Author Talk: Smuggled

Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to Australia
In-person talk with Ruth Balint

Nowadays, when we hear the term “people smuggler”, we immediately conjure images of mafia networks, organised crime, and mass deaths at sea. But people smuggling has a history in Australian migration that stretches well beyond the maritime borders of our nation, and a longer lineage than the recent refugee movements of the 21st century.

In this talk, Ruth Balint will discuss the ideas behind the book Smuggled: An Illegal History of Journeys to Australia which traces the fascinating story of people smuggling in Australia’s migrant history, from the Second World War through to the present.

Australians are well acquainted with more recent maritime crossings, which are often presented as singular, unprecedented crises of human catastrophe. Smuggled: An Illegal History, challenges the historical presentism of representations of refugee movements, and puts this phenomenon into its complicated historical context. The authors bring together essays and stories that remind us that “illegalised travellers” are part of our immigration history, and that our perspective towards them is shaped by where we sit in time and place.

Registration to attend this event is essential due to limited capacity (as per COVID-19 safety regulations).