Australia: the search for a foundational history. The first history of Australia's search for a foundational past, this project examines the historical debates that have divided Australian society since the late twentieth century. Set against the background of Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of history and place, it provides a groundbreaking study of history in Australian culture.
Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian colonies. This study enhances our understanding of the foundations and representative functions of Australian democratic institutions, especially as they concern Indigenous-settler-missionary-imperial relationships. In drawing out the connections between two major questions for Australian history and modern society - democracy and Indigenous dispossession - the project will contribute deeper historical knowledge to cu ....Indigenous peoples, the British Empire, and self-government for the Australian colonies. This study enhances our understanding of the foundations and representative functions of Australian democratic institutions, especially as they concern Indigenous-settler-missionary-imperial relationships. In drawing out the connections between two major questions for Australian history and modern society - democracy and Indigenous dispossession - the project will contribute deeper historical knowledge to current public debate about Indigenous policy past and present. It will also illuminate the importance of understanding Australian history in broad transcolonial and transnational contexts and enhance the contribution of Australian historians to imperial, missionary, and comparative settler-society histories.Read moreRead less
Dispossession and colonization, 1780-1820. Massacre and colonization is an extremely topical project given the increasing public discussions around race relations, and how those interactions have helped shape our identity. This project will advance the ongoing debate by exploring the nature of Indigenous dispossession in the world. It will also aid in the process of national reconciliation.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online and Emerging National Information Systems: Networking Research Capability. The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online and Emerging National Information Systems Project will link the dictionary's scholarly biographical articles with the resources of national cultural institutions, making visible and available to researchers everywhere an unprecedented number of sources for the lives of historical actors and a much larger volume of contextual inform ....The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online and Emerging National Information Systems: Networking Research Capability. The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online and Emerging National Information Systems Project will link the dictionary's scholarly biographical articles with the resources of national cultural institutions, making visible and available to researchers everywhere an unprecedented number of sources for the lives of historical actors and a much larger volume of contextual information about them. Its leading-edge cultural informatics will make more efficient use of existing information infrastructure and stimulate further development. Researchers using the service will be enabled to make conceptual advances and produce new knowledge about Australian history and society.Read moreRead less
Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connectio ....Intimacy and Violence in Anglo Pacific Rim settler colonial societies. Violence and intimacy were both fundamental to the formation of settler colonial societies, yet we know surprisingly little of how they were connected. Through a large-scale collaboration of leading scholars, this project aims to produce the first transnational analysis of intimacy and violence as key, intertwined vectors in the development of settler societies across the colonial Anglophone Pacific Rim. Drawing out connections between the broad-scale dynamics of colonial rule and the violent and intimate domains of its implementation on the ground, the project aims to generate new comparative insights into the development of colonial settler cultures and create enhanced understanding of their legacies for western settler democracies today.Read moreRead less
The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining ....The Construction of Race and Racial Identity at the Antipodes of Empire, 1788-1840. The view that Australia was always a racially based society, pursuing racial policies to the detriment of indigenous Australians and our Asian neighbours, is subject to rancorous national debate. Polemical assertion by high profile journalists that race was never a driving force in Australian history is not conducive to understanding complex history, nor are derogatory attacks on historians helpful in explaining the past to our neighbours. Whether colonial Australia was a race-based society remains to be established. With indigenous uncertainty over the demise of ATSIC and rising antagonism among our Islamic neighbours, there is need, as never before, for dispassionate scholarship to provide a complex interpretation of Australia's past.Read moreRead less
Immigration Restriction and the Racial State, c. 1880 to the present. Legislating the specific criteria by which people are refused entry into sovereign territory has posed critical problems for policy and law from the late nineteenth century to the present day. By analysing the long history of medico-legal border control in the Asia-Pacific region, the project will uncover previously forgotten legal and policy links and will analyse a history of mutual influence between Australia and neighbouri ....Immigration Restriction and the Racial State, c. 1880 to the present. Legislating the specific criteria by which people are refused entry into sovereign territory has posed critical problems for policy and law from the late nineteenth century to the present day. By analysing the long history of medico-legal border control in the Asia-Pacific region, the project will uncover previously forgotten legal and policy links and will analyse a history of mutual influence between Australia and neighbouring nations. This will productively assist a policy environment (both national and international) primed for ever more intense border control. Read moreRead less
Violence on the Australian Colonial Frontier, 1788-1960. How many Aborigines and settlers were killed on the Australian frontier? Were they mostly killed in ones and twos or in mass killings? How can we know? These questions are of first national importance in understanding the past. This project takes a fresh approach to frontier violence by employing new analytical methods to investigate the complex array of sources to produce new estimates of casualties 1788 to 1960. The findings will be made ....Violence on the Australian Colonial Frontier, 1788-1960. How many Aborigines and settlers were killed on the Australian frontier? Were they mostly killed in ones and twos or in mass killings? How can we know? These questions are of first national importance in understanding the past. This project takes a fresh approach to frontier violence by employing new analytical methods to investigate the complex array of sources to produce new estimates of casualties 1788 to 1960. The findings will be made available in online maps and transform our understanding of the ongoing trauma of frontier violence that persists in Australian society today. Read moreRead less
Imagining the National Story: Australian history reconsidered. Australian history has been revised and reinterpreted by successive generations of historians, writers, governments and public commentators. However, there has been no systematic attempt to trace Australian historiography from its earliest origins to the contests dominating public historical discussion today. This project responds to this critical gap in Australian historical research and proposes a bold and expansive history that ex ....Imagining the National Story: Australian history reconsidered. Australian history has been revised and reinterpreted by successive generations of historians, writers, governments and public commentators. However, there has been no systematic attempt to trace Australian historiography from its earliest origins to the contests dominating public historical discussion today. This project responds to this critical gap in Australian historical research and proposes a bold and expansive history that examines the changing and contested project of Australia’s national story for the first time and aims to make a significant contribution to Australian historical scholarship and understandings of the practice of history itself.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100550
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$356,808.00
Summary
Bioethics in the Antipodes: A history of Australian bioethics since 1980. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of bioethics in Australia. Since the 1980s, bioethics sought to address the medical, legal and social implications of Australian research in reproductive medicine. Australian bioethics is often assumed to share a similar history to American bioethics, but the debate about reproduction, euthanasia and the nature of moral authority in secular liberal democracy is distinctl ....Bioethics in the Antipodes: A history of Australian bioethics since 1980. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of bioethics in Australia. Since the 1980s, bioethics sought to address the medical, legal and social implications of Australian research in reproductive medicine. Australian bioethics is often assumed to share a similar history to American bioethics, but the debate about reproduction, euthanasia and the nature of moral authority in secular liberal democracy is distinctly Australian. To date, the history of these developments has not been examined. The project will use archival sources, interviews, and theoretical analysis. Potential benefits include a deeper understanding of the distinctive local and global contributions of Australian bioethics.Read moreRead less