Ban the burqa

Ban the burqa
Order Description
Final assessment – Question and scenario

PHI120 Final Assessment Task

Due: 5pm, Sunday of week 13

Length: 1500-2000 words (see below for breakdown),plus a standardisation

Submit via Turnitin, in iLearn

Worth: 30%

Assignment Task – Read and respond as requested to the following Scenario.
Scenario – Public Response Research

Context Statement

Social tensions are rising. In the traditionally peaceful inner-city areas that make up Mainbrace, there has been growing agitation from anti-immigration groups, conservative media, and right-wing activists. This is mainly directed towards muslims and recent immigrants from Afghanistan and the Middle East. A small number of these agitators are violent extremists, others are overzealous newspaper reporters looking to make a name for themselves, and many are concerned but misinformed citizens. Worryingly though, over the last year and a half, a political group called Advance Australia has united these elements and seems to be gaining popularity in Mainbrace. They intend to field candidates in state and federal elections and, according to some political analysts, may even win a seat. For many local groups and mainstream political parties, however, Advance Australia is simply a racially prejudiced Nationalist group running a campaign of hatred and misinformation.

Many of their “information drives” spread falsehoods about muslims and immigrants and worryingly there has been a sharp increase in racially motivated attacks throughout Mainbrace and near-by areas. For the political and social activists these upshots are worrying. For the NSW police, the rising tensions fuelled by Advance Australia are now reaching crisis point. The NSW Commissioner and the Superintendent of Mainbrace have now called upon the local Federal Member of Parliament, Claire Reznik, to use some political resources to push back and counter the Advance Australia media drives. This is where our involvement starts.

Our Task

The most recent Advance Australia campaign has focused on muslim women and the wearing of Hijab, especially the Burqa, and Niqab. Advance Australia are calling for the Burqa to be banned.

They have just released a “mission statement” making various claims and citing evidence to support their demand that muslims be banned from wearing any kind of religious face coverings. We have been recruited to help counter these claims and provide information to the local Member for Federal Parliament, Clare Reznik, in her response to Advance Australia’s “Ban The Burqa” campaign. We need you to do much of the requested research and analysis here.

Resources : – You have been provided with a dossier of relevant material. It contains:

A copy of Advance Australia’s Ban the Burqa press release.
A copy of a police report pertinent to the Ban the Burqa campaign, provided by the Police Superintendent of Mainbrace.
A copy of a recent Roy Morgan poll alluded to in the Ban the Burqa campaign.
A collection of possibly useful material gathered by one of our junior researchers, Dylan Montz (Dylan is new to this so even though he has provided some useful information here, it probably isn’t a very exhaustive collection of research materials; do feel free to collect some of your own if you want to). Dylan’s resources include:
A census report from the Australian Government called “Muslims in Australia”
A newspaper report from The Economist on similar problems in France.
A link to a page about different kinds of muslim head dress, or “hijab”.
A link to an Australian Parliament page of resources on Muslims and the Muslim experience in Australia.
What We Want from You

We think this is a pretty important case and we want to provide Claire Reznik with as much supporting information as possible. What she really wants from us is to know what the strengths and weaknesses of Advance Australia’s arguments are. She is keen to know if there is any overblown claims or misleading rhetoric that she might exploit in countering the claims made in the “Ban the Burqa” statement. She is also interested in the study that Advance Australia cites. On the more positive side, she is looking for advice about how she might use whatever information and analysis we gather to argue against Advance Australia, and to then offer a more positive and calming argument of her own. With all that in mind, then, here’s what we’d like to be able to deliver to Claire Reznik’s press office:

A standardisation of the argument used in the Ban the Burqa press release.
A 500 word analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the argument, as you’ve standardised it.
A 500 word analysis of the language and rhetoric used in the Ban the Burqa press release.
A 250-500 word report on the Roy Morgan study, and Advance Australia’s use of it.
A one page (250-500 word) “recommendation” brieng. What points should Claire Reznik emphasise in her response to the “Ban the Burqa” paper? What points should she make the focus of her own positive response?
We can make similar reports available for you to have a look at if you’re worried about how these should look.

Please remember, this is time sensitive, and it will be used to compile important public responses.