Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Urban modernity in Australia has been largely associated with white Australians and with British and American cultural influences. This article shifts the focus by turning to the activities of Chinese shopkeepers and shop workers. It argues that commercial development in Australian rural towns was interwoven with Chinese retail empires. Examining the history of Australia's Chinese shop-life brings this community of Chinese traders, shopkeepers and shop workers into view. The shop-life they created, preserved in archives across Asia and Australia, allows us to see how commercial exchanges between Chinese shopkeepers, shop workers and their customers were also cultural exchanges that could lead to the interchange of cross-cultural knowledge. These economic exchanges arguably also contributed to the manufacture of racial categories and cultural difference.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sophie Loy‐Wilson (2014) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: