Know thy neighbours: Asian Australian Studies helps you know thyself

The unfolding consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are particularly salient for Asian Australian Studies and its communities. These include heightened levels of anti-Asian abuse, a drastic fall in international student numbers and subsequent tertiary sector decimation, austere times for creative arts and community work, and the fraught politics of essential workers in low-paid jobs.

COVID-19 did not create any of these issues but they have been exacerbated during the pandemic, along with societal inequities more broadly. These are significant aspects of the impact that COVID-19 is having on Australia’s complex social and cultural relationship with Asia and its own Asian Australian communities.