From welfare to work, or work to welfare: will reform of the Community Development Employment Program help close the employment gap? This project seeks to improve Indigenous livelihood options through a comprehensive analysis of recent reform of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP). In examining the impetus for change and tracking outcomes, it will greatly advance understanding of appropriate responses to seemingly intractable Indigenous development problems.
Beyond the resource curse: charting a path to sustainable livelihoods for mineral-dependent communities. Over 20 million people in developing countries depend on informal mining for their livelihoods, producing large amounts of mineral commodities. This project challenges the current paradigm on informal mining and aims to improve the livelihoods of these people while enhancing environmental sustainability.
Going for gold: safe livelihoods for informal gold miners in South and Southeast Asia. Informal gold mining by the rural poor is transforming contemporary rural Asian economies. This project will focus on the community level, and on mineral-rich tracts in South and Southeast Asia, to explore how the livelihoods of the rural poor are changing in response to high gold prices.
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
Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN co ....Mapping the Political Ecology of the Edible Birds’ Nests Trade in Indonesia. This study examines the origins and impacts of the rapidly emerging edible birds’ nests (EBN) trade for rural livelihoods and ecologies in Southeast Asia. A high-value Chinese delicacy, the EBN trade has surged across rural Indonesia and beyond. In partnership with the WWF and Tropenbos, our pioneering study investigates how rural producers negotiate the uneven social, economic and environmental influences of the EBN commodity chain in the threatened Heart of Borneo, Indonesia, and the major urban trading centres of Jakarta, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The project offers novel insights into the trade’s sustainability across rural and urban regions of Asia and informs policy for poverty reduction and environmental management in the region.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
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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101406
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,019.00
Summary
Using anthropology of finance to study disaster relief. This project aims to broaden and re-theorise economic definitions of insurance through ethnographic methodologies and feminist studies of finance. Using responses to weather disasters and the financial products created to cover them, the project will explore cultural understandings of protection and damage through a Latin American case that foregrounds experimental and emerging adaptation. In doing so, the research expects to open new direc ....Using anthropology of finance to study disaster relief. This project aims to broaden and re-theorise economic definitions of insurance through ethnographic methodologies and feminist studies of finance. Using responses to weather disasters and the financial products created to cover them, the project will explore cultural understandings of protection and damage through a Latin American case that foregrounds experimental and emerging adaptation. In doing so, the research expects to open new directions in the anthropological study of poverty and contemporary capitalism, and provide working frameworks to understand how financial services can engage meaningfully with communities affected by ever more uncertain weather. This potentially benefits communities managing disaster relief, evidence-based policy development, and public understanding of social and economic protection.Read moreRead less
Community rights in an age of footloose capital: mining in decentralised Indonesia. Indonesia is in the midst of a mining boom. In the islands closest to Australia, mining holds out the promise to eradicate poverty. Changed political and legal frameworks have led to increased foreign investment but created new challenges for local populations struggling to assert their rights, maximise benefit and minimise harm.
Women, politics and democracy: political labour in India and Indonesia . This project aims to advance understandings of Asia's two largest democracies through an examination of the pathways and dead-ends to political power for women in India and Indonesia. Research of women's everyday political labour will examine their contributions to generating different forms of power, and their adverse incorporation into political structures. The comparative ethnographic approach will lead to the developme ....Women, politics and democracy: political labour in India and Indonesia . This project aims to advance understandings of Asia's two largest democracies through an examination of the pathways and dead-ends to political power for women in India and Indonesia. Research of women's everyday political labour will examine their contributions to generating different forms of power, and their adverse incorporation into political structures. The comparative ethnographic approach will lead to the development of analytical and conceptual tools to understand democracy across different socio-historical contexts. The project aims to produce policy and practice relevant knowledge to increase the meaningful participation of women in politics in India and Indonesia, with comparative lessons for other countries Read moreRead less