In this talk, author and historian 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.

Ruth will also speak about her forthcoming book, Destination Elsewhere: Displaced Persons and their Quest to Leave Postwar Europe.

For more information and to register for this free event, please visit https://smsa.org.au/events/event/smuggled-an-illegal-history-of-journeys-to-australia/

Everyone is welcome to attend, but registration is essential.