Intersectional (re)developments and (new?) navigations: a post-orientalist autoethnographic exploration of “Asian” Australian identities, histories and representations

Purpose Written from a migrant “Asian” ex-schoolteacher scholar’s standpoint, this paper explores how “Asian” Australian identity is developed and navigated within the intersectional racialised and gendered landscape of contemporary “Australia”. It focuses on the enduring legacy of white supremacist and patriarchal structures – rooted in the White Australia Policy – and how they shape the intersectional experiences of racialised subjects perceived as perpetually foreign. The aim is to understand how “Asian” Australian identity is formed in relation to ongoing Orientalist discourses and exclusionary national narratives, with attendant implications for more concerted race-conscious approaches in school curriculum and pedagogy. Design/methodology/approach Employing a critical autoethnographic approach, the paper engages with personal narrative as a method for unpacking the intersection of race, gender, migration and national identity. Drawing on Dabashi’s post-Orientalist framework and the author’s conceptual tool, Gold Noise, the analysis examines how mobility and belonging are experienced through overlapping structures of power, and how these structures inform identity formation for “Asian” Australians. Findings The study highlights the ways in which “Asian” Australian identities are constructed through tension, negotiation and resistance within a social context that continues to centre whiteness and masculinity. It demonstrates that identity is not static but actively shaped by intersecting forces of racialisation, patriarchy and migration, producing both constraints and possibilities for self-definition. Originality/value By integrating intersectional analysis with postcolonial theory and autoethnographic reflection, this paper offers a unique perspective on how identity is developed and navigated under systemic and historical marginalisation in Australia. It contributes to the broader discourse on identity politics by foregrounding lived experience as a critical site of knowledge production and resistance.