Remapping the Future

The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen an increasing trend in the field of Australian Studies for scholars to situate their research within a broader international context and conversation. In some cases, this involves exploring how concepts developed in other national contexts can be employed to illuminate aspects of the Australian experience; in others, the focus is on the transnational movement of people and ideas between Australia and the rest of the world. This collection of essays represents a selection of this recent scholarship, particularly in relation to conversations between scholars in Australia and India, and was initiated under the auspices of the Indian Association for the Study of Australia (Eastern Region). The essays are drawn from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives - history, literature, film, education, sociology and politics, cultural studies and environmental studies. The papers collected in the volume are selections from the conference proceedings of an international conference on Re-mapping the Future: History, Culture and Environment in Australia and India. This volume particularly explores various intersections of history, culture and environment in the discourse of cross-cultural linkages between Australia and India. It builds on the commonality of cultural networks, the intercolonial history of encounter and exchange, and the Indian diasporic presence in Australia, and looks forward to a future in terms of a developing bilateral relationship between Australia and India.