Migrant imaginaries and the construction of Australian identities: the case of South Asian communities

The study explores the experiences of immigrants to understand the construction of their Australian identities. With an intention to develop a bigger project in future, at present this is an exploratory study focused on one cross-section of Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh who are living in three suburbs (Blacktown, Rooty Hill and Quakers Hill) under Blacktown City Council. The suburbs have high concentrations of first-generation Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants in Sydney. We collect stories of immigrants who now holds the Australian citizenship. Only participants intending to remain long-term/permanently in Australia, are invited to participate in this research We focus on three key questions – a) what imaginations had driven their migration to Australia? b) how did they negotiate those imaginations in the processes of settling in Australia? And c) do they imagine themselves as Australians (or something else) after all these years of living in Australia? By analysing these answers, we hope to understand how these communities communicate a particular form of migrant identity in the context of multi-cultural Australia.