Southern Worlds:
South Africa and Australia

A symposium to be held at Monash South Africa
25-27 November, 2008

Australia's links with South Africa are richer and more complex than is generally realised.

Cape Town was once ‘half-way to Sydney' for migrants travelling to Australia. A hundred years ago Australians were estimated at around five per cent of the population of white Johannesburg. These two dominions of the British Commonwealth were once hailed as ‘Sisters of the South'. Links diminished during the apartheid years. But since majority rule in South Africa in 1994 contact of all kinds has increased. Australia has become a major destination for South African emigration.

South Africa and Australia are societies that have been shaped by their colonial and post-colonial past. Both face issues in their respective regions and in a changing and globalised world.

An international symposium will examine the connections and compare the differences between the two societies. It is the first time a conference with this focus will be held in South Africa. The host is Monash University, an international Australian university and the venue is its South African campus in Johannesburg.

Symposium Themes

• The historical relationship between South Africa and Australia: issues of race gender and nationality.
• The History Wars in South Africa and Australia compared
• The apartheid era – challenges and responses
• Co-operation and trade between the two economies
• Multiculturalism in each country
• The politics of sport
• Diasporas and emigration

Speakers

Speakers include:
• Jim Davidson
• Marilyn Lake
• Sipho Seepe
• Norman Etherington
• Jonathan Hyslop
• Anna Clark

Symposium Sponsors and Organisers

The Symposium is a joint initiative of the Monash University South Africa Campus and the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University, with funding the office of the Vice-Chancellor, Monash University.

For further details, contact Symposium Co-ordinator Irene Thavarajah on telephone
(+ 61 303) 99051344 or email: irene.thavarajah@adm.monash.edu.au