The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern soc ....The Laboratory of Modernity: Knowledge Formation and the Australian Settler Colonies (1788-1900). Colonial Australia was a laboratory in which European ideas could be tested, raw data collected, and social experiments trialled, especially in managing settler, convict, and Aboriginal populations. This literary historical project will analyse the production and circulation of colonial knowledge, by focusing on texts and print culture, and will map their influence on European thought and modern social theory. Grounded in meticulous archival and textual analysis, this project will trace the ways in which knowledge created in the settler colonies was produced by individuals and circulated by correspondence, institutions, and publication through imperial networks. This project will produce new insights into Australia’s literary and cultural history.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100300
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
The politicised child in postcolonial community: a political ontology of childhood and memory examined through cases in Australia and Canada. The project investigates the meaning and use of childhood in recent political and social movements, such as the 'Stolen Generations' in Australia and sterilised children in Canada. This research will contribute to current debates about the need for reconciliation, and to Australia's international profile in the field of political philosophy.
Decolonising the human: towards a postcolonial ecology. Do you think you're human? This project interrogates how the notion of mind has come to shape western attitudes about what it means to be human. Focusing on the notorious head-measuring practices of colonial times, it provokes a rethinking of our cherished claim of being privileged among other life-forms.
The world novel, distant suffering and humanitarian sensibility after 1989. As war and terror flicker across our televisions, writers like Rushdie, McEwan and Hosseini have turned the novel into a global form, expressing a new humanitarian ethic. This project explores the makings of these World Novels across sites of ongoing global conflict, and traces their plea for sympathy back to the novel's beginnings, in the eighteenth-century.
Significances of 'childhood' in postcolonial Australia. This project aims to investigate the rhetorical and political use of the figure of the Aboriginal child as a site of mediation in efforts to reconcile cultural tensions in Australia, particularly between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Utilising an interdisciplinary critical analysis of concepts of childhood, the expected outcomes of the project include enhanced understanding of the specific character of injury inflicted upon Abo ....Significances of 'childhood' in postcolonial Australia. This project aims to investigate the rhetorical and political use of the figure of the Aboriginal child as a site of mediation in efforts to reconcile cultural tensions in Australia, particularly between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Utilising an interdisciplinary critical analysis of concepts of childhood, the expected outcomes of the project include enhanced understanding of the specific character of injury inflicted upon Aboriginal communities through interventions targeting their children, such as their removal into out of home care. This should provide significant benefits to the contemporary social project of reconciliation, through increasing critical attention to the part of cultural misunderstanding in perpetuating Aboriginal disadvantage.Read moreRead less
Transnational Coetzee: Revisioning World Literature through the Margins. The reputation of J. M. Coetzee has undergone a dramatic global upsurge in the past 15 years, coinciding with his relocation to Australia and subsequent adoption of citizenship in 2002. This project aims to explore the proposition that the writings of the South African-born Coetzee possess profound and abiding transnational qualities, and then map the global shifts that this work has undergone in the new century. By examin ....Transnational Coetzee: Revisioning World Literature through the Margins. The reputation of J. M. Coetzee has undergone a dramatic global upsurge in the past 15 years, coinciding with his relocation to Australia and subsequent adoption of citizenship in 2002. This project aims to explore the proposition that the writings of the South African-born Coetzee possess profound and abiding transnational qualities, and then map the global shifts that this work has undergone in the new century. By examining these aspects through Coetzee's position in his adopted country, the project seeks to re-examine notions of Australian nationality and the parameters of its literary, cultural and political identity, moving them beyond an insular, border-defined understanding towards a wider international frame.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100238
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$313,000.00
Summary
Georgiana Molloy, Life Writing and Environment in 1830s Western Australia. This project aims to use ecobiography, a mode of life-writing that details the relationship of a person with their environment, to prompt a reconsideration of the anthropocentric relationship between humans and non-humans in a settler colony. Through analysis of archival and contemporary writing on the environment of 1830s south-west Western Australia, it aims to illuminate interactions between botanist Georgiana Molloy, ....Georgiana Molloy, Life Writing and Environment in 1830s Western Australia. This project aims to use ecobiography, a mode of life-writing that details the relationship of a person with their environment, to prompt a reconsideration of the anthropocentric relationship between humans and non-humans in a settler colony. Through analysis of archival and contemporary writing on the environment of 1830s south-west Western Australia, it aims to illuminate interactions between botanist Georgiana Molloy, the Noongar people and plants. The resulting monograph will be designed to demonstrate how syntheses of the sciences and humanities can respond creatively to environmental deterioration. The project also intends to contribute to recent scholarship on Aboriginal agency and land management practices.Read moreRead less
The Coal Rush and Beyond: Climate Change, Coal Reliance and Contested Futures. Globally, coal extraction and burning is booming. The burning of coal has released unprecedented quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and exacerbated anthropogenic climate change. This inter-disciplinary project investigates the 'coal rush' in sociopolitical terms, asking how it can be superseded. This project seeks explanations of why new coal mines and coal-fired power stations are constructed, investiga ....The Coal Rush and Beyond: Climate Change, Coal Reliance and Contested Futures. Globally, coal extraction and burning is booming. The burning of coal has released unprecedented quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and exacerbated anthropogenic climate change. This inter-disciplinary project investigates the 'coal rush' in sociopolitical terms, asking how it can be superseded. This project seeks explanations of why new coal mines and coal-fired power stations are constructed, investigate social conflicts centred on new coal facilities, and analyse what social factors may enable transition from coal. Specific sites, national contexts and transnational connections will be compared to develop a nuanced understanding of dependence on coal, and how it may be overcome. Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200677
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$180,000.00
Summary
Staying on Country: Infrastructure Needs for Remote Community Viability. This project introduces the concept of infrastructural biographies to revisit the history of remote community formations from the self-determination era to today. Using ethnographic approaches to understand infrastructural legacies, it aims to interrogate the governance and hardware requirements for supporting Indigenous residents to stay on country. The project will produce four case studies capturing community resilience ....Staying on Country: Infrastructure Needs for Remote Community Viability. This project introduces the concept of infrastructural biographies to revisit the history of remote community formations from the self-determination era to today. Using ethnographic approaches to understand infrastructural legacies, it aims to interrogate the governance and hardware requirements for supporting Indigenous residents to stay on country. The project will produce four case studies capturing community resilience efforts in northern and central Australia. Expected benefits include an enhanced understanding of infrastructural issues in relation to viability concerns, and improved policy strategies for Indigenous corporations, NGOs, and governments working on remote Indigenous governance, maintenance programs, and climate-readiness.Read moreRead less