Anatomies of Empire: Race, Evolution and Scientific Networks in the Twentieth-Century British World. Our research demonstrates how Australian scientists, Australian field experiences, and Australian materials were central to comparative anatomy, evolutionary theory and race science in the twentieth century. This study uncovers for the first time the powerful imperial network of racial biologists and physical anthropologists whose influential studies of human nature and racial classification deri ....Anatomies of Empire: Race, Evolution and Scientific Networks in the Twentieth-Century British World. Our research demonstrates how Australian scientists, Australian field experiences, and Australian materials were central to comparative anatomy, evolutionary theory and race science in the twentieth century. This study uncovers for the first time the powerful imperial network of racial biologists and physical anthropologists whose influential studies of human nature and racial classification derived from Australian work. These ideas about what it means to be human, hitherto unexamined historically, continue to underpin our contemporary assumptions about ethnic difference, Aboriginal status, multiculturalism, and national identity.Read moreRead less
Promoting Whiteness: Race Science and the Making of the Middle-Class Woman in Australia, 1880-1940. Many Australians remain confused about precisely how race relations operated and were defined in the early twentieth century. Since, elite women were central actors in promoting racial ideologies, this study will provide the a broad insight into precisely how racial ideologies came to permeate white Australian society and their importance for both national and individual identity. Such insights ar ....Promoting Whiteness: Race Science and the Making of the Middle-Class Woman in Australia, 1880-1940. Many Australians remain confused about precisely how race relations operated and were defined in the early twentieth century. Since, elite women were central actors in promoting racial ideologies, this study will provide the a broad insight into precisely how racial ideologies came to permeate white Australian society and their importance for both national and individual identity. Such insights are of critical importance to understanding the impact of racial thought in the past, and its continuing effects, and thus for our ability to move beyond the current acrimonious debates over race within Australia and in within our region.Read moreRead less
Cultural maintenance, cultural change: a comparative history of Yiddish Melbourne. Given the aging of the Australian population, immigration remains a vital national concern - indeed, its significance is likely to increase over the coming decades. This context makes clear the national and community benefit of research into the effectiveness of immigration policy and the experience of immigrants. This study will be of particular importance for its innovative approach to evaluation of the success ....Cultural maintenance, cultural change: a comparative history of Yiddish Melbourne. Given the aging of the Australian population, immigration remains a vital national concern - indeed, its significance is likely to increase over the coming decades. This context makes clear the national and community benefit of research into the effectiveness of immigration policy and the experience of immigrants. This study will be of particular importance for its innovative approach to evaluation of the successes and failures of policy, of the factors which facilitate immigrant success, and the adaptation to Australian life of members the second and third generation.
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A study of the rise of Islam and community survival in Indigenous Australia. The recovery of the history of Islam in Indigenous Australia makes available new information about the sources of national identity. It provides compelling arguments to dismantle community stereotypes that have prevented the recognition of an exemplary hybrid community tradition as integral to our collective sense of self. Linked to the contemporary phenomenon of Indigenous Islamicisation, this study makes possible a ne ....A study of the rise of Islam and community survival in Indigenous Australia. The recovery of the history of Islam in Indigenous Australia makes available new information about the sources of national identity. It provides compelling arguments to dismantle community stereotypes that have prevented the recognition of an exemplary hybrid community tradition as integral to our collective sense of self. Linked to the contemporary phenomenon of Indigenous Islamicisation, this study makes possible a new and timely dialogue between Australian Muslims, Indigenous communities and Australian society generally. Identifying new sources and resources of community-making at a local, national and international level, this study significantly enriches Australia's capacity to negotiate its place in the world. Read moreRead less
Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: a fifty year retrospective exploring the history of black and white Australian activism, 1957-1972. The year 1957 marks the beginning of a fifteen year period in which black and white Australians collaborated for Indigenous rights. Although this work began with a concentration on civil rights, by the end of the period a new set of rights was being sought based on the unique circumstances of Indigenous Australians. This project will explore the struggle for ci ....Collaborating for Indigenous Rights: a fifty year retrospective exploring the history of black and white Australian activism, 1957-1972. The year 1957 marks the beginning of a fifteen year period in which black and white Australians collaborated for Indigenous rights. Although this work began with a concentration on civil rights, by the end of the period a new set of rights was being sought based on the unique circumstances of Indigenous Australians. This project will explore the struggle for civil rights and the more radical proposition that other rights flowed to Indigenous Australians due to their original occupancy and dispossession.The proposed end products are a fully developed exhibition brief and catalogue essay, an on-line exhibition with supporting educational resource material and scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Food, Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and the Expansion of the Settler Economy. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australian Indigenous-settler history by focusing on the role of food and traditional Aboriginal food knowledge. It will also represent a timely engagement with worldwide debates about the role of Indigenous knowledge in a modern world.
As well as producing scholarly outcomes including books the project will establish and maintain a data-base of this knowledge whi ....Food, Traditional Aboriginal Knowledge and the Expansion of the Settler Economy. This project will strengthen our understanding of Australian Indigenous-settler history by focusing on the role of food and traditional Aboriginal food knowledge. It will also represent a timely engagement with worldwide debates about the role of Indigenous knowledge in a modern world.
As well as producing scholarly outcomes including books the project will establish and maintain a data-base of this knowledge which will be accessible to Indigenous communities, scholars, land users and managers. A further benefit will be the repatriation of knowledge and information located in archives and other repositories to descendant Aboriginal communities in culturally sensitive, socially and historically contextualised Community Reports.Read moreRead less
Images of Chinese in Australia, NZ and SE Asia, 1850-1950. This project combines historical analysis and database software to review all accessible extant images of Chinese in Australia & NZ for the period (and a selection of images from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore), to (a) develop a sophisticated research tool for historians, which combines detailed annotations of content and context of images with means for cross referencing these against a framework of people, organisations, places, eve ....Images of Chinese in Australia, NZ and SE Asia, 1850-1950. This project combines historical analysis and database software to review all accessible extant images of Chinese in Australia & NZ for the period (and a selection of images from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore), to (a) develop a sophisticated research tool for historians, which combines detailed annotations of content and context of images with means for cross referencing these against a framework of people, organisations, places, events, dates and concepts; (b) utilise this research tool, and visual discourse analysis, to investigate, for Australia and Asia: (i) how Chinese chose to represent themselves, and (ii) how Chinese were represented by Europeans.Read moreRead less
Negotiated Encounters: Native peoples and cross cultural engagements in the early Australian and New Zealand maritime enterprises 1790-1850. "Negotiated Encounters" will provide new accounts and interpretations of Australian and New Zealand colonial history. The main focus is on the race relations and cross-cultural encounters in the early maritime industries of sealing and whaling. A key element of the project will be an exploration of the notion of shared history and how relationships form(ed ....Negotiated Encounters: Native peoples and cross cultural engagements in the early Australian and New Zealand maritime enterprises 1790-1850. "Negotiated Encounters" will provide new accounts and interpretations of Australian and New Zealand colonial history. The main focus is on the race relations and cross-cultural encounters in the early maritime industries of sealing and whaling. A key element of the project will be an exploration of the notion of shared history and how relationships form(ed) between Indigenous and non-Indigenous in the colonial period. This project will contribute to contemporary debates on the importance of history, trans-Tasman National identity and the meaning of the past. Read moreRead less
Nation, Race, Rights and the New World Order, 1945-1966. Given the beleaguered status of international organisations, the postwar universal human rights agenda, and race relations, the history of the ideas of nation, race, and rights is ripe for an analysis that seeks to understand the formative post-Second World War period. This project examines the contribution to international discussions and legislation concerning rights and racism, made by representatives of a nation that continued to adher ....Nation, Race, Rights and the New World Order, 1945-1966. Given the beleaguered status of international organisations, the postwar universal human rights agenda, and race relations, the history of the ideas of nation, race, and rights is ripe for an analysis that seeks to understand the formative post-Second World War period. This project examines the contribution to international discussions and legislation concerning rights and racism, made by representatives of a nation that continued to adhere to a policy of 'white Australia' after the Second World War. As a result it places the history of race and nationalism in Australia in a comparative and international context. Read moreRead less
The Mission to Civilise: Colonialism, Race and Criminal Codes. This project will consider the historical relationships between ideologies of race and law enforcement, and will chart their social formation and naturalisation. This will be set within the context of colonisation in Australia, where there existed tensions between the equally dominant ideologies of overt racism, and ideals of liberal universalism that justified the Rule of Law. Archival research will scrutinise the way in which the ....The Mission to Civilise: Colonialism, Race and Criminal Codes. This project will consider the historical relationships between ideologies of race and law enforcement, and will chart their social formation and naturalisation. This will be set within the context of colonisation in Australia, where there existed tensions between the equally dominant ideologies of overt racism, and ideals of liberal universalism that justified the Rule of Law. Archival research will scrutinise the way in which the superficially racially-neutral language of criminality was constituted by notions such as property and civil order which became racialised in historically and socially specific ways, revealing underlying consistencies between apparently incompatible ideologies of colonial practices.Read moreRead less