Neither relaxed nor comfortable : the affective regulation of migrant belonging in Australia

Australians like to consider themselves relaxed and comfortable, an easy-going and tolerant people. Indeed, we had a Prime Minister since 1996 to 2007 – John Howard – who prided himself on preserving these qualities (Howard 1997). This picture of Australian life is, of course, selective. As in other nations, it has become commonplace to recognise a pervasive culture of fear shaped by international, national and local factors. Mounting evidence of this anxiety is found in media and academic surveys which show Australians are more fearful, and in regards to more things (Mann 2006). These anxieties have been given a racial hue, centred around the ‘Arab Other’, the pre-eminent folk devil of our times, articulated through panics over ‘Lebanese crime’, ‘race rape’ and the perceived threat of terrorism (Poynting et al. 2004). Much attention has been given to thinking about this culture of fear but in abstract terms, with little research into the experiences of those concerned, and with a focus on the manipulation of (largely ‘white’) fears (Aly and Balnaves 2005) which forgets about the objects of those fears. Yet these circumstances have produced an increasing incidence of racism directed towards people of Arab and Muslim background; circumstances which constitute an altogether different experience of fear depending on who, and where, you are. This chapter, drawing on research into experiences of vilification amongst Arab and Muslim Australians, suggests that it is necessary to shift from a generalised conception of a ‘culture of fear’ to specific experiences of threat to understand the regulation of belonging for migrant groups as an affective process which shapes their ability to feel ‘at home’