ICS Seminar - David Brophy

China Panic: Australia's Alternative to Paranoia and Pandering

Abstract: The rupture in Australia-China relations has had implications that go well beyond questions of foreign policy. Australia's now China-obsessed media environment, a well-documented rise in racist attitudes towards Chinese Australians, and the expansion of legislation surrounding “foreign influence” - these developments and more highlight the way that international tensions influence and interact with domestic trends. My book China Panic (2021) sought to document and critique these changes in Australian society. Since it was published eighteen months ago a new government has taken office, but how much, if anything, has changed? In this talk, I will review themes from my book and explore the ongoing domestic ramifications of Australia’s hawkish turn on China.

Biography: David Brophy is a historian of China at the University of Sydney, a commentator on Australia- China Relations, and the author of China Panic: Australia’s Alternative to Paranoia and Pandering (Black Inc. 2021). In his academic work he specialises in the history of Xinjiang and the Uyghurs. His first book was a history of Uyghur nationalism (Uyghur Nation: Reform and Revolution on the Russia-China Frontier, 2016), and he has recently published a translation of a work of 18th-century Sufi literature from Xinjiang, entitled In Remembrance of the Saints (2021).

Event Details:

Date and Time: Thursday, 24 November, 11:30am - 1:00pm

Location: Room EA.G.15, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University

Presenter: David Brophy (University of Sydney)

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