Consumerism and Refugees

Last updated on: August 31, 2011 at 12:59 pm by Matthew Tan

Consumerism and Refugees 2011-08-31T12:59:00+10:00 Matthew Tan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today, the High Court of Australia ruled as illegal a proposed “refugee swap” program between the governments of Australia and Malaysia, where new arrivals to the former would automatically be sent to the latter, and processed refugees from the latter be shipped over to the former.

Many have been capitalising on the little media storm this decision has created. For the government, this is a disappointment that a great policy has to be scrapped, for the opposition, this is another indicator of the government’s general incompetence in the offshore handling of asylum seekers (which by implication, the Coalition could do better once it is in government). For refugee advocates, it is a triumph in stopping the plight of asylum seekers from getting any worse. For legal scholars, this is a triumph of parliamentary law acting as a check on wonton executive power. And the list goes on…

In this flurry, many seem to have neglected to ask: why is it that we now have a situation where both major parties seem eager to send asylum seekers offshore when the capacities for processing them already exist on the mainland?

Strangely enough, a possible answer may lie in the deeply entrenched consumer culture in Australia, which has created a political dividend that politicians in general are tapping into as part of their strategy for gaining or remaining in power (and that goes for the minor parties too). Consumer culture, which celebrates the kingship of commodities, is a culture that engages in a cult of the surface and glorifies visibility.

This cult of surface and visibility has become so ingrained in the public consciousness that it even bears political implications. Those political matters that matter now are those that are given greater visibility. Conversely, those that lack such visibility are rendered powerless in shaping political discourses and policy. By shipping off asylum seekers offshore, both sides of politics are at one level removing the seeming inconvenience they seemingly pose to the smooth operation of our consumerist lifestyles, but at another level they are also attempting to remove the capacity of asylum seekers to lay claim on our consciousness.

If this analysis is correct, then this would explain not only the strategy of making asylum seekers invisible by shipping them out of public sight, but also other strategies that try to deprive vulnerable groups by rendering them invisible, such as the unborn, families, the unemployed, the elderly, the mentally ill, religious minorities and a raft of others. This is something that implicates all sides of politics, media players, interest groups and those heaving under the burden of so many shopping bags.

Previous Post

August 26, 2011

Text, Beauty and Community

Next Post

September 14, 2011 GK Chesterton on Drinking

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category architecture art Augustine Belloc Benedict XVI bible blogs books bourgeois Christianity Campion College Chesterton Christianisation Church and Culture Church Fathers citizen conference conservative consumer culture cybernetics Desert Fathers discipleship distributism drinking ecclesiology economics education environment Evagrius of Pontus formation Foucault George Weigel Girard Graham Ward http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post interfaith Jacques Ellul John Chrysostom Julia Kristeva Latin liturgy mall marriage monasticism Music Narrative news philosophy polis politics pop culture postmodern city postsecular prayer prostestant quote Quotes Radical Orthodoxy resources Rome Rule of St. Benedict saint Saints secular sociology theological anthropology theology transcendance Uncategorized videos William Cavanaugh

Select a Month December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 October 2009 February 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who leaped for joy after being healed at the Temple gate (by Peter, in Jesus' name)?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A Pharisee A lame man A rich man A blind man