Planning for Later Life: an Ethnographic Analysis of Aging among Transnational Papua New Guineans. This project addresses the global problem of ageing populations by looking at how transnational Papua New Guinean families plan for old age. It explores how Papua New Guineans resident in North Queensland make specific decisions about later life that balance the value of relations with kin, friends, neighbours while also dealing with the social services provided by the state and the market. The pro ....Planning for Later Life: an Ethnographic Analysis of Aging among Transnational Papua New Guineans. This project addresses the global problem of ageing populations by looking at how transnational Papua New Guinean families plan for old age. It explores how Papua New Guineans resident in North Queensland make specific decisions about later life that balance the value of relations with kin, friends, neighbours while also dealing with the social services provided by the state and the market. The project will describe the tensions that emerge in transnational decision making concerning old age. The resulting knowledge of how Papua New Guineans prepare for old age will help to critically inform policies concerning the wellbeing of people engaged with ageing.Read moreRead less
Improving the Policing of Gender Violence in the Global South. Violence against women is twice the global average in Pacific Island Communities, yet most approaches about how to police it have come from the Global North. This project addresses this mismatch by discovering new ways to improve the policing of gender violence by testing unique models of women led policing. Expected outcomes include new evidence to improve the policing of gender violence, enhance victim's experiences, and to reform ....Improving the Policing of Gender Violence in the Global South. Violence against women is twice the global average in Pacific Island Communities, yet most approaches about how to police it have come from the Global North. This project addresses this mismatch by discovering new ways to improve the policing of gender violence by testing unique models of women led policing. Expected outcomes include new evidence to improve the policing of gender violence, enhance victim's experiences, and to reform laws. Expected benefits include better outcomes for victims, improved policing practices and reductions in gender violence. The project will foster increased engagement, knowledge transfer and partnership between Australia and Pacific Island Communities in line with Australian Government strategic priorities.Read moreRead less
Faith in Development: Religion, Gender and Resource Extraction in PNG. Australia’s neighbour, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in PNG, is about to become the world's newest nation. The proposed reopening of a highly divisive copper mine to finance its independence raises pressing economic and political issues for Australia. Both in Bougainville and its diaspora in Australia, people are passionate about Bougainville's future. But what kind of development do they aspire to and why? This coll ....Faith in Development: Religion, Gender and Resource Extraction in PNG. Australia’s neighbour, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in PNG, is about to become the world's newest nation. The proposed reopening of a highly divisive copper mine to finance its independence raises pressing economic and political issues for Australia. Both in Bougainville and its diaspora in Australia, people are passionate about Bougainville's future. But what kind of development do they aspire to and why? This collaborative, interdisciplinary and multi-sited project aims to examine the neglected roles of religion and gender in shaping people's 'faith' in development. The expected outcomes will improve understanding of Bougainvillean notions of development, facilitating better frameworks for development practices and outcomes.Read moreRead less
Improving responses to sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea. The project aims to result in improved knowledge and community acknowledgement of sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and an approach that could be adapted and adopted in other low income, fragile contexts. It is a very significant project because sexual violence against children is a widespread and escalating social problem, with a very limited capacity to respond to reported incidents. Working ....Improving responses to sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea. The project aims to result in improved knowledge and community acknowledgement of sexual violence against children in Papua New Guinea (PNG), and an approach that could be adapted and adopted in other low income, fragile contexts. It is a very significant project because sexual violence against children is a widespread and escalating social problem, with a very limited capacity to respond to reported incidents. Working closely with two specialist services to trial and assess a low-cost approach, the project is expected to result in longer-term support for child survivors and their families, and reduce further victimisation and offending. The potential benefits are multiple and far ranging, in PNG and in the Pacific region more broadly. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101206
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$368,720.00
Summary
Melanesia's violent environments: Extractive resource industries, agrarian change and conflict in the Western Pacific. Large-scale mining activities were deeply implicated in the armed conflicts on the islands of Bougainville (1989-98) and Guadalcanal (1998-2003). Island Melanesia is now on the brink of a major new mining boom, compelling an urgent reconsideration of the relationships between mining, violence and political fragmentation in this island region. This project will focus on the role ....Melanesia's violent environments: Extractive resource industries, agrarian change and conflict in the Western Pacific. Large-scale mining activities were deeply implicated in the armed conflicts on the islands of Bougainville (1989-98) and Guadalcanal (1998-2003). Island Melanesia is now on the brink of a major new mining boom, compelling an urgent reconsideration of the relationships between mining, violence and political fragmentation in this island region. This project will focus on the role of agrarian change and patterns of socio-economic inequality at different geographical scales, a poorly understood dimension of these relationships. The results will contribute to the development of policy approaches that minimise the risk of further violence, while also offering new theoretical insights into the complex global phenomenon of 'resource conflict'.Read moreRead less
Music, Mobile Phones and Community Justice in Melanesia. This project seeks to understand how communities mobilise in Melanesia through the integration of digital media, mobile phones and music. Community integration and cohesion has long been connected to music as a vital medium in the region. This project plans to draw on new uses of mobile phones for creating, disseminating and listening to music to transform related social, cultural and industrial practices in Melanesia. The intended outcome ....Music, Mobile Phones and Community Justice in Melanesia. This project seeks to understand how communities mobilise in Melanesia through the integration of digital media, mobile phones and music. Community integration and cohesion has long been connected to music as a vital medium in the region. This project plans to draw on new uses of mobile phones for creating, disseminating and listening to music to transform related social, cultural and industrial practices in Melanesia. The intended outcomes of this project — novel phone apps and distribution strategies — will be designed to enable the creation and dissemination of community-building music more widely and affordably, and to provide an income-stimulating model of music distribution for Melanesian musicians.Read moreRead less
Fashioning Fiji: Investigating Creative Industries in a Developing Context. Governments, NGOs and other entities have turned their attention to the creative industries as an alternative space for national economic development. This project focuses upon the development and growth of the Fijian fashion industry across national (Suva), regional (Sydney and Auckland) and global (London) sites. It explores this growth in relation to three key factors: the integration of technology in the processes of ....Fashioning Fiji: Investigating Creative Industries in a Developing Context. Governments, NGOs and other entities have turned their attention to the creative industries as an alternative space for national economic development. This project focuses upon the development and growth of the Fijian fashion industry across national (Suva), regional (Sydney and Auckland) and global (London) sites. It explores this growth in relation to three key factors: the integration of technology in the processes of design and production; the use of digital and social media to build and expand markets; and capacity building for fashion entrepreneurs. Using digital ethnography and anthropological approaches, this study analyses how creative industries can be supported and sustained in developing contexts.Read moreRead less
Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involve ....Pacific Islanders in regional Victoria: visitors, migrants and overstayers. This project aims to understand the socio-economic situation of Pacific Islanders living in regional Victoria, including visitors, permanent residents, seasonal workers and undocumented migrants. The aim is to investigate the impact of these different statuses on access to public services, interactions within and across ethnic groups, and trans-local and transnational practices. Working with partner organisations involved with migrant populations in the area, the project seeks to shed new light on Australian regional migration and bring marginalised regional populations into discussions of migration and transnationalism. Intended outcomes include scholarly publications, policy-focused reports and an open access project website.Read moreRead less
Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven ....Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven attempts at community regeneration. Through collaborative empirical research in PNG, Solomon Islands and Samoa, our project will build an evidence base to better understand the potential and the dangers of community rule-making, and develop ‘responsive hybridisation’ as a new analytical framework to theorise about it.
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Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100486
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$443,774.00
Summary
Navigating justice systems: how Pacific women secure their property rights. This project aims to investigate the strategies that Pacific women use to challenge gender inequality, and improve understanding of the pathways to justice in Pacific legal systems. Using an innovative socio-legal approach, the project will collect, analyse and disseminate data on the strategies used by women to advocate for stronger property rights, and develop a framework for understanding those strategies. Expected ou ....Navigating justice systems: how Pacific women secure their property rights. This project aims to investigate the strategies that Pacific women use to challenge gender inequality, and improve understanding of the pathways to justice in Pacific legal systems. Using an innovative socio-legal approach, the project will collect, analyse and disseminate data on the strategies used by women to advocate for stronger property rights, and develop a framework for understanding those strategies. Expected outcomes include an improved empirical and conceptual basis for development organisations to design and implement gender equality programs. This should provide significant benefits including enhanced understanding of women’s engagement with legal systems, and better-informed and more effective development assistance.Read moreRead less