Ten years after the Cronulla riots, the violence, racism and branding of young bodies with signs and symbols of Australian nationalism, along with the reprisal attacks by Lebanese-Australian youth, continues to inflame discussions about race relations in Australia. Battle for the Flag contextualises and challenges the narrative by drawing on participant observation and interviews conducted with local residents of diverse backgrounds.

Dr Amelia Johns is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University. Her PhD research explored experiences of intercultural contact between youth in multicultural urban space, and how these encounters produce racism, intolerance and violent conflict alongside 'hybrid' identifications and expressions of belonging. Her work has been published in Continuum: Journal of Media and Culture, and will also be appearing in a forthcoming book, Critical Youth Studies for the 21st Century.
Her current research reflects an interest in young people's experiences of new media as spaces where social and cultural identity, citizenship and experiences of embodiment are resituated and transformed. Her research in this area will be published in forthcoming issues of Fibreculture journal and Media International Australia.