"What if No One Had Spoken out Against this Policy?" The Rise of Asylum Seeker and Refugeee Advocacy in Australia

Main Article Content

Diane Gosden

Abstract

This paper examines the rise of an asylum seeker and refugee advocacy movement in Australia in recent years. It situates this phenomenon within Alberto Melucci's understanding of social movements as variable and diffuse forms of social action involved in challenging the logic of a system. Following this theoretical framework, it explores the empirical features of this particular collective action, as well as the struggle to redefine the nature of the relationship between citizens of a sovereign state and 'the other' in the personage of asylum seekers and refugees.

Article Details

Section
Special Issue Articles (Peer Reviewed)
Author Biography

Diane Gosden, University of New South Wales

Diane Gosden is a postgraduate student at the Centre for Refugee Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her PhD topic is titled 'Australian Asylum Seeker and Refugee Policy: A Contested Area". She is also an advocate in this area. Her previous research was in issues of women's health. She can be contacted at