Communicating power: Political consultants, symbolic production and media democracy. The project will investigate the professionalization of political communication with a specific focus on the role of political consultants and communication specialists in contemporary Australian politics. The principal research aim is to identify and analyse the frames of reference and evaluative modes structuring the work of political consultants. Political consultants will be analysed as a subset of new 'symb ....Communicating power: Political consultants, symbolic production and media democracy. The project will investigate the professionalization of political communication with a specific focus on the role of political consultants and communication specialists in contemporary Australian politics. The principal research aim is to identify and analyse the frames of reference and evaluative modes structuring the work of political consultants. Political consultants will be analysed as a subset of new 'symbolic' managers and mediators in a society in which information is the key productive resource. The project will generate a detailed analysis of how the professionalization of political communication is transforming representative democracy in network society.Read moreRead less
Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks. The project aims to explain responses to extremist attacks intended to sow division, and why some democracies prove fragile, succumbing to polarisation or exclusion of key groups, while others prove resilient by sustaining integrative, tolerant discourse. The project develops new knowledge through an innovative synthesis of cultural sociology and deliberative democracy to analyse nine cases of responses in the public realm to attack ....Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks. The project aims to explain responses to extremist attacks intended to sow division, and why some democracies prove fragile, succumbing to polarisation or exclusion of key groups, while others prove resilient by sustaining integrative, tolerant discourse. The project develops new knowledge through an innovative synthesis of cultural sociology and deliberative democracy to analyse nine cases of responses in the public realm to attacks. Expected outcomes include a new account of the democratic public sphere, and identification of how meaningful, civil communication whose health is vital to democracy, especially in a multicultural society, can be maintained. Benefits include identification of measures to counter extremist political disruption.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100325
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,931.00
Summary
Revisiting the foundations of mainstream economics: a cooperative account of wellbeing and moral improvement. This study presents a major theoretical challenge to the individualistic definition of wellbeing that defines mainstream economics. It does so by advancing an alternative paradigm for understanding individual wellbeing as co-dependent on the wellbeing of others, exploring intersubjective attitudes that facilitate cooperative economic behaviour.
Understanding emerging strategies in regional migration governance. This project examines emerging bilateral strategies in border control that are based on public communication. It focuses specifically on public information campaigns conducted in Indonesia in which religious messaging (Islamic and Christian) is used to discourage Indonesian communities from assisting people-smugglers and asylum seekers en route to Australia. The impact and broader implications of these campaigns for regional mig ....Understanding emerging strategies in regional migration governance. This project examines emerging bilateral strategies in border control that are based on public communication. It focuses specifically on public information campaigns conducted in Indonesia in which religious messaging (Islamic and Christian) is used to discourage Indonesian communities from assisting people-smugglers and asylum seekers en route to Australia. The impact and broader implications of these campaigns for regional migration governance will be investigated through qualitative methods. The project aims to provide an account of governance at the intersection of political and religious arenas with significance for border control in the Asia-Pacific and for an advanced understanding of regional governance processes.Read moreRead less