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From the Guest Editors This issue of Crossings is edited and compiled by staff from the National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University. Our focus is on current projects that examine racialised identities in Australia, particularly the work of early career researchers. The reasoning for this is that it reflects the guest editors' own fields of interest, as well as allowing Crossings to showcase new and innovative perspectives on the contemporary politics of representing 'other' Australians. To this end, we sourced this issue's papers largely from several conferences, including 'Colonialism and its aftermath' (Hobart), the Australian Historical Association (Newcastle) and the Asian Studies Association of Australia (Canberra). The chosen work offers a range of interdisciplinary projects which interrogate concepts of 'whiteness', Indigeneity, and Asian-ness. Even these demarcations are, to some extent, arbitrary, insofar as they are much contested terms themselves. The essays argue the ambiguities and interconnectedness of these racialised tags and their attendant politics. From a literary and cultural studies perspectives, we have Robert Clarke's work on contemporary Australian travel narratives and their reliance on evocations of the 'native' for understandings of whiteness, and Tom Cho's reflections on his creative writing practice and its engagement with popular culture. Lars Jensen argues for an 'Aboriginal-Asian colonial contact history' that will 'unsettle' traditional notions of Australian history, while Jen Tsen Kwok focuses on anti-Chinese representations and the enabling of certain modes of colonial governance. On the historical side, we have three papers that explore these issues using different approaches. Based on an analysis of Queensland's popular press, Emily Wilson's analysis of concepts of 'whiteness' illustrates the ways in which pragmatic realities informed the conceptualisation of the ideal Queenslander. The series of photographs examined by Sophie Couchman provides a unique insight into Australia's Chinese community and the use of photography at the beginning of the twentieth century. Vicki Grieves calls for Australian historians to adopt post-colonial approaches to the past, and highlights the possibilities afforded family and regional histories. Please note that the articles by Kwok and Couchman contain several images and will, therefore, have longer download times. In addition to the featured papers on racialisation, Eleonore Wildburger has contributed a Book Review of Christine Nicholls' recent Aboriginal art publications, and Andrew Hassam has compiled an excellent 'round-up' of reports from various international Australian Studies Associations, including EASA (Europe), GAAS (Germany), and IASA (India). This 'round-up' complements the North American-based reports featured in the previous issue of Crossings and provides valuable insight into the kinds of activities initiated and sustained by these associations. Robert Crawford and Tseen Khoo National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University, Vic |