Farmers of the Future: the Challenges of Feminised Agriculture in India. Neoliberal economic policies are fundamentally transforming the social landscapes of rural India, causing a deep agrarian crisis. The agrarian changes accentuate the unequal consequences for poor women and men in relation to: production (labour, tenure); livelihood and food security; access to and ownership of assets such as land and water and access to agricultural innovations and institutions. This multiscalar project inv ....Farmers of the Future: the Challenges of Feminised Agriculture in India. Neoliberal economic policies are fundamentally transforming the social landscapes of rural India, causing a deep agrarian crisis. The agrarian changes accentuate the unequal consequences for poor women and men in relation to: production (labour, tenure); livelihood and food security; access to and ownership of assets such as land and water and access to agricultural innovations and institutions. This multiscalar project investigates the causes and consequences of feminisation of agriculture in India’s transitioning economy in order to understand how gender roles and relations are being re-shaped in communities and households in diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts and agro-ecological areas.Read moreRead less
Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid ....Connecting Indigenous Community Photographies: a transnational case study. The project aims to conduct the first transnational comparison of Indigenous community-controlled photography, exploring Indigenous peoples’ ways of seeing and documenting their worlds. The project seeks to significantly advance Australian and global understanding of Indigenous vernacular photography through investigating formerly unexplored private collections of images created by Indigenous photographers during the mid 20th Century in four communities across three countries. One of the outcomes of the project is a nuanced visual history that cannot be excavated from other sources. The benefits of this project include public exhibitions, a book, symposiums, and a scholarly anthology that encourages the public’s connection with the past.Read moreRead less
Local responses to the threat of HIV/AIDS in the logging concessions in the Western Province, PNG. This research takes place in the logging concessions of the Western Province of PNG - a province that borders Australia. Our project will investigate some factors influencing people's sexual behaviour in the logging concessions. Because of their capacity to attract migrant labour these logging concessions are potential 'hot-spots' for the transmission of HIV/AIDS throughout PNG and towards Australi ....Local responses to the threat of HIV/AIDS in the logging concessions in the Western Province, PNG. This research takes place in the logging concessions of the Western Province of PNG - a province that borders Australia. Our project will investigate some factors influencing people's sexual behaviour in the logging concessions. Because of their capacity to attract migrant labour these logging concessions are potential 'hot-spots' for the transmission of HIV/AIDS throughout PNG and towards Australia. From our findings we will develop a community based risk-reduction intervention strategy that will help slow the spread of infections into the Western Province and Australia.Read moreRead less
The Nakanai Caves Cultural Heritage Project. This project aims to document and integrate the natural and cultural values of the Nakanai Caves in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, in preparation for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination. The project’s novel methodology incorporates community knowledge with archaeological and anthropological evidence to link natural and cultural values and define the landscape from local perspectives. Local input into the research will be prioritised. B ....The Nakanai Caves Cultural Heritage Project. This project aims to document and integrate the natural and cultural values of the Nakanai Caves in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, in preparation for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination. The project’s novel methodology incorporates community knowledge with archaeological and anthropological evidence to link natural and cultural values and define the landscape from local perspectives. Local input into the research will be prioritised. By emphasising local participation and management of World Heritage listing processes the project aims to address an identified gap in World Heritage methodologies. This project allows for a subtle, nuanced definition of cultural landscapes under the World Heritage Convention.Read moreRead less
Planning for Later Life: an Ethnographic Analysis of Aging among Transnational Papua New Guineans. This project addresses the global problem of ageing populations by looking at how transnational Papua New Guinean families plan for old age. It explores how Papua New Guineans resident in North Queensland make specific decisions about later life that balance the value of relations with kin, friends, neighbours while also dealing with the social services provided by the state and the market. The pro ....Planning for Later Life: an Ethnographic Analysis of Aging among Transnational Papua New Guineans. This project addresses the global problem of ageing populations by looking at how transnational Papua New Guinean families plan for old age. It explores how Papua New Guineans resident in North Queensland make specific decisions about later life that balance the value of relations with kin, friends, neighbours while also dealing with the social services provided by the state and the market. The project will describe the tensions that emerge in transnational decision making concerning old age. The resulting knowledge of how Papua New Guineans prepare for old age will help to critically inform policies concerning the wellbeing of people engaged with ageing.Read moreRead less
Isolation, Insularity and Change in Island Populations - an Interdisciplinary Study of Aboriginal Cultural Patterns in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The project's national benefits centre on its contribution to safeguarding Australia and to an environmentally sustainable Australia. The participation of northern Indigenous people is critical to border protection policies and procedures. This project will help revitalise the Carpentaria Land Council's Aboriginal Rangers scheme, which has a potential ro ....Isolation, Insularity and Change in Island Populations - an Interdisciplinary Study of Aboriginal Cultural Patterns in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The project's national benefits centre on its contribution to safeguarding Australia and to an environmentally sustainable Australia. The participation of northern Indigenous people is critical to border protection policies and procedures. This project will help revitalise the Carpentaria Land Council's Aboriginal Rangers scheme, which has a potential role in safeguarding the nation's northern approaches, including combating feral plant and animal importation, Coastwatch surveillance and marine habitat protection. The geological research on sea level and climatic history in the Gulf of Carpentaria and associated coastal geomorphological impacts will contribute to predictive models on global warming and its consequences (sea-level rise).Read moreRead less
Objects of possession: artefact transactions in the wet tropics of North Queensland, 1870 -2013. The project's research into artefact collecting will provide Indigenous peoples, museum curators and other community members with important insights into the history of Indigenous cultures in the Wet Tropics region. Our project will contribute to the development of innovative ways of presenting Indigenous peoples' connections with their cultural heritage.
New bioarchaeological perspectives on pre-contact lifeways in Sahul . This project aims to establish a new bioarchaeology research program to study socio-economic changes in the Australia-New Guinea continent Sahul and provide new insights into the complexity of societies from diverse environments. Bioarchaeology provides a unique lens for interpreting the past, however research of this nature has largely been inactive due to the sensitivity of studying ancestral remains of Indigenous people. H ....New bioarchaeological perspectives on pre-contact lifeways in Sahul . This project aims to establish a new bioarchaeology research program to study socio-economic changes in the Australia-New Guinea continent Sahul and provide new insights into the complexity of societies from diverse environments. Bioarchaeology provides a unique lens for interpreting the past, however research of this nature has largely been inactive due to the sensitivity of studying ancestral remains of Indigenous people. However, there is growing interest from Aboriginal groups in the narratives that can be reconstructed from their ancestors, and many Aboriginal communities now support research on skeletal remains. In collaboration with Aboriginal communities, the project will apply new developments in bioarchaeology to sensitively assess patterns of mobility and sedentism in three separate populations. This project is expected to initiate a new era of bioarchaeological research and redefine our understanding of the complexity of past Aboriginal and Papuan narratives.Read moreRead less
Place, pastoralism and Indigenous experience on Cape York Peninsula: a critical exploration of one hundred years of anthropological data collection. Using anthropological and archaeological techniques, this project addresses conceptualisations of place on Cape York Peninsula over the last hundred years, with particular reference to the pastoral industry. It will result in renewed understandings of the importance of place in cross-cultural experience in northern Australia.
Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability ....Social, economic and health vulnerabilities in Indonesia. This project aims to study and provide ways to overcome vulnerability in Indonesia. Half the Indonesian population is still clustered around the poverty line, contributing to their vulnerability. This project will identify vulnerable groups and why they are vulnerable. Using a common framework of the life course in eight Indonesian field sites, this project will investigate whether social networks and welfare programs reduce vulnerability, and pinpoint strategies for reducing vulnerabilities in the future. The project expects to show how vulnerable citizens in Indonesia can be made more secure, helping to build a more stable and prosperous region.Read moreRead less