ASIAN STUDIES IN AUSTRALIA: BETWEEN TRADITION AND FASHION

By M.C. Ricklefs

ASIAN NEIGHBOURS
The context of Asian Studies in Australia is rather unusual for a country of
predominantly western culture, although there are certainly some interesting
parallels with the circumstances in Russia. For Australians, Asia is our
region. We are all aware, as you are here, of the economic dynamism of Asia.
It has been predicted that there will be a 600 billion dollar expansion in the
Asian market over the next six years. For us, this market is essential to our
future. There is consequently much business involvement with the Asian region.
Governments, too, are vigorously involved in promoting economic links. The
South Australian Government has, for example, recently announced plans to
restore prosperity to that state by increasing its exports to Asia by 3
billion dollars. Whereas these economic interests are similar to those of
Europe, Australians, unlike Europeans, are often aware of the proximity within
their own region of the very large populations of Asia.  Our nearest Asian
neighbour is Indonesia, which has ten times the population of Australia. The
Peoples' Republic of China has nearly a quarter of the world's population.
India has about 16% of the world's population.  
Just as the very proximity of these large populations makes Australia's
relations with Asia unlike Europe's relations with Asia, so also there are
strategic implications for us which are not felt with equal force here. There
is a sustained program of defence modernisation in many Asian countries. Some
of the weaponry being acquired is offensive in nature. Australia shares in the
sales of armaments into this major world market, but unlike most other selling
countries it must have some immediate concern about the implications of this
expansion of weaponry.  We are also very aware of the proximity of territorial
or insurgency problems or disputes in the region. When we speak of border
difficulties between Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea or of minor insurgency
in East Timor,  we are talking about places which are only a few hours away
from Australia. We are aware also that the economic dynamism of the region
depends upon the continued security of very long sea lanes. So security 
interests loom large in Australia's view of Asia.

POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT
There are also important cultural links with Asia. Australia has become a
"multicultural" society, that is to say, a more cosmopolitan society. For a
good many years there has been a significant rate of Asian immigration into
the country. This has produced some resistance and anxiety among older
Australians, but generally it is seen as a positive and enriching process. 
Population movements have also, of course, transformed other western societies
in Europe and the United States. But for Australia, lying on the boundaries
of the Asian region, the prospects of a more cosmopolitan society in which
Asian culture plays a significant role are more real than would be the case
in Europe or the United States. Consequently all governments in Australia have
urged Australians to engage positively with our Asian neighbours. So for us
in Australia, Asia is a very large part of our world view. In a sense, when
Australians think of Indonesia its rather like a Dutchman thinking about
France or Germany. But cultural and political relations between Indonesia and
Australia are, not surprisingly, more complex and more fragile than might be
the case amongst neighbour nations in Europe.

ASIAN STUDIES AS PART AND PARCEL OF THE AUSTRALIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
For the last several years, Asian Studies have been vigorously promoted across
Australia. But one should not view this with undiluted optimism. In fact this
has happened while the funding  for education has been declining steadily and
significantly. And it needs to be remembered that the dominant Australian
cultural style is still western in nature, so the popular response to the
promotion of Asian Studies has been somewhat mixed. Nevertheless, it is true
that Asian Studies are more developed across the whole educational system in
Australia than in any other western-style society. Let me illustrate the
development of Asian Studies in Australia's educational system first at the
pre-tertiary level. Here we find widespread study of Asian languages. Between
1983 and 1993, the number of students studying Arabic went up by over two
times, the number studying Chinese rose by nearly six times, the number
studying Japanese rose by over four times, and the number studying Indonesian
rose by 1.7 times. In the same period, the number of students studying French
and German declined by 20-30%.  By 1993, approximately one quarter of all the
students studying languages other than English at pre-tertiary level were
studying Japanese: 120.000 out of about 490.000. About 9% of these students
were studying Indonesian and Malay.  
The absolute numbers involved here are also impressive. One should remember
that the population of Australia is around 17 million, so we are dealing with
a population base which is roughly like that of The Netherlands. In primary
school, over   12.000 students are studying Chinese and in secondary school
over 10.000. In primary school, 6700 students are studying Indonesian and
Malay this year and in secondary school 28.800. Japanese is the largest of the
Asian languages in enrolments; there are nearly 38.000 primary school students
studying Japanese this year and over 74.000 secondary students. One should
compare this with the numbers for French, to get an impression of the overall
impact. In primary school, there are about 20.600 students doing French this
year and in secondary school about 138 500.  

COMPULSORY ASIAN LANGUAGES EDUCTION
One needs to put these figures in the context of educational policy. In fact,
these enrolment figures do not necessarily indicate popular enthusiasm for the
languages involved, for much of this language study arises from compulsion.
Many schools require students to study an Asian language. This probably
explains why there are more students studying Chinese at primary school level,
where in some schools it is compulsory, than at secondary school level, where
students are allowed greater freedom of choice. There have certainly been
criticisms of this policy of compulsory language instruction. Some critics
believe that the quality of teaching is poor, particularly at primary level,
but I am not in a position to say whether that is a fair criticism. It is
probably correct to say that the emphasis on language is inadequately
accompanied by the provision of Asian Studies more generally in the schools.
There is often a narrowly utilitarian view of language study: it is assumed
that if more people know more Asian languages, more Australians will make more
money in Asia. Despite these criticisms, however, it is clearly the case that
this widespread study of Asian languages is an important part of the context
of tertiary study in Australia. Many of our first-year students now arrive
having already acquired some command of an Asian language. I am confident that
this encouragement of Asian languages in schools will continue. The 1991
Australian Language and Literacy Policy identifies  fourteen priority
languages for the country, seven of which are Asian: Arabic, Chinese,
Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese. 

DISPERSAL OF ASIAN STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL
At university level Asian Studies we see a pattern which may be described as
one both of dispersal and of concentration of activity. There is widespread
teaching and research on Asia throughout Australia. I do not think that any
university in the country would lack Asian Studies specialists. More than 50
specialist centres have been set up in the state universities (that is to say,
universities located in states or the Northern Territory, but not in the
Australian Capital Territory where the Australian National University is
located). For example, there is the Asia-Australia Institute at the University
of New South Wales founded in 1990. It seeks especially to establish
professional and executive networks among the elites of Asia and Australia.
At the University of Sydney a Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific was
founded in 1989 which offers briefings and training for Australian companies
working in Asia. Griffith University and the University of Queensland have a
key centre for Asian Studies and languages, which was set up in 1988. One of
its principle tasks is to develop curriculum materials in Asian languages and
Asian Studies. At Monash University, where the Centre of South-East Asian
Studies (CSEAS) was established back in 1965, there is now a new Monash/Asia
Institute set up in 1988 which encourages Asian Studies within the university,
holds conferences etc. and is an umbrella for other organisations involved in
Asian Studies within the university, notably the CSEAS.
Murdoch University has founded the Asia Research Centre of Social, Political
and Economic Change in 1990, which is devoted particularly to the analysis of
contemporary developments in Asia such as the emerging middle classes. It has
a graduate program, conferences, publishes materials, and so on. There are
many other centres like this across the country, all of which are surveyed in
valuable reports published by Dr J. Grant in the Asian Studies Association of
Australia Review. It is fair to say that two things are true of the centres
which have been established in recent years. While all have interesting
agendas and exciting potential, most have yet to prove what they can achieve.
Most of them are very new and many of them are in fact a response to the
fashion promoting Asian Studies within the educational system. To some extent,
some of these are fairly avaricious responses to that fashion, hoping to pick
up special funding from government or business for this purpose.  
As is true of pre-tertiary level, so also in higher education student
preference has not always followed the fashionable interest in Asian Studies.
Whereas undergraduate enrolments in Japanese language have boomed in recent
years, and now levelled off at a very substantial level, in some other aspects
of Asian Studies (e.g. the history of Asia) enrolments have been declining in
most universities. After having given you a picture of the wide dispersal of
Asian Studies across the higher education system in Australia, I wish now to
illustrate the way in which Asian Studies is, nevertheless, quite
concentrated.

CONCENTRATION OF ASIAN STUDIES IN CANBERRA
In particular, I want to show how the Australian National University (ANU),
located in Canberra, still has a predominant role within the country. We can
show this by looking at some statistics recently published by George Miller
of the Australian National University Library in his Survey of trends in Asian
Studies and Asian Collections in Australia (1993). This shows that, for
example, in 1989 there were forty PhDs completed on Asian topics and in 1991
eighty-four. So the number more than doubled between these two sample years.
In the former year, twenty (50%) of those theses were done at ANU and in the
latter year twenty-four (29%). ANU is a declining proportion of a rapidly
expanding field, but nevertheless remains the largest single player. More
study of Asia is more widely dispersed outside the ANU, yet ANU still
dominates. These sample statistics, while far from being sufficient for a
conclusive case, are nevertheless consistent with one's impressions.
The data collected by Mr Miller also reveals the continuing emphasis on
certain areas within Asian Studies in Australia.  Among the 186 students
enrolled for PhDs in 1991, 70 (38%) were on Southeast Asian topics, 40 (22%)
were on East Asian topics and 34 (18%) were on South Asia. It should be
pointed out that of the Southeast Asia theses underway, 27 were at ANU and 10
at Monash, so that these two universities accounted for 53% of the enrolments.
Generally speaking, it is true to say that Southeast Asian studies is very
stong in Australia, and particularly Indonesian Studies. We are also strong
in the study of China and Japan. Despite the figure given immediately above
for PhD enrollments in 1986, we are generally weak on South Asian Studies in
Australia and very weak indeed on Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. 

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Statistics on library acquisitions also show both the dispersal and the
concentration. Miller attempted to compare library budgets for Asian-language
vernacular materials. There were some difficulties involved in this because
not all libraries distinguished between vernacular-language and
western-language acquisitions. Nonetheless, figures that he was able to
compile suggest that the Australian National University Library by itself
accounts for approximately 18% of total expenditure for Asian-language
materials. It should also be pointed out that the other great national
institution of higher learning in Australia is the National Library of
Australia, also located in Canberra. Its budget for Asian-language materials
was 51% of the total calculated by Miller. The ANU Library and the National
Library, located only a few minutes apart from each other in Canberra,
together account for around 70% of Asian-language acquisitions expenditure by
the libraries which Mr Miller was able to include in his calculations. It may
thus be said that the Australian National University is the leading national
centre for Asian Studies within a growing and more widely dispersed field of
activity in Australia.

RESEARCH SCHOOL OF PACIFIC AND ASIAN STUDIES
For postgraduate and post-doctoral research the Research School of Pacific
Studies at ANU is a particularly important national centre. It should be
remembered that the Research School - which from 1 January 1994 has been
renamed The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies - is an institution
committed only to research and post-graduate training. It has approximately
110 academic staff spread across a wide range of social science disciplines.
Its research is heavily empirical in nature; in fact we have been criticised
for giving inadequate attention to theory. Few of my colleagues, for example,
have been enticed by the siren call of post-modernism;  I shall leave it to
each of you to decide whether that is a criticism or a compliment. At the
research school we have around 180 PhD students currently enrolled and about
170 MA students, mostly within the National Centre for Development Studies.
The Research School was founded with an original emphasis upon Papua New
Guinea and the Pacific, but for many years it has been very heavily involved
in the study of Asia; hence the change of its name. It is fair to say that we
have particular interest in four countries: Japan, China, Indonesia and Papua
New Guinea. There is an increasing emphasis on Northeast Asia, particularly
Japan and China, but also Korea. We are very strong in a wide range of
disciplines such as Economics, Linguistics, History, Strategic and Defence
Studies, Geography, International Relations, Anthropology, Political Science
and so on and are also active in more scientific fields such as Biogeography,
Geomorphology and Prehistory. There are also important strengths in Asian
Studies at the ANU's Faculty of Asian Studies, which is structurally separate
from The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies.  

INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
We at the Research School are anxious to collaborate with your IIAS. Your
emphasis on post-doctoral training is congenial to us, for we also have
post-doctoral fellows who hold posts for 2 to 3 years. There are some
differences between us in terms of our disciplines and regional strengths,
which I would be inclined to see as complementary and advantageous. We have
also spoken of possible networks of European organisations under the umbrella
of IIAS  to promote such things as post-doctoral exchanges. I would urge you
to think of wider networks outside of Europe as well. I believe that our
Federal Minister of Education would respond favourably to a developed proposal
for post-doctoral exchanges within a network of which IIAS would be one
element and The Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies another. We might
extend this network to include such other institutions as the East-West Centre
in Hawaii, with which our Research School has an exchange agreement, and
perhaps other bodies elsewhere, particularly in Asia.