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Walter F. Lalich Migrant development of communication space in Sydney
- The University of Akron Press
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migrant development of communication space in sydney Walter F. Lalich Keywords: ethnicity, settlement, communication, collective action, communal places. Communication comprehended as transfer of information from one to another group or between individuals (Giddens 1997) flourishes under the impact of migration as it appropriates new significance, forms and meaning, modes and fields, in urban environments where most immigrants settle. Any consideration on migration-generated communication ought to go beyond the use of language at home, work and public places as it embodies symbolic expressions of transferred cultural, religious and leisure forms, signage, architectural styles and other more or less visible forms of expression. Ethnic collectives directly impact on the communication process alongside immigrant households and business enterprises through appropriation of their own communal places, physical objects, signified with strong symbolic cues. These immigrants` “... corners of the world” (Bachelard 1964) often differ from other elements of the built environment in the neighbourhood and ground new communication patterns. The practice of collective appropriation of communal places to satisfy diverse collectively -perceived needs establishes material and symbolic grounds for the development, maintenance and sustainability of communication links and flows (Castells 1991). From these symbolic landmarks in social space ethnic collectives initiate and sustain communication flows with diverse density and directions that are not limited to their own community and immediate neighbourhood only. Migration generated fields of communication often expand beyond the immediate intent of the ethnic collective and locality. 253 This contribution deals with the communication engendered out of the large-scale settlement of non-English speaking immigrants in Sydney since the mid-20th century. The demographic structure of Australia and Sydney changed beyond comparison with the situation recorded before the Second World War. During this process, reterritorialized cultures (Deleuze and Guattari 1994) found a new home in an expanding culturally diverse society. These changes reflect on urban culture and the communication process generating diverse social and cultural opportunities. inclusion of “others” through communication Communication, as a necessary element of any social interaction and a key attribute of social space (Lefebvre 1991: Giddens 1997), is the most significant resource that immigrants have at their disposal. Through the ability to communicate, to interact, direct contacts and discourse, networks are created, solidarity and mutuality are voiced. Communication between people on the basis of shared language and norms enables creation of networks and group membership and achievement of a common understanding of the encountered settlement problems (Bauman 1999; Ostrom 2005). As a key tool communication empowers and enables mobilization to overcome settlement constraints and to foster common interests (Pile 1997; Dewey 2003). It was observed by Park (1967; 1998) that participation in immigrant community life enables immigrants to live, escape isolation, feel secure, as well as experience affection and recognition. However, communities also conserve, transmit and disseminate culture as well, but as boundaries are being crossed in everyday life (Schutz and Luckmann 1989) communities of “others” contribute to the creation of multilayered communication systems of a culturally diverse society. Through the communication process immigrants find their own solutions to collectively -perceived spiritual, leisure, educational and welfare needs in a social environment characterised by limited capability and often the absence of willingness to satisfy diverse needs of “others’. Settlers have no alternative but to appropriate their own communal places to meet the most urgent collectively-perceived need as there are often no accessible suitable public places. Ethnic collectives mobilize scarce resources and appropriate places to conduct spiritual life, maintain culture, socialize, participate in leisure activities, organize welfare and aged care, creating important urban and communication nodes at the same time. Ethnic communal places facilitate and sustain communication within their own community, or within a segment of an ethnic group. However, the communication migrant development of communication space in sydney| walter f. lalich 254 significance of these symbolic identifiers of transferred cultures is much more complex as appropriated places inform about the arrival, established roots, capability, resistance and sustainability in adverse social conditions. They tell about people who arrive with few material possessions but lots of hope. It is emphasised by Melucci (1996) that through material goods overwhelmingly charged with symbolic investment “people convey messages about themselves, their relationships and their dreams of the future ”. The effects of collective actions undertaken by fragmented ethnic collectives in Sydney, illustrated with data generated out of the process of appropriation of 393 communal places from 1950 to 2000, expound such messages. These tangible products of immigration are the most visible representatives of the established ethnic completeness (Breton 1964) and major communication nodes...