Repatriation and release of Japanese war criminals 1946-1958: Southeast Asia, Japan and the Great Powers. Japanese war criminals held in Southeast Asia were repatriated and released in Japan from the late 1940s. Releases were negotiated between Japan and the nation that had convicted the prisoner. The project provides new understandings of the emergence of Southeast Asian states in regional diplomacy and of Japan's re-emergence as a regional power.
Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project ....Confronting Historical Injustice in Indonesia: Memory and Transnational Human Rights Activism. Since the 1990s there has been a boom in memory and in human rights activism relating to historical injustice in Indonesia. Using an innovative framework of the concept of ‘regions of memory’ this project examines how human rights activists located within and outside Indonesia use memory for the purposes of achieving human rights outcomes. Through national and international collaborations this project will analyse why transnational activism concerning crimes from the Japanese occupation (1942-45), the independence struggle (1945-1949) and the 1965 mass violence escalated at particular points in time and deepen our understanding of the relationship between memory and human rights.Read moreRead less
Systemic Corruption and Regime Change: State, Business and Political Elites in Indonesia and Implications for Governance Reform. The development of a stable, prosperous and democratic Indonesia is fundamental to Australia's long-term security. Systemic corruption has been identified as a fundamental impediment to such development and the Australian Government through AUSAID funds institutional reform programs. Yet formal law remains ineffective and corruption has continued to flourish, pointing ....Systemic Corruption and Regime Change: State, Business and Political Elites in Indonesia and Implications for Governance Reform. The development of a stable, prosperous and democratic Indonesia is fundamental to Australia's long-term security. Systemic corruption has been identified as a fundamental impediment to such development and the Australian Government through AUSAID funds institutional reform programs. Yet formal law remains ineffective and corruption has continued to flourish, pointing to weaknesses of policy design. This project will explain how competing political elites systematically use the leverage of the state to redistribute resources within business and society and seek to identify the formal and informal rules that underpin such behaviour. Outcomes will be better models and more effective governance reforms.Read moreRead less
Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing ne ....Imagining histories of love: the making of textual worlds in Taiwan romance fiction. This project examines the crucial question of how romantic love is imagined in contemporary Chinese societies. It innovates by analyzing the images of love presented in Taiwan romance fiction, a major genre of unstudied texts that provides knowledge of the emotional worlds of tens of millions of people worldwide. Its novel methodology approaches romantic narratives as documents of a history of love, producing new concepts of Taiwan and Chinese society and history in which love is envisioned as the central experience of human life. Major outcomes will be a substantial monograph, an edited volume and several scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Consumption in Late Imperial China: an Early Modern Phenomenon? China's present economic growth and consumer activity are of immediate interest to Australia. This study of consumer activities in earlier centuries will shed light on changes as well as continuities in Chinese consumption in a long era of globalization. The project will contribute to the corpus of Australian scholarship on Chinese and world history, enhancing local and global understandings of China's past, and enriching ways in wh ....Consumption in Late Imperial China: an Early Modern Phenomenon? China's present economic growth and consumer activity are of immediate interest to Australia. This study of consumer activities in earlier centuries will shed light on changes as well as continuities in Chinese consumption in a long era of globalization. The project will contribute to the corpus of Australian scholarship on Chinese and world history, enhancing local and global understandings of China's past, and enriching ways in which it is imagined.Read moreRead less
Empire to Republic: Politics and Culture in China's 20th Century History. This research project focuses on state and nation building in South China during the Republican era (1912-1949), the subject of major international publications by the CI and PI over a fifteen-year research partnership. The significance of the topic lies in its historiographical departure from narratives of ?party history? to theoretically-driven research into key aspects of modern state and nation-making in a formative pe ....Empire to Republic: Politics and Culture in China's 20th Century History. This research project focuses on state and nation building in South China during the Republican era (1912-1949), the subject of major international publications by the CI and PI over a fifteen-year research partnership. The significance of the topic lies in its historiographical departure from narratives of ?party history? to theoretically-driven research into key aspects of modern state and nation-making in a formative period of China's recent history. Outcomes include research training and theses, and refereed publications, which break new ground in their systematic application of state-making literature to Republican Chinese history.Read moreRead less
The fate of the artisan in revolutionary China: tailors in Beijing, 1930s-1960s. This study of tailors and garment production in mid-twentieth century Beijing explores the effects of Communism on the city's foremost handicraft industry and its practitioners, shedding light on the history of a state, society and industry which were to become surprisingly important to Australia.
Fostering Women Leaders Through Educational Exchange, 1930-1980. This project plans to explore what makes it possible for women to exercise leadership. This project is a transnational study of women from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines who participated in educational exchange programs with the United States in the mid-20th century. The project asks how these cross-cultural encounters and international networks facilitated and transformed the practices of leadership in the Unite ....Fostering Women Leaders Through Educational Exchange, 1930-1980. This project plans to explore what makes it possible for women to exercise leadership. This project is a transnational study of women from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Philippines who participated in educational exchange programs with the United States in the mid-20th century. The project asks how these cross-cultural encounters and international networks facilitated and transformed the practices of leadership in the United States, Asia and the Pacific. The project, in partnership with the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, aims to provide a historical perspective on leadership which can inform contemporary debates on the conditions for fostering women as leaders.Read moreRead less
A History of Taiwan. Taiwan, a middle-sized Asian nation with a population about twenty per cent greater than Australia, is one of four stable democracies in Asia along with India, Japan and South Korea. As such, it shares democratic values with Australia. We also have strong trade and investment relationships with Taiwan. China's claim that Taiwan belongs to China has made our relationship with Taiwan difficult, though in fact we have a strong 'officially unofficial' relationship with the islan ....A History of Taiwan. Taiwan, a middle-sized Asian nation with a population about twenty per cent greater than Australia, is one of four stable democracies in Asia along with India, Japan and South Korea. As such, it shares democratic values with Australia. We also have strong trade and investment relationships with Taiwan. China's claim that Taiwan belongs to China has made our relationship with Taiwan difficult, though in fact we have a strong 'officially unofficial' relationship with the island. This history will substantially strengthen our understanding of this key Asia-Pacific partner both in government and among Australia's citizens.Read moreRead less
Post-war repatriation to Japan: citizenship, identity and integration, 1945-1956. This research project contributes to our knowledge of the region by exploring the early post-war history (in which Australian troops participated as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces) of one of Australia's most important and oldest trading partners. However, the project also has broader and more contemporary significance: on the one hand, it contributes to our knowledge of the increasingly importan ....Post-war repatriation to Japan: citizenship, identity and integration, 1945-1956. This research project contributes to our knowledge of the region by exploring the early post-war history (in which Australian troops participated as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces) of one of Australia's most important and oldest trading partners. However, the project also has broader and more contemporary significance: on the one hand, it contributes to our knowledge of the increasingly important 20th century phenomenon of mass migration, and of the development of strict state controls over population movements across national borders. On the other hand, it explores the complex integration of minority groups into national populations; this is a process which clearly has relevance beyond Japan and beyond the 1950s.Read moreRead less