Impact of racism on Asian Australians' sense of belonging during the COVID-19 Pandemic

While research has extensively documented individual impacts of COVID-19-related racism, its broader effects on social cohesion and intercultural relations in multicultural societies remain understudied. To help address this gap, this paper examines how experiences of pandemic-related racism affected ‘sense of belonging’ among Australians likely to be perceived as of Chinese background. Drawing on qualitative data from 258 participants of East and Southeast Asian backgrounds, the study explores a spectrum of responses to racist encounters and their implications for feelings of belonging within the Australian community. The findings reveal that pandemic racism has produced complex effects on participants’ sense of belonging, ranging from elevated feelings of alienation to qualified belonging. Subtle and ‘everyday’ racism had as corrosive an impact on belonging as more explicit racism. Highlighted also is the temporality and conditionality of belonging, pointing to its vulnerability under social stress. The findings support the need for multi-layered anti-racism strategies and a reimagined multicultural discourse grounded in genuine intercultural engagement and an inclusive national identity.