Government, Religion and the Problem of Moral Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea. Successful Australian international relations depend on understanding the popular culture within which neighbouring people formulate grievances and desires for change. PNG is physically close to Australia; it was an administered colony and today as a regional ally it receives much Australian aid. Many Australian organizations, companies and citizens reside in PNG. This project will provide accurate knowledge o ....Government, Religion and the Problem of Moral Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea. Successful Australian international relations depend on understanding the popular culture within which neighbouring people formulate grievances and desires for change. PNG is physically close to Australia; it was an administered colony and today as a regional ally it receives much Australian aid. Many Australian organizations, companies and citizens reside in PNG. This project will provide accurate knowledge of how popular religious movements can provide a political language for voicing everyday expectations and grievances. Social and cultural changes can produce new perceptions of injustice that are voiced as a moral critique of present day government, where the future kingdom of God or of the dead is used as a point of ethical contrast.Read moreRead less
Translocal Identities in the Malay World: Travel, Commerce, Community Building and Religious Reform in Insular and Peninsular Southeast Asia. First, the project contributes to an understanding of the region. Second, understanding how different governments in the region have and are managing religious and cultural diversity may provide lessons for Australia. Third, a study of migration within the region can make a significant contribution to debates within Australia on immigration from Asia. Four ....Translocal Identities in the Malay World: Travel, Commerce, Community Building and Religious Reform in Insular and Peninsular Southeast Asia. First, the project contributes to an understanding of the region. Second, understanding how different governments in the region have and are managing religious and cultural diversity may provide lessons for Australia. Third, a study of migration within the region can make a significant contribution to debates within Australia on immigration from Asia. Fourth, there are benefits in greater understanding of Islamic networks in Southeast Asia as these are of strategic significance for Australia. Finally, there are benefits in informing an Australian public that Southeast Asia should not be equated solely with negative aspects but also with civility and tolerance.Read moreRead less
Arabian Africans or African Arabs? The dynamics of Islamic African identity in the Arabian Peninsula. An understanding of the social and cultural background to current conflicts is a step towards resolving them and this project is a significant contribution to Australia's understanding of the world and of Muslims. It will explain how and why many non-Arab Muslims are drawn towards the Arab world, by virtue of what it can offer them and of what the alternatives are increasingly failing to offer, ....Arabian Africans or African Arabs? The dynamics of Islamic African identity in the Arabian Peninsula. An understanding of the social and cultural background to current conflicts is a step towards resolving them and this project is a significant contribution to Australia's understanding of the world and of Muslims. It will explain how and why many non-Arab Muslims are drawn towards the Arab world, by virtue of what it can offer them and of what the alternatives are increasingly failing to offer, both on a personal level and in a political sense. This is a study of African Muslims, but as a comparative study it has a direct relevance to Australia's relationship with the Islamic world, Arab, African or Asian. Ultimately, it will help to explain why contemporary events seem to have led to the clash of two civilisations, the West and Islam.Read moreRead less
A study of writers and regional identity in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There is currently heightened community concern about supra-national loyalties that transcend and seem to threaten national boundaries. This project will help to inform discussion about the role of transnational belonging and the complexities of regional identities, so that it can be seen that multiple loyalties are common and often enriching. It will increase the audience for some neglected lif ....A study of writers and regional identity in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There is currently heightened community concern about supra-national loyalties that transcend and seem to threaten national boundaries. This project will help to inform discussion about the role of transnational belonging and the complexities of regional identities, so that it can be seen that multiple loyalties are common and often enriching. It will increase the audience for some neglected life writing in the Pacific area, particularly from Indigenous writers.Read moreRead less
Asia-Pacific Cosmopolitanisms: Managing Diversity and Identity Politics in a Changing Region. Why can people of diverse cultural and other backgrounds sometimes devise ways of living together while, at other times, they can be drawn into racism and violence? Are there ways of coping with, managing - even celebrating - human social, cultural, biological and sexual diversity that do not lead to conflict and exclusion? Are we seeing new cosmopolitanisms emerging? This research will investigate thes ....Asia-Pacific Cosmopolitanisms: Managing Diversity and Identity Politics in a Changing Region. Why can people of diverse cultural and other backgrounds sometimes devise ways of living together while, at other times, they can be drawn into racism and violence? Are there ways of coping with, managing - even celebrating - human social, cultural, biological and sexual diversity that do not lead to conflict and exclusion? Are we seeing new cosmopolitanisms emerging? This research will investigate these questions by focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. The research will result in several publications (monographs, articles, etc.), a website/discussion forum, research database/resources facilities, a conference, and the consolidation of long-term collaborative links with Asian intellectuals.Read moreRead less
Social Relations Among Urban Aborigines in Sydney's Western Suburbs.
The forces that generate the horrific health and welfare problems in Indigenous communities will be elucidated and tools will be offered to enhance the work of policy makers and improve communications between Aborigines and providers of services. My research will rely on Indigenous people to expose the normalised and internalised forms of racial inequality they experience and to offer strategies to combat them. Intellectual ....Social Relations Among Urban Aborigines in Sydney's Western Suburbs.
The forces that generate the horrific health and welfare problems in Indigenous communities will be elucidated and tools will be offered to enhance the work of policy makers and improve communications between Aborigines and providers of services. My research will rely on Indigenous people to expose the normalised and internalised forms of racial inequality they experience and to offer strategies to combat them. Intellectual outcomes will include new directions for social science's engagement with Indigenous issues, a more innovative contemporary anthropology and better informed practices in organisations. It will contribute to capacity building by enhancing the skills and experience of participants and improving self-esteem.
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Australian youth: exploring ethnicity in cyberspace. Australia's youth are moving towards adulthood in a society that is both ethnically diverse and increasingly reliant on information technologies. This project will investigate how these characteristics of our society are intersecting for young people, as they use computer-mediated communication to seek information relevant to their ethnic backgrounds and interact with others from their ethnic groups. The central aim of the project is to establ ....Australian youth: exploring ethnicity in cyberspace. Australia's youth are moving towards adulthood in a society that is both ethnically diverse and increasingly reliant on information technologies. This project will investigate how these characteristics of our society are intersecting for young people, as they use computer-mediated communication to seek information relevant to their ethnic backgrounds and interact with others from their ethnic groups. The central aim of the project is to establish how this activity is impacting on the process of ethnic identity construction and young Australians' sense of 'community'. The research findings will also provide a broader understanding of young people's use of information technologies.Read moreRead less
Paths Not Taken: The False Spring of Political Pluralism in Postwar Singapore. The project aims to recast Singapore's postwar history to challenge the hegemonic paradigm by studying civil and political movements that have operated outside the parameters of imagination created by the ruling party. Using a combination of archival, interview, and anthropological/artistic research techniques, we will study Singapore's postwar period of political pluralism, which was finally smothered in the late 197 ....Paths Not Taken: The False Spring of Political Pluralism in Postwar Singapore. The project aims to recast Singapore's postwar history to challenge the hegemonic paradigm by studying civil and political movements that have operated outside the parameters of imagination created by the ruling party. Using a combination of archival, interview, and anthropological/artistic research techniques, we will study Singapore's postwar period of political pluralism, which was finally smothered in the late 1970s. It will culminate in an international conference and an edited book. We intend to use the project to build international partnerships and it should place Australia in an unprecedented strategic position as a major partner of researchers in Singapore.Read moreRead less