borders. Borders have crossed the human habitats and are determining the tempo of migrations, criteria of belonging and citizenship. Human identities are hostage to the social classifications and racial hierarchisations, making it very difficult to live together and to share space on earth.

Planetary HumanEntanglements and theCrisis of Living Together The Politics of Borders, Migrations, Belonging, Identities and Citizenship in the 21st Century

Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheniis currently Research Professor and Director of Scholarship at the Department of Leadership and Transformation in the Principal and Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa. His latest publications include Decolonizing the University, Knowledge Systems and Disciplines (Carolina Academic Press, 2016) and Decolonization, Development and Knowledge in Africa: Turning Overa New Leaf (Routledge, 2020). An exhaustive list of publications can be found at https://bit.ly/38F15FM


Session 1: Multiculturalism

Day 2

ChairElsa Licumba


This paper reflects on participatory fieldwork - specifically visual storytelling and non-Euclidean mapping - with individuals who recently resettled from Sub-Saharan Africa to southern Europe. Arguably, as individuals become displaced or migrate, they need to quickly garner new points of reference to reorientate their social and perceptual world in a new context which may differ substantially from their point of origin. Often the complexity of the migration experience is difficult to glean through traditional engagement methods such as one-on-one interviews and narrative-focused focus groups. The ‘creative laboratories of belonging’ approach contributes to a growing migrant belonging and place-making research. Boosting cultural inclusion is paramount, as many recent migrants experience prejudice and rejection in what they may perceive as a hostile environment. In order to counter the sense of isolation and dejection that some experience, it helps to identify and support the strategies individuals use to get to know place and feel like they fit in. After summarising the method itself and relating participant feedback and experiences during and after the sessions, this paper reflects on the perceived and proven benefits of creative laboratories as a tool for boosting sense of belonging and creating a greater sense of cultural inclusion. It also reports on its potential benefit in an Australian context and reports on work in progress in this direction.

Creative Laboratories of BelongingA Toolkit for Boosting Sense of Place and Cultural Agency Among Resettled Migrants and Asylum Seekers

Sarah De NardiI am a Lecturer in Heritage and Tourism at Western Sydney University (Australia) in the School of Social Sciences. My research and practice explore the ways people enact place through memory, the imagination and storytelling practices. I conductparticipatory, participant-led mapping and visualisation practices that channel sense of place from the perspective of transnational communities and in communities affected by conflict and disaster. I work as a cultural agency advocate in Italy (On The Road Cooperativa Sociale NGO), Pakistan (various NGOs) and Australia (Horn of Africa Relief and Development Agency). My most recent monograph Visualising Place, Memory and the Imagined (Routledge) traces the experiences and memories of individuals and communities ‘caught up’ in places imbued with historical unrest or upheaval. I aim to bring my outreach experience to bear by the end of 2020 by facilitating a community-led and curated art and craft exhibition based in Sydney, showcasing ‘transnational agency’ of refugees and recent migrants.


This academic paper responds to the important question posed by this inaugural conference: How do borders permeate our social lives? This paper is preoccupied with the borders of reason (thinking with Fanon) that attempt to contain the propagation of untamable Black formations in Naarm and the various countries that surround it. These borders (following Derrida) are also anthropological and sociological rehearsals of coloniality and chattel slavery that refuse abolition. This paper focuses on two specific sections of a larger paper that addresses the struggle to innovate in a higher education institution where innovation is paradoxically a key mandate. Specifically, this innovation refers to opening up an educational space in the creation of a university subject that invites future teachers and education workers to imagine and work towards curating futures without antiblack racism. The creation of the subject—Wakanda: African Futures in Education—is informed by empirical research in Melbourne’s primary schools and living an empirical and melanated life under a highly sophisticated antiblack weather (Sharpe, 2018). In Naarm, young Black youth from the African diaspora are entering educational spaces unequipped to witness them flourish with the power and possibilities vested in them by their ancestors who always already knew they were the future. With peers calling students the N word and teachers punishing students for being called the N word, higher education institutions have the mandate of the last century to prepare this century’s abolitionist teachers and education workers who dare witness Black youth’s growth in all its splendor. Although the focus of this paper is primarily theoretical, it cannot be so without the empirical basis that ground the claims that in turn inform the transformational practices the paper aims to inspire. If we listen closely, transforming the antiblack racism poisoning our social life is less difficult that we imagine.

“You are my negro” and “One too many”Owning Blackness in order to contain the Noir

Ligia (Licho) López Lópezis a Lecturer at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on interrogating diversity, Bla(c)k and Brown youth affect as curricular trans-formation, and global histories of marroonage as Black future making in the 21st century. Licho is the author of The Making of Indigeneity, Curriculum History and the Limits of Diversity (Routledge, 2018). Her work has appeared in Race Ethnicity and Education, The British Journal of Sociology of Education, Discourse, and Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, among others. She is currently working on two books under contract with Routledge entitled Taking place: Indigenous perspectives on future(s) and learning(s) (with Gioconda Coello), andMigrating Americas: Interrogating the relations between migration and education in the South (with Ivón Cepeda and Maria Emilia Tijoux). ‘transnational agency’ of refugees and recent migrants.


According to Stuart Hall (2006, p. 4) “it is as if every historical moment poses a set of cognitive, political questions which together create a ‘horizon’ of possible futures within which we ‘think the present’, and to which our practices constitute a reply; a moment defined as much by the questions posed as by the ‘answers’ we seem constrained or ‘conscripted’ to give”. The moment in our time is about Africa’s future in the next 50 years, and the role African diaspora plays or will play in enabling such a future. In 2010, the African Union declared the African Diaspora as the Sixth region and established the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO). Using the work of Homi Bhabha (1994) and Edward Soja (1996), this paper argues that members of the African diaspora occupy a Third space. Diasporic citizens are often perceived by their hosts as living at the periphery of society (due to migratory stereotypes), while at the same time they are perceived to be living at the centre by members of their homeland. They are also often regarded as aliens and their legitimacy in representing Africa questioned. In May 2013, the African Union unveiled Agenda 2063 which is regarded as “Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming the continent into a global powerhouse of the future”. What is important in this roadmap is the central role that members of the diaspora are expected to play. Research Question: How does the AU expect to harness the full potentials of members of the African diaspora with such polarised positioning? In response to the above perceptual complexity and question, this research presentation will be an interactive and information gathering session for some practical steps through which members of the African diaspora can contribute towards realising AU’s Agenda 2063.

From Third Space to Sixth Region African Diaspora and AU’s Agenda 2063 Way Forward

Chika Anyanwuis a transformational leader and media scholar with international leadership successes at the University of Papua New Guinea, Curtin University, University of Adelaide and Charles Sturt University. Latterly he served as Head of the Bathurst Campus of Charles Sturt University, and Director of Partnerships of Southern Cross University. He has a PhD in Cinema, MA in Media Arts, First Class Honours in Theatre Arts, Graduate Business Qualifications in Leadership and management. He is Founding Partner of C3N2 Educational Empowerment, a social enterprise designed to empower people and institutions from low socioeconomic and emerging communities http//c3n2.org. Chika has received many awards including the Leslie Humanities Cyber Disciplinarity Fellowship, Dartmouth, USA; US House of Representatives Special Congressional Recognition for Extraordinary Leadership and Outstanding Individual Service to the Community; Two California State Assembly Certificates of Recognition for Community Service to Silicon Valley African Film Festival; Australian African Chamber of Commerce, Excellence Award for Distinguished service in Media Education. He is also a Fellow of the Governors Leadership Foundation. Chika is a Research Associate at Hugo Centre for Migration and Population Research, University of Adelaide. His research areas include Political Economy, African Diaspora and Migration, New media policy and Radicalisation.


Police researchers often speak about police ‘patrolling the boundaries of belonging’, however, the dynamics of this process are rarely closely examined. Similarly, social researchers exploring questions of integration and identity have generally studied the social and economic factors that influence belonging without considering the impact of encounters with authorities. This paper, based on a qualitative study with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds in south-east Melbourne, spans this inter-disciplinary field by exploring the impact of police encounters on young people’s personal perceptions of belonging. Participants in the study were predominantly from Pasifika and South Sudanese Australian backgrounds. The study revealed a number of ways in which police enforce, reproduce and sometimes contest the dynamically changing boundaries of belonging at the levels of governance, politics and individual emotions, contributing to what Mezzadra and Neilson have called ‘an excess of inclusion over belonging’.

‘An Excess of Inclusion Over Belonging’Police as Key Actors in the Governance of Belonging

Leanne Weber is Associate Professor of Criminology, Director of the Border Crossing Observatory and Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. She researches policing and border control using criminological and human rights frameworks. Her books include The Routledge International Handbook on Criminology and Human Rights, 2017 (with Elaine Fishwick and Marinella Marmo); Policing Non-Citizens, 2013 (Routledge); Stop and Search: Police Power in Global Context, 2013 (Routledge, with Ben Bowling); and Globalization and Borders: Death at the Global Frontier, 2011 (Palgrave, with Sharon Pickering), which won the inaugural Christine M Alder Book Prize by making the most ‘valuable and outstanding contribution to criminology’ in Australia during 2011-2013.


In the last three decades, Australia has settled a considerable number of African refugees. However, integration of the refugee youth remains a critical issue. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data sets, this paper explicates integration of refugee-background African youth in four key domains: cultural adaptation, educational attainment, economic participation, and social engagement. It is argued that with low educational attainment, acculturative stress, and poor job prospects, refugee-background African communities are destined to remain at the margin of society. In light of such concerns, the paper calls for an expansive view of the disadvantage of the refugee youth, specifically highlighting the need for (a) addressing structural factors of exclusion, (b) recognising personal heterogeneities, and (c) providing substantive opportunities that can be converted into valued outcomes.

Refugee-background Africans in AustraliaReflections on Key Indicators of Integration

Tebeje Molla Mekonnenis a DECRA Fellow in the School of Education, Deakin University. His current project explores higher education participation among African refugee youth in Australia. His main research areas include: (i) educational inequality and policy responses, (ii) transnational educational policy processes, (iii) graduate research training policy, and (iv) teacher professional learning. Theoretically, Tebeje’s work is informed by critical sociology and the capability approach to social justice and human development.


Session 2: Where is Home?

Day 2

ChairCharlene Edwards


This article explores how renaming places in Zimbabwe is the political leadership’s way of making sense of place and cementing their belongingness and power over place. Place renaming has been a regular practice, especially in nations that have witnessed a change in governments, and Zimbabwe has seen its fair share of place name changes. Recently, the Zimbabwean government renamed a number of roads and other government places acknowledging the functional and symbolic power of place naming. These renaming exercises have been exploited in a number of ways but they have also received mixed reactions from Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora. They are not only a way for the political leadership’s means of making sense of belonging and power over place, but also the ZANU PF political elite’s manipulative use of place renaming to sell their nationalist, pan-African and anti-colonialism ideology and hegemony. They also reflect the fluidity, relational and temporariness of place, identity and belonging in a global, cosmopolitan and multicultural society since some places have had multiple identities depending on who is in charge of the government. The article utilizes a critical discourse analytical tools-set to propose that place renaming in Zimbabwe is an exercise of political power through linguistic place-making activities since naming involves assigning meanings to spaces, thereby creating places that are perceived as the basis of belonging. The article goes on to highlight how such ideological naming practices are exclusionary of those that do not have power/voice in the decision making processes. The article further argues that, through the affordances of digital communication platforms, Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora have registered their contestation of such partisan place renaming practices. It then concludes by recommending the adoption of inclusive and participatory naming practices.

Place Renaming as the Fluid, Relational and Temporary Discursive Production of Place and Belonging in Zimbabwe

Dorcas Zuvalinyengais a doctoral candidate at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research is an interdisciplinary study in socio-onomastics focusing on identity, power and communication in place naming practices. She received her Bachelor of Arts Honours in English and Master of Arts in English from the University of Zimbabwe. She tutored at the same university for a couple of years before moving to Bindura where she lectures in the Department of Languages and Communication at Bindura University of Science Education. Her research interests include socio-onomastics, toponymy, linguistic landscapes, language and gender, critical discourse analysis, English as a Second Language (ESL), Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), language and identity, literary and cultural studies and intercultural communication. She is a member of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences (ICOS), the vice president of the African Postgraduate Students Association (APSA) and Student Leader at the Centre for Africa Research, Engagement and Partnership (CARE-P) at the University of Newcastle.


There is a proliferation of writing on the meaning of home and sense of belonging. Much like migration theories, home as a notion is couched within the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, history, architecture and philosophy. Research practitioners concur that home is a multi-dimensional concept; and that the concept requires multidisciplinary research that critiques the diverse existing notions. However, such research must also embrace contradictory meanings described thus far. In an effort to facilitate the interdisciplinary conversations about the meaning and experience of home and belonging, I question the practicality of the notion for twice-migrants. Using autoethnography as a methodological tool, I explore the local and global dynamics of home for twice-grants. Through a self-journey, I investigate the underlying subtleties and nuances of personal narratives, memories and artefacts, to make sense of ‘home’. I examine the in-separability of ‘what’ and ‘how’ in a self-critique interrogation, to re-assemble and to re-imagine ‘home’ for twice-migrants. Through this journey, I test and assess whether home and belonging is distinctively local or g-local, or whether it can be parallel, simultaneous and fluid for twice-migrants and where belonging ultimately rests.

Reimagining Fluidity of Home(s) Surjeet Dogra Dhanji

is a post-doctoral researcher on diaspora and migration based at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. Currently Surjeet is working on the under-representation of Indian Australians in the three tiers of government in Australia. In 2018, Surjeet worked at the Australia India Institute as a New Generation Network (NGN) scholar working on diaspora and trade relations and produced three reports for the Australian Government. She has presented at a variety of international and local conferences and been interviewed by several Australian media outlets. Surjeet also coordinates the Melbourne South Asian Studies Seminars and the PhD Citywide Conference. Surjeet has worked with UNESCO, URTNA, PWC, Partners in Rural Development in Kenya.


Australia is an ageing society where older people make up a significant proportion of the population with over 1 in 7 people aged over 65 years. There is an estimated 8% of Africans in Australia, mostly from humanitarian background, who are aged above 65 years. Given this demographic profile, older persons wellbeing has become an important policy agenda in Australia mostly geared towards aiding older persons make better health choices, improve mental health services and promoting physical activity. For older immigrants, irrespective of whether they migrated at an older age or grew old in the receiving country, ageing presents challenges to their wellbeing in that they have to face specific jeopardies associated with leaving their homeland at an older age and adjusting in a new country with different values and lifestyles. As psychosocial scholars attest that most refugees can simultaneously cope with changes in their cultural identity, older aged persons from a refugee background arguably can intermittently change one aspect of their cultural identity in a foreign land in idealizing pathways towards ageing well in the country of resettlement. This is deemed important on the fundamental belief that immigration, in principle, is aimed at improving one’s life opportunities and overall quality of life. As ageing well is a normative ideal that may not necessarily correspond to the lived situations and wishes of elderly migrants, this paper, that draws on part of ongoing PhD research on ageing well among older aged African former refugees in Queensland, presents a theoretical understanding of pathways ageing Africans in Australia may adopt in makings sense of ageing well in a foreign land. This will be argued on the contention that enabling the process towards ageing well is an imperative to support the ageing of some migrant groups perceived to experience unequal jeopardies in Australia.

Satwinder Rehalis a Kenyan national and a Higher Degree Research (HDR) PhD student in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. His planned research is on Acculturation and Conceptions on Ageing well among elderly African refugees in Australia. He holds a Master in Social Science-Health Practice, and a Master of Social Planning and Development degrees from the University of Queensland. His research interests have largely been on adolescent and youth HIV and AIDS prevention and in sports sociology. He has published in these two area studies, the latter on soccer in the Philippines. His interest in Communication studies was inspired by his research on the internationalization of Filipino soap telenovelas in East Africa as part of an overall project on AfroAsian Encounters spearheaded by the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. This study will be published in a Chapter in a forthcoming Book edited by Frank Schulze-Engler (ed.) entitled Afrasian Transformations: Transregional Perspectives on Development Cooperation, Social Mobility and Cultural Change. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. (in press).

How Will I Age Well in this Foreign Land?Prospects for Older Aged African Former Refugees in Australia


In this poignant memoir, Dr Elsa Licumba explores the emotional and personal aspects of becoming an African immigrant settling in Australia. Simply written with unpretentious, engaging prose Elsa takes us on her journey of cultural transitioning. It is a journey of self-enlightenment, driven by questions about her identity and sense of belonging: Who am I? Where do I belong? Why and how should I belong? Elsa’s answers are honest, candid and deeply personal. She provides thought provoking insights into how she, as a young African mother with a small family, successfully navigated the cross-currents and often colliding values of two different cultures. While answering those questions dominates the narrative of this remarkable book, another narrative is also present, one that guides her readers also to pose the very same questions about their own sense of place and belonging. Her message is quite clear. Belonging is never just about place. It is about what is in our hearts that gives us the “freedom to belong”. Professor Jim Jose, Professor, Newcastle Business School (Politics) University of Newcastle.

Elsa Licumbawas born in Mozambique, Southern Africa. She completed her Master’s Degree in Social Change and Development at the University of Newcastle in 2009 and returned to Mozambique. In 2012, Elsa returned to Newcastle to complete her PhD in Economics and later decided to make Newcastle her permanent home. Elsa has just published a memoir about her immigration experience, Freedom to Belong (2019). This poignant memoir explores Elsa’s emotional and personal story of immigrating and settling in Newcastle. From Africa to Newcastle the journey of finding identity and belonging. Elsa is the Founder and Director of Cross Cultural Consultant Services, which offers services for migrants and migrant agencies on navigating life on the diaspora through group workshops, and mentoring. Her main interest is on the implications of moving to another nation on identity and sense of belonging. Elsa is passionate about understanding how migrants engage in cultural transition and reinvent their identity in the transition. She is also interested in understanding the challenges migrants deal in engaging in the process of cultural transition.

Freedom to Belong. From Mozambique to AustraliaMy Journey of Blending Cultures in Australia


New classroom dynamics, teaching styles and teacher-student expectations present additional challenges for migrant students in relation to adjusting and settling into a new culture. School environment could be considered an avenue for social connections that supports students in adjusting to their new environment. Tasmanian High School students of Nigerian decent were studied in relation to adjustments to learning and teaching approaches utilised within their Tasmanian classrooms and the development of school based social interactions and integrations. A qualitative methodology was employed, using an interpretative research paradigm. A case study approach was utilised, with interviews as the main data collection tool. A major focus for the data collection and analysis was to privilege the ‘student voice’ in the data collection. The students shared their perspective of schooling in Tasmania with social, academic and cultural integration being instrumental to fostering a sense of belonging. Involvement in extracurricular activities provided avenue for social interactions and friendship development. Academically, students reported a predominance of student-centred teaching approaches in their Tasmania schools in contrast to the teacher-centred teaching approaches in their Nigerian schooling environments. Their adjustments to these pedagogical differences varied with some finding it easier to bond with their teachers and develop the capacity to become part of their classroom environment. Verbal and non-verbal communication were identified as significant cultural elements in students connecting to their learning environments. Although, language is often regarded as the major barrier to migrant students’ adjustments to new learning environments, this was not a significant impediment to these students. The study also revealed a need for balanced pedagogical strategies in order to cater for the varying preferences students may have, as well as opportunities for interactions both within and outside of the classroom.

Lois Kidmasis originally from Nigeria. She is married and blessed with three beautiful teenage children. She has a background in Business Administration and Management and Bachelor of Education Primary (Hons) degree. She is a registered Primary School teacher in Tasmania and was teaching full time before embarking on her PhD studies at University of Tasmania. She and her husband relocated to Tasmania in 2008 from the Marshall Islands where they had worked. Before then, they had lived and worked in other countries and so adapting to new cultures and communities has been part of her journey. During her BEd (honours) degree she was challenged by the style and nature of learning and the adjustments she had to make to adapt and navigate these challenges. It sparked her interest in researching about how young African Migrant students adapted to learning and teaching approaches in schools. Through her PhD research, she seeks to support Nigerian Primary teachers to encourage their students to take more ownership of their learning embracing 21 st century skills. Lois enjoys baking and when she’s not teaching, you’ll often find her cake baking and decorating! She also enjoys listening to music and singing, reading and gardening.

A Home Away from Home…Nigerian Migrant Secondary Students’ Journey from Isolation to Integration in Tasmania.


Session 3: Digital Transformations

Day 2

ChairSamuelson Appau


Setting the Tone is about shifting up the conversation, opening up points of view & challenging the status quo. It is about creating a platform for young women from the African diaspora to deep dive into the issues that matter to them and challenge assumptions from both within and outside their communities. At the centre is Setting the Tone, an on-line talk show conceived by Adier Maluk, Angeth Malual, Adior Deng & Yar Biar – young Australian women of South Sudanese descent driven to create a platform that speaks to them and their peers. Across 2019 the creators worked with researchers from the University of Melbourne, the City of Melbourne’s youth arts hub Signal & not for profit social purpose publisher Kids’ Own Publishing, to develop, produce & launch a talk show pilot episode on the topic of colourism. This paper presents a case study of this unique participant driven digital media project, and the opportunities it has created to ignite conversations about what it means to be a young woman of colour in contemporary Australia.

Shannon Owenis a filmmaker and researcher working across documentary and animation. Her film production experience ranges from big budget theatrical release docs to award winning animated shorts and her work has screened nationally and internationally at film festivals, on television and in galleries. Her debut broadcast documentary JUST PUNISHMENT (2006) followed the fight to save the life of the young, Australian drug trafficker Van Nguyen and received public acclaim when broadcast on Australia’s ABC. Working with innovative social change arts company BighART Shannon joined the producing team on NOTHING RHYMES WITH NGAPARTJI (2009). Commissioned by ABC ARTS the program contributed to the federal governments’ implementation of a national indigenous languages policy. She went on to write & direct MISS SOUTH SUDAN AUSTRALIA (2010) with for the ABC and is continuing to work with the South Sudanese community as a creative practice researcher, exploring ways in which documentary making can engage with futures thinking to facilitate emergent possibilities amongst the South Sudanese diaspora. Shannon is currently a Phd candidate at Monash University’s MADA faculty and co-ordinates the VCA Film & Television graduate documentary program at the University of Melbourne. Shannon maintains an active filmmaking practice and is currently co-producing the feature documentary WHEN THE SKY FELL DOWN – THE MYTH OF GUY BOURDIN.

Setting the ToneCreating a Digital Media Platform with Young Australians of South Sudanese Descent.


This paper explores ways in which the African diaspora in Australia may utilize modern technology to enhance its participation in public policy in both Australia and Africa. It claims that digital technology has not only transformed the concept of the ‘global village’ into a reality, it has rendered irrelevant the idea of the brain drain from Africa by enabling the diaspora to serve public policy needs in Australia and Africa simultaneously. It also cautions those interested in policy entrepreneurship that efforts to influence public policy anywhere have risks.

Samuel MakindaI am Professor of International Relations and Security Studies in the School of Business and Governance at Murdoch University. The bulk of my work has been undertaken with three types of audience in mind: fellow academics, public policy makers, and members of the public.

The African Diaspora and Public Policy in Australia and Africa


Drawing upon research undertaken with Southern African migrants living in Melbourne using dialogical interviews and participant observation, this paper documents and engages participants’ initiatives to negotiate the healthcare system and create space that allows them to access services grounded in their African indigenous beliefs, ideologies and philosophies. Ubuntu theory; which emphasises communitarianism, humanity and selflessness rooted in Southern Africa, provides a conceptual framework of how the participants produce spaces and places to pivot their health culturally, religiously and spiritually. Three themes are used to present the findings; the first theme, Spirituality and health examines the role of diasporic networks such as African churches in Melbourne for spiritual healing. Medical pluralism follows, it engages the complementarity of African traditional and spiritual therapies with western biomedicines for a holistic approach to health, and finally, the concept of transnational health seeking further discusses participants’ transcending, interdepending and relying, and continued belongingness to other socio-cultural networks to tap into health services back home. The paper highlights the absence of culturally appropriate health services and the migrants’ resilience to access services embedded in their socio-cultural, religious and epistemological identities.

Lloyd Changairais a doctorate student at La Trobe University Melbourne. His research explores the socio-cultural issues of health access among migrants coming from Southern Africa in Australia. His research uses African philosophies to understand the challenges African migrants face and how they establish diaspora networks to address their health issues. He has a special interest in the integration of minority migrants in new countries. Lloyd has worked as a Research Assistant on a project that explored ways in which regional and rural areas in Australia can attract migrants and refugees. He also works as a casual tutor in the Social inquiry Department where he teaches Sociology of Mental Illness, Society and Culture, and Ethnicity and Identity: Social and Political Approaches.

Spirituality and HealthSouthern African Migrants’ Health Beliefs and Spaces for Seeking Appropriate Services


Taking as its premise the idea that societies and states are established via images - for Appadurai, imagination is a ‘social practice’ (1990) and the future is a ‘cultural fact’ (2013) – and images are able to ‘do’ and ‘undo’ projects of conviviality, this paper considers how young Somalis in the United Kingdom are negotiating cosmopolitan futures in the face of algorithms of disinformation through image-making practices that draw on diasporic insights to interrogate fixed and exclusive conceptions of who belongs where. The affordances of social networking sites, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat and WhatsApp, offer the possibility of instant communication. To what extent has this possibility been eclipsed, however, by the very real threats posed by vested interests that use such platforms for ends that are anything but democratic? We have witnessed the ways in which images can be deployed to misinform and further entrench marginalization, racism and violence against minorities. There is nothing new in the manipulation of images for political purposes. Based upon research undertaken with young people with Somali origins living in Birmingham in 2017-18, this paper explores some of the ways in which the sample of Somali background young people in this study deploy complex transcultural images on social networking sites as a source of belonging and resistance to violence. In focusing on the visual activities undertaken by Somali youth in this context as part of the day-to-day work of establishing themselves across pre-existing colonial and new forms of increasingly undemocratic and inequitable social relations, I hope to shed light on how strong, flexible and potential transcultural identities and forms of belonging are being fostered in ways that may be instructive to the global community.

Vivian Gerrandis a Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, where she serves as the Coordinator for the AVERT (Addressing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation to Terrorism) Research Network and is a research member of CRIS. She is a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute (Italy) as a chief investigator on the Horizon 2020 BRaVE (Building Resilience to Violent Extremism and Polarisation) project. Vivian completed her PhD on Somali settlement in Australia and Italy. Based on this study, she authored Possible Spaces of Somali Belonging (Melbourne University Press, 2016).

Contested Communications and Diminished Dignities?The Role of Image-making in the Resistance to Violence


This abstract is based on a review article exploring how migration has and continues to impact identity discourse in the Australian context. Drawing on contemporary research in the field of social and political science as well as the lens of the lived experience of being ‘other’ as part of a visible racial minority in Australia, the article provides a critical analysis of Australia’s changing cultural landscape and the competing narratives impacting and impacted by these changes.

Elizabeth Langis the Founder and CEO of Diversity Focus, providing diversity training, consulting and research to government, not-for-profit, private and tertiary education sectors. In line with her passion in prevention and early intervention, she is currently completing her PhD research at Curtin University titled ‘Conceptualising Domestic and Family Violence in the Frame of Collectivist Cultures’, seeking to broaden the current socio-cultural conception of what constitutes ‘domestic and family violence’. Elizabeth is also a Sessional Academic at Curtin University. She has lectured and tutored a range of multidisciplinary units in the School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology since 2015. She also serves on the board of the Organisation of African Communities (OAC) WA Vice President (Operations) and the WA Police Multicultural Women’s Advisory Group. She is the author of two upcoming books, Wired for Bias and Bridging the Cultural Divide – Leveraging the Benefits of Diversity in Teams. Elizabeth is a passionate human rights advocate and has presented on a number of national and international platforms, including the UNHCR in Geneva Switzerland. Originally from South Sudan, she has lived in Australia since arriving in 1998. She is a mother of two and enjoys traveling, reading and decorating.

The Impact of Migration on Identity Discourse within the Australian Context


Session 4: Relevance of Borders

Day 2

ChairDominic Dagbanja


My paper examines the meaning and uses of contemporary borders through the memoirs of Haitian American author, Edwidge Danticat (2007; 2010) and Palestinian author and activist Ghada Karmi (2015). While Danticat discusses different forms of adverse border situations for Haitians travelling to The United States, the latter reflects on the effects of the wall (border) enclosing Palestinians in Israeli. Through the different memoirs, the paper looks at militarized borders as both impenetrable and mobile, often extending the sovereignty of richer countries into the regions of poorer countries. Like Reece Jones and Corey Johnson (2016), the paper contends that contemporary borders and the performance of borders has shifted from a worrisome notion of security and policing to outright militarization and war. Ultimately, the paper argues that borders are used to maintain the surveillance and policing of racialized people. In the context of this paper, racialized people include those marginalized along the lines of race, religion, and socioeconomic circumstances.

Chinelo Ezenwais a PhD Candidate in the department of English and Writing Studies at Western University, Canada. Her research interests are in black and diasporic writing, feminist studies, postcolonial literatures, and contemporary novels/films based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Her recent conference papers include: “Resisting the Archives of Slave Memories,” “Postcolonial Indian Nationalism and Female Agency in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking India and Anita Rau Badami’s Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?,” and “Re-thinking Colonial Missionization in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions.” Her PhD research at Western, titled Stifling Indigenous Agency through Translation, which she has presented at University of Cambridge, examines the long-term cultural implications for African Christians of following a potentially flawed translation of the Bible. The study will demonstrate how translations can serve as instruments of colonial domination and ultimately affect the identity formation of African Christians. Chinelo Ezenwa grew up in Nigeria and has previously done graduate work in the UK, in the field of English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics Study. Her present paper, “Border Militarization and Re-articulation of Sovereignty” is both her literary interpretation of contemporary border situations and her personal experience of borders as an African migrant living in a “cosmopolitan” world.

“Border Militarization and the Re-articulation of Sovereignty”In the Memoirs of Edwidge Danticat and Ghada Karmi


The Africa Research & Engagement Centre (AfREC) was launched in 2018 at the University of Western Australia, Perth, as a platform to develop and promote collaborative research, education and engagement with government, community and the public on issues concerning the African continent, Australia-Africa relations and the African diaspora in Australia. The Centre builds on existing academic and university networks in the Australia-Africa space to enhance the national infrastructure for deepening ‘Australia-Africa literacy’. The Centre houses 60 Research and Postgraduate Fellows across a range of faculties, schools and disciplines pursuing a range of research projects including several on African diaspora and migration research projects. AfREC has developed close partnerships with the Organisation of African Communities in WA and the African Think Tank in Victoria. It engages with the Australian government on both community and foreign policy issues. AfREC provides a platform for greater societal engagement with Africa through a range of public events and is supporting the development of similar Africa centres around Australia.

David Mickleris Founder and Director of the Africa Research & Engagement Centre (AfREC) and a Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia. He was previously a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Melbourne and has been a Visiting Scholar at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and at the African Union Commission. He was the inaugural Co-Chair of the Worldwide University Network’s Global Africa Group (WUN GAG, 2016-18). At UWA, David has convened the annual forum of the Australia Africa Universities Network (AAUN, 2016-20), the African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific conference (AFSAAP, 2016) and the National African-Australian Diaspora Engagement Conference (NAADEC, 2019). His books include New Engagement: Contemporary Australian Foreign Policy Towards Africa (MUP 2013), The African Union: Challenges of Peace, Security and Governance (Routledge 2016) and Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals (Springer 2019). At UWA he teaches units on the international politics of Africa, peace and security in Africa, and a rotating regional short course on international relations in the Indian Ocean region. For his ongoing engagement with African-Australian communities, David won the Community Pillar Award at the inaugural WA African Community Awards 2018.

AfREC: Linking Australia-Africa Research, Policy and Community


Humanity is at a critical juncture as it faces numerous interrelated crises, highlighted by a socio-economic crisis and an ecological crisis particularly manifested in the form of climate turmoil. Many of these crises ultimately are related to the contradictions of global capitalism, a political economy oriented to profit-making, continual economic growth, and a heavy reliance on fossil fuels which emit greenhouse gases. Within the context of the capitalist world system, states, and the United Nations operate as border-making institutions that legitimize the exclusion of most people from land and resources essential to livelihood and enforce these exclusions with legally sanctioned violence. In contrast to poor people throughout the world, wealthy people operate in an essentially borderless world that allows them to manage their overseas trading networks and spend their money on consumer goods and services as tourists. Over the past 35 years or so, eco-socialism has emerged as radical perspective which seeks reinvent the notion of socialism as part of an effort to create a world based upon social parity and justice, deep democracy, environmental sustainability, and a safe climate. Efforts to implement eco-socialist principles will be met by much resistance from the corporate class and its political allies situated in states and bodies such as the World Bank, IMF, the World Bank, and World Economic Forum. This has been made evident by successful efforts on the part of the parts that be to undermine socialist-oriented governments that have appeared in the early 21st century in places such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Greece. However, as the contradictions of the capitalist world system unravel, as Immanuel Wallerstein observed, the world system has the potential of moving in one of two directions, either global fascism or a socialist world government, that latter which has the potential of embracing eco-socialist principles. The latter has the potential to transcend class, national, ethnic, gender, religious, and other social divisions which would pave the way for an authentic cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism. Such a world, by no means guaranteed, create the space for a borderless world in which movements are based upon efforts to address social inequalities and provide climate refugees, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and low-lying islands, safe havens as their habitats are devastated from the ravages of climate turmoil.

Hans A. Baeris Principal Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He has published 23 books and some 200 book chapters and articles on a diversity of research topics, including Mormonism, African- American religion, socio-political life in East Germany, critical health anthropology, medical pluralism in the US, UK, and Australia, the critical anthropology of climate change, and Australian climate politics. Baer’s most recent books include The Anthropology of Climate Change (with Merrill Singer, Routledge, 2 nd edition, 2018), Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia: Transitioning to an Alternative World System (Berghahn Books, 2018); Motor Vehicles, the Environment, and the Human Condition (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); and Airplanes, the Environment, and the Human Condition (Routledge, 2020).

The Vision of an Eco-socialist World SystemBeyond Borders and Toward Cosmopolitanism and Multiculturalism


Australia has provided a new home to thousands of refugees from various parts of Africa since its Refugee and Humanitarian Program was formally established in the 1970s. Refugee resettlement provides a ‘durable solution’ - permanent residency and a pathway to citizenship - for people who have lived as refugees elsewhere in the world. Resettlement is also a precursor to new forms of mobility, identity and belonging in the diaspora, as those who are resettled continue to connect, move and act across borders, forging, among other things, transnational social networks of care. This paper presents findings from ethnographic research with 27 refugee diaspora organisations (RDOs) in Australia involved in helping refugees in displacement contexts. By focusing on RDOs acts of helping (humanitarianism) outside of ‘homelands’, this paper explores some of the complex mobilities and obligations ‘to help’ among African diaspora communities in Australia that have experienced conflict and forced displacement. In doing so, this research highlights the importance of seeing beyond territorial borders and place (‘home-land’ and ‘host-land’) and recognising the ongoing mobilities and multifaceted transnationalism (or trans-localism) of African diaspora communities in Australia.

Louise Olliffteaches as a sessional in the Master of Development Studies Program at the University of Melbourne. Previously, Louise worked as a senior advisor (international and community engagement) for the Refugee Council of Australia, where she was employed in various policy, research and advocacy roles for ten years. Louise completed a PhD in Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Melbourne in 2018, where her research explored the ways in which refugee diaspora communities in Australia are involved in helping ‘their people’ living in refugee situations in different parts of the world

New Mobilities and the Humanitarian Work of Refugee Diaspora Organisations in Australia


This study, funded by the Australian Embassy in Ethiopia and undertaken by a partnership of the Rift Valley Institute and Monash University, is part of a larger research programme exploring transnational networks among populations of South Sudanese origin worldwide. The first stage in 2018 focused on the relationship between Juba and the Melbourne diaspora, this stage, centred on the South Sudan/Ethiopia borderlands. It seeks to understand the ways that mobility and displacement influence day to day life in urban and rural areas. Transnationalism is built into its methodology, with interviews and focus groups conducted in 2019 by researchers in Australia, the United Kingdom, South Sudan and Ethiopia to obtain a wide range of perspectives. What emerges is a complex web of mobility and communication that transcends standard definitions of “diaspora” or “refugee,” demonstrating the fluidity of transnational identity. The paper explores the mutually reinforcing relationship between mobility and networks, demonstrating the crucial role of social capital among kin in enabling onwards movement. It identifies the key enablers of global networks in terms of both bridging technologies and institutions, as well as the roles they play in populations’ lives. It also explores the parallel and interlocking processes of social and economic change occurring in very different parts of the world.

Sara Maheris a Senior Research Officer and adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University. Her research interests include post-settlement and belonging for South Sudanese Australian women, the oral histories of forced migrations, the criminalisation of African youth and diasporas and transnationality. Her work is grounded in a previous career in the refugee settlement sector in Melbourne. She is also a writer - her first novel, Blinding the Ghost’s Eye, was published in 2019 by Africa World Books.

“No-one Can Stay Without Someone”The Role of Transnational Networks in Shaping the Lives and Livelihoods of the Nuer-speaking Peoples of Ethiopia and South Sudan


Santino Atem Dengis a researcher, counsellor, educator, and specialist trainer in mental health, family/parenting and resettlement. He currently works as a Community Development Facilitator at Foundation House where he does community development facilitation and counselling. He is a founder of African-Australian Family and Parenting Support Services (AFPSS), which provides consultancy, training and family services including parenting workshops, training and support services. Dr Deng’s PhD investigated changes within South Sudanese family dynamics and parenting practices in Australia by examining recent transitions from the perspectives of South Sudanese parents and youth. His studies draw on nuanced cultural understandings and contexts to explore various challenges and transitions in parenting after resettling in Australia. The finding provides new insights into South Sudanese parenting experiences in Australia, and how best family support can be provided to meet their settlement needs. Dr Deng also has a Master of Education (Counselling) and Bachelor of Education and has published widely on family and parenting and presented at international conferences. He held many community leadership roles, managed community programs (e.g. family wellbeing or positive parenting), and have worked in various Government Departments (health, Education), Health and Disability Commission and other non-Governmental agencies in New Zealand.

Bichok Wan Kotis an Academic Teaching Scholar at Victoria University, Melbourne. Dr Bichok researches the changing dynamic of traditional Nuäär gender roles and the migrant experience as a result of migration and resettlement in Australia. His research revolves around a ‘crisis’ in masculinity experienced by Nuäär men as they transition from a traditional society, to life in refugee camps, and resettlement in Australia. Dr Bichok’s academic experience developed with strong focus on creating a student - centred inclusive learning environment and works closely with industry partners to develop engaging learning activities for students giving them meaningful real-life experience in preparation for better life after university study. Before migrating to Australia Bichok had many years of experience in politics and public services serving in various roles including being a Member of State Parliament in Gambella Ethiopia. Bichok has been active community leader and awarded with certificates of leadership and participation by African Communities in South Eastern Melbourne. Dr Bichok is currently a lecturer as well as Convenor of Applied Human Rights unit at First Year College at Victoria University.


Session 1: Jesuit Social Services’ panel

Day 3

ChairPaige Van Every


The panel will discuss:• the scope of Jesuit Social Services programs working with

African-Australians; • challenges for African-Australian participants in our

programs; what is working well; • how this could help others

Paige Van Everywas pleased to join Jesuit Social Services in 2016 and during this time has worked in the Education, Training and Employment division, and currently in The Men’s Project area. Prior to this, Paige has worked across all sectors – corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors specialising in project management and major events both in Australia and overseas. Paige has a Bachelor of Arts, a Masters in Event Management, and is currently studying Business Management & Leadership. Paige is a nominee for Australia’s Pro Bono Impact 25 Awards which aims to celebrate and recognise the most influential people in Australia’s social sector. Paige is passionate about giving back to the community and building a just society. Paige enjoys spending time with her family, speaking French, all beach sports and wants to learn Arabic.

Working Alongside African Communities in Victoria


Leanne Acremanjoined Jesuit Social Services in 2012. She has senior management experience in adult homeless service sector and vast experienced in implementing and managing programs the community sector

Matthew Gmalifo Mabefamis an active member and a former convener of the African Studies Group and a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies. Prior to pursuing his PhD, he held the position of Teaching Assistant at the University of Ghana. At present, he is consulting for Jesuit Social Service on a research project titled ‘Engaging African-Australian Men in Australia: A Scoping Study.

Sarah OliverSarah’s background is in the corporate sector, having worked as a business analyst at Deloitte for ten years. Prior to this Sarah worked in education and training policy. A graduate of Melbourne University (Arts Honours), Sarah was also a Commonwealth Scholarship recipient completing a Master of Science (International Politics) at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Jeremie Nyetamis a senior Project Officer, African Visitation and Mentoring Program At Jesuit Social Services since 2016; experience in youth and adult justice, Drug and Alcohol and homeless service sector.


Session 2: African Solidarity

Day 3

ChairDiana Johns & Karen Farquharson


African-Australians’ over-representation in Victoria’s criminal justice system has drawn significant media attention and academic interest and motivated government efforts to engage with communities in developing effective responses to this problem and its underlying social issues. Yet there is little understanding or practice knowledge about the sociocultural barriers African Australians face, both in prison and in the community following their release. This roundtable discussion will draw on our combined academic and practitioner perspectives on the support needs of justice-involved African-Australians in Victoria. We will draw on our research data and support service provision with African-Australian young people and adults, including those in prison, released from custody, and navigating criminal justice processes (police, courts, youth justice and corrections orders) in the community. As academics, we draw on findings of a research project on the post-release support needs of African Australians, aged 16 years and over, released from custody in Victoria. In this study, we apply a social-ecological framework to understand the role of family and community in the reintegration process. As practitioners, we draw on our work with young people and their families, through AAFRO and Afri-Aus Care. We use the concept of Ubuntu to build and strengthen the capacity of community to give people hope and opportunities to live fulfilling and productive lives. As research partners, we explore how the concept of Ubuntu – the principle of interdependence and common humanity, captured in the saying ‘I am because we are’ – may provide a blueprint for connectedness and reintegration for communities across Victoria. Roundtable disucssion with: Diana Johns, University of Melbourne Gerald Onsando, University of Melbourne Selba Luka, Afri-Aus Care & Black Rhinos Basketball Club Mamadou Diamanka, AAFRO.

The Practice of Ubuntu in Reintegrating and Empowering African Australians in and out of the Justice System

Karen Farquharsonis Head of the School of Social and Political Sciences and Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne. Her research is focused on the sociology of ‘race’ and racism, ethnicity, and diversity, mainly in the contexts of media and sport. Karen is co-author of three books including Qualitative Social Research: Contemporary Methods for the Digital Age (2016) and co-editor of three collections, most recently Australian Media and the Politics of Belonging (2018) and Relating Worlds of Racism: Dehumanisation, Belonging, and the Normativity of European Whiteness (2019). She is also author of numerous refereed journal articles and book chapters. Karen was educated at Harvard University (MA, PhD) and the University of California, Berkeley (BA).


Diana Johnsis Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include post-prison reintegration, restorative and therapeutic approaches, and the experience of young people and ‘vulnerable’ groups involved with the justice system. In recent research projects she has explored: young people’s prolific offending in Wales, UK; Children’s Court-based youth diversion; men’s serious sexual and violent offending; and the criminalisation of South Sudanese young people in Victoria. Diana’s current research is focused on: African-Australian young people’s experience of criminalisation; restorative responses to adolescent family violence; the use of apps in rehabilitative settings. Her book, Being and Becoming an Ex-Prisoner, was published by Routledge in 2018. She is currently involved in collaborative writing projects, including two books (under contract): #Africangangs: The Construction of a Law and Order Crisis (Weber et al., Emerald); and Coproducing Criminal Justice Knowledge (Johns et al., Routledge), which are due to be published in 2021.


Session 3: Diplomacy and Public Policy

Day 3

ChairDi Fleming


This panel will explore the various policy dimensions and efforts for enhancing engagement with the African diaspora

Policy Engageent of African Diaspora Anthea Hancocks

is the CEO of the Scanlon Foundation, a private philanthropic organisation dedicated to social cohesion and the transition of migrants into Australian society. Anthea has an extensive background in strategic planning, business development, community service, education, communications and relationship and services marketing through senior leadership experience in private, ASX listed, government, professional services, academic and not for profit organisations here and in the US. She is an accredited mediator, immediate past Chair of YMCA Victoria and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.


Irina Herrschnermanagers the Gateway Office of the University of Bayreuth in Melbourne. The Gateway Office is the point for information and contact to support the exchange of Students, PhDs, Postdoctoral Researchers and Professors between the University of Bayreuth and Partner Universities in Australia and New Zealand. Before starting her current role, she worked as lecturer and tutor in the fields of Arts and Cultural Management, German Studies and Tourism. Irina holds an MA in Tourism from Monash University and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. In her doctoral thesis titled “Screening Germany in Australia: analysing the Australian Festival of German Films as cultural diplomacy’ she scrutinized the use of film and film festivals for contemporary cultural and cinematic diplomacy. Irina is the co-editor of the book series ‘Global Germany in Transnational Dialogues’, which brings together different voices and topics surrounding Germany in the 21st century. She has published on cultural and cinematic diplomacy, transnational relations, film festivals and tourism.


Session 4: Pan-Africanism

Day 3

ChairBina Fernandez


The 21st century has brought with it a reenergized focus on regional integration within Africa. This focus has built on a chequered history of steps and missteps towards a continental post-colonial socio-economic and political order. A significant portion of, particularly the developed world, moved inwards towards economic and socio-political nationalism and seemed to reject notions of integration and globalization. Africa seems to be hurtling towards the opposite direction. Important moves from African states, such as the establishment of the new Continental Free Trade Area (AcFTA), demonstrate this drive. These efforts can be seen as experimental attempts to enhance the coordination of small, fragmented and often overlapping economies that have characterized the continent in a manner that would translate towards the developmental prosperity of her people. In this regard, the status quo characterized by longstanding colonial relations and legacies and the peripheral role Africa plays in the world’s economic and geopolitical stage would be transformed. This paper builds on this push towards regional integration and discusses this new 21st-century zeal in the context of existing dominant and still influential nationalist identities within the continent. It argues that this new pan-Africanism, innovative regional integration, and drive to overcome socio-political and economic emancipation will have to also navigate the influential and mainstream nationalistic forces that have been forged as a result of Africa’s post-colonial history. This paper explores bounded pan-African integration in navigating these forces. Strategically selecting areas where integration would be most optimal and accounting for the more nationalistic consequences is not only prudent but also necessary. Bounded regional integration based on key policy issues would be a crucial approach to reaping the benefits of pan-African integration while keeping the fingers on the pulse of national strategic ambitions and sensitivities.

Bounded Pan-Africanism

Navigating 21st Century Regional Integration, its

Consequences to a New Africa and its Relationship

with the World.

Reuben Makomereis a Ph. D. candidate at the University of Tasmania, Faculty of Law conducting his research on Governance for Addressing Ocean Acidification. He is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. He has previously been involved in climate change negotiations as part of Kenya’s official delegation at the multilateral level and within Africa. He also has legislative experience having been involved in the development of Kenya’s Climate Change legislation and policy framework. He has also participated in several workshops and conferences including the 4 th Global Ocean Acidification Observing Network (GOA-ON) International Workshop at Hangzhou China in March 2019, the Asia-Pacific Workshop on Oceans, Coasts, Climate Change, and the Law and Reinvigorating Ocean Acidification in February 2018; and Negative Emissions Conference at Canberra in October 2018 among others. He has published several peer reviewed works including; Makomere R Mbeva K.L. (2019) “Contested Multilateralism: Towards Realigning Regimes for Ocean and Climate Governance” in Harris (ed) Climate Change and Ocean Governance: Politics and Policy for Threatened Seas. Cambridge University Press; Makomere, R; Mbeva Kennedy Liti (2018) “Squaring the Circle: Development Prospects within the Paris Agreement” Carbon Climate Law Review (CCLR) Vol 12, issue 1, p 31-41;


Globalisation has, in a significant manner, metaphorically shrunk the space in between countries of the world. Coupled with the rapid advancement in technology, this now makes inter-country dealings in many areas of interests possible. Thus, countries have concluded agreements on the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights, with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspect of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) particularly standing out. This agreement establishes minimum obligations for member states on selected substantive IP rights. It also leaves some policy space for its developing and least developed country members (known as flexibilities) to facilitate access to medicines. All WTO members are, thus, bound to domesticate these minimum obligations and may implement flexibilities in domestic laws. However, while it is the norm for international obligations properly assumed to shape domestic law-making, it may be necessary to ask if the opposite may be true under any circumstance. It is against the above background that this article aims to discuss TRIPS, TRIPS flexibilities, and TRIPS-plus obligations assumed under free trade agreements (FTAs), all of which represent the current international patent regime. It will also discuss the effect that this regime may have on access to medicines in poor countries like those in the East African Community. Considering that the world is now a globalised village, the article will particularly explore the extent to which FTA-TRIPS-plus obligations (and other developed countries’ higher IP obligations), to which EAC partner states are non-members, may have constricting effects on the policy space ordinarily available to them under TRIPS. The implication(s) that these constricting effects may have for access to medicines will then be discussed.

Law-making in a Borderless Cosmos

What Implication for Access-to-Medicine Policy

Space in the East African Community?

Olugbenga Olatunji is a law graduate from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association. He obtained an LLM degree in international law from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom and later a Master in Intellectual Property (MIP) degree from Africa University, Mutare. He is a law lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, Nigeria but is currently on a study leave to pursue a PhD program at the University of Tasmania. Olugbenga has published several articles in reputable peer-reviewed journal outlets covering differing areas of law, although he research more on intellectual property law issues. Olugbenga’s thesis takes on the access to medicines conundrum which bedevils the East African Community partner states, seeking the right mix of policies and laws that will resolve the conundrum.


My work investigates the role of traditional discriminatory practices in Africa that, contributing to an increasing poverty, could represent a motive for the displacement (or the forced displacement) of individuals on the continent. In Refugee Law, poverty in itself is not a valid reason to receive refugee status. However, if poverty is the effect of one (or more) reason of persecution enlisted in Article 1(A) (2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention (‘race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion’) the situation changes. The African Union, through the adoption of several non-binding documents, such as the Ouagadougou Extraordinary Summit Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment and Poverty Alleviation (2004) urges that to counter poverty through economic development works towards alleviating an important migration pressure since nationals are no longer compelled to go abroad in search of economic opportunities. However, the main point in discussion is different. As mentioned above, for Africans there could be several circumstances linking their poverty with a legitimate request for asylum. One feature could certainly be constituted by the system of castes, which is still found in numerous ethnic groups and in over fifteen countries on the continent. Unfortunately, many governments tolerate the caste systems because of a long tradition and not considering them, instead, as a real form of discrimination. Hence, my work will focus on the analysis of these persistent, discriminatory, phenomena on the continent, in order to highlight how rooted cultural traditions are in those countries, traditions engendering an increasing number of poor people deserving refugee status.

The System of Castes and Slavery in AfricaWhere the Insuperable Borders Between Law and

Customs Oblige Individual to Cross Physical Borders

in Order to find Protection Abroad

Cristiano D’Orsiis a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the South African Research Chair in International Law (SARCIL), Faculty of Law, University of Johannesburg. He holds a Laurea (BA (Hon) equivalent, International Relations, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia); a Master’s Degree (Diplomatic Studies, Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI), Rome); a two-year Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (Master of Advanced Studies equivalent, International Relations (International Law), Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies, Geneva); and a Ph.D. in International Relations (International Law) from the same institution. His research interests mainly focus on the legal protection of asylum-seekers, refugees, migrants and IDPs in Africa, on African Human Rights Law, and, more broadly, on the development of Public International Law in Africa. In 2018, Cristiano has been a visiting lecturer in Refugee and Migration Law at St Thomas University School of Law, Miami Gardens. In 2020 Cristiano will be a visiting lecturer in International Law in Africa at the Faculty of International Relations, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia (Italy).


Modern slavery encompasses ‘a range of exploitative practices including slavery and slavery-like practices/conditions.’ This article seeks to explore the extent to which Australian migration law and policy both protects and promotes modern slavery and its implications for culturalism and integration in Australia. To what extent have migration law and visas been used to prevent and address the problem of modern slavery? Do visa requirements create the conditions that put migrants at the risk of exploitation and abuse by both Commonwealth and non-commonwealth entities? It would be argued that migration law and policy is a shield in the sense that it has been used and has the potential to be used to shield or protect trafficked individuals and those subject to modern slavery. At the same time, migration law and policy is a sword because by it migrants are maintained on temporary visas through which they work at the risk of exploitation and exclusion from the protection of both the state and private businesses. Thus, migration law and policy is both a shield and a sword in the sense that it can protect and promote modern slavery in Australia. The commitment of the Commonwealth of Australia is to prevent and remove modern slavery. This objective cannot be effectively achieved if aspects of the law and policy on migration allow modern slavery to flourish behind formal requirements. Given the commitment of the Commonwealth of Australia to fight modern slavery, its migration law and policy must be a shield, not as a sword or both. Based on this analysis, the paper will assess the conformity of Australian migration law and policy with Australia’s international human rights treaty obligations relating to equality of treatment and with the so-called “Australian values.” Ultimately, this paper will show that whether multiculturalism and integration are real and not a myth will depend on the legitimacy of the way migrants are treated differently based on who they are and where they come from. If visas become a sword, in the sense of being used to exclude and exploit migrants and treat them unfairly and unreasonably based solely on nationality rather than on merit, migrants are less likely to integrate, to call Australia a home or to see Australia as truly multicultural. In this situation, multiculturalism would lack practical value and would not increase migrants’ sense of belonging and social integration into Australian society.

Migration Law, Modern slavery and Multiculturalism in Australia Dominic Dagbanja

is a Senior Lecturer in Law at The University of Western Australia (UWA) Law School and Research Fellow, African Procurement Law Unit, Department of Mercantile Law, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Dr Dagbanja is a Member of UWA Law School Research Committee, Director of Research of the Organisation of African Communities in Western Australia Inc and Community Coordinator of UWA African Research and Engagement Centre. He previously worked at The University of Manchester as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and at The University of Auckland as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Prior to these positions, Dr Dagbanja was a Lecturer in Law at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in Accra, Ghana. He practised law with the corporate and commercial law firm of Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa ; Ankomah, as an Assistant State Attorney in the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department of Ghana and as a Senior Legal Officer at the Public Procurement Authority of Ghana. Dr Dagbanja has teaching, research and practice interests in Company Law, International Commercial Law,


Session 5: Community Engagement

Day 3

ChairMatthew Mabefam


Over the years, the number of African Australians in contact with the Victorian justice system is gradually increasing. Yet, there is little understanding or practice knowledge about the needs and challenges they face, both in prison and in the community following their release. The Black Rhinos Basketball Program is a community crime prevention program in the City of Greater Dandenong that is managed by Afri-Aus Care Inc. The Black Rhinos Basketball Program, informed by the principles of Ubuntu, provides holistic resettlement and reintegration case management support to young African Australians who are at risk of offending or reoffending. The African philosophy of Ubuntu is an understanding that humanity of the self is promoted through the humanity of others and is often described by the maxim “I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I am”. Using the concept of Ubuntu, we will reference the Black Rhinos Basketball Program to discuss about experiences, perspectives, and culturally specific support for African Australians in and out of Victorian prisons.

The Black Rhinos Basketball ProgramAn Innovative Approach for Reintegrating Young

African Australians Using the Concept of Ubuntu

and The Positive Change Model

Selba-Gondoza LukaChief Executive Officer, Mental Health Clinician, sought-after speaker and community leader, Selba is passionate about supporting young people and their families as they adapt to Australian society. She is the Founder and CEO of Afri-Aus care, a Not-For-Profit Organisation which provides support services to African Australian youth and youth from other CALD backgrounds, and their families. She is also the Co-Founder of the successful Black Rhinos basketball, a crime prevention and intervention program for at-risk young people. Selba has many years of experience working with families from CALD communities who are facing social challenges and liaising with key agencies, stakeholders, African Community and Church Leaders, including the Victorian Department of Justice, Victorian Government, Depatment of Jobs Princict and Regions, SECL, DSS, ADF, VMC, Victoria Police, Legal Aid, Private Lawyers, ADRA, Monash Legal Centre, Social Engine, Whitelion, City of Greater Dandenong, Shire of Cardinia, Dandenong Magistrates Court, TRY Australia, Centrelink, Employment agencies, Dandonong Hospital/Unit 2, University of Melbourne, Monash Health, Monash University, Swinburne University, Holmesglen Tafe, ADF, Scott’s College, Rotary District 9800 just to mention a few.


The Blue Nile African-Australian Business Masterclass program is a business program designed for African-Australian entrepreneurs who would like to broaden their business knowledge so that they can access and network with the mainstream Australian industry, enabling them to build their own economic prosperity and that of their communities. To understand the unique business challenges of African entrepreneurs in Australia we conducted research using secondary sources and community engagement. The community engagement used a combination of roundtables, focus groups, and personal interviews and involved 68 African community leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners. Through the research, we found that African entrepreneurs and business owners struggle to integrate and navigate Australian business systems and structures, lack local business networks and mentors, and experience community barriers that intersectionally hamper their ability to build and grow their businesses. Based on these findings, the Blue Nile Masterclass has been designed to respond to these specific challenges faced by African-Australian entrepreneurs in the Australian business landscape. Over 12 days, participants will engage with entrepreneurs, world-class faculty, executives, managers and community leaders, who will share tools for growing businesses and developing economic opportunities for the community at large. In addition to delivering world-class business knowledge, the Blue Nile program also seeks to build participants’ business networks through a mentoring program. Mentors will continue to provide support to participants following the completion of the program. This paper will elaborate on the Masterclass and its value for integrating African-Australians to succeed as entrepreneurs in Australia.

Developing a Business Program for Africa Australian Entrepreneurs

Samuelson AppauSamuelson has a background in marketing and market research and holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Melbourne. Samuelson is currently a lecturer in Marketing at RMIT University, and teaches Branding to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is also the Program Coordinator for the Blue Nile Business Masterclass, a business training program for African entrepreneurs in Australia. Samuelson’s main research includes wellbeing, marketing of religion, social exchanges, and small business and start-up branding. Samuelson’s research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Culture, and Journal of Public Policy and Marketing among other respected academic journals. Prior to joining academia, Samuelson worked in market research and brand consulting with Kantar Millward Brown in West Africa, advising clients such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever and Etisalat. Samuelson also consults for many start-ups and entrepreneurs on how to build and sustain strong brands.


This presentation will reflect and explore on ways of building catalytic platforms to enhance engagement of African studies in Australia, focusing on the African Studies Group (ASG), University of Melbourne. The ASG is an association of researchers with interests in African studies, which is hosted by the University of Melbourne . ASG provides an enabling platform for informative and supportive collegial discussions among researchers with a focus on Africa and African Diaspora.

Enhancing Engagement in African Studies in Australia Franka Vaughan

is a PhD candidate in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne where she is researching diasporic Liberians claim for (formalised) identity back ‘home’ and how this claim is perceived by Liberians in-country. She co-convenes the African Studies Group (ASG) for which she has presented and led many discussions to an audience of students and scholars interested in African related issues. Her research interests are in identity construction in post-conflict settings, migration policies, and how diasporas engage with the concept of home and belonging. Franka is a critical development enthusiast with over 10 years of professional experience in policy and advocacy research, and project management, particularly in the field of digital open data, and open government.

Kennedy Liti Mbevais currently the convener of the African Studies Group (ASG), University of Melbourne, and is also a PhD candidate, and a Research Associate at the Climate and Energy College, University of Melbourne. His PhD project examines the linkage politics of trade and environmental policy. Previously, Kennedy worked in public policy research and was also involved with international climate change diplomacy.


ALIAS (A Look Into African Society) is a society designed to enlighten interested individuals about African culture and traditions. It is based at La Trobe University’s largest campus, Bundoora. The society, less than ten years old, is one of the most prominent and active on campus. ALIAS hosts a variety of events throughout the year. Some of the most popular ALIAS events include ‘Country Nights’ which are hosted with regularity throughout each semester. Country Nights see different students from a variety of African countries present about their countries’ history, arts, food, exports, imports and other interesting facts about the country. ALIAS also hosts career seminars focused on migrant success stories (e.g. migrant businesses in Australia), inter-societal events so students can meet their peers from other countries and courses. However, ALIAS’ most successful and well attended event is the Africa Day celebrations during the week of May 25th. Hundreds of students gather in the La Trobe University Agora to celebrate the best Africa has to offer.

The 2019/2020 ALIAS president is Kevin Kapeke.

ALIAS (A Look Into African Society) Kevin Kapeke

is a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics student from La Trobe University, with a ViceChancellor’s Academic scholarship. He currently serves as the president of ALIAS (A Look Into African Society) at the university. As a passionate advocate for youth in his community, Kevin also works with the federal member of parliament for the seat of Calwell, in the north of Melbourne, Maria Vamvakinou (Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing committee on Foreign Affairs), on the Calwell Youth committee, reaching out to minority cultural groups within the electorate. Kevin served as an editor-in-chief of the La Trobe University magazine, The Rabelais and was the student member on the La Trobe University Council in 2017, becoming the first black student to have either position. Today, Kevin works as an ambassador with La Trobe university, working to inspire high school students to look into higher education. Kevin moved from Zimbabwe in 2009, as he was starting high school.

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