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
A Sonic Approach to Anticolonialism in Interwar India . This project aims to apply the methods of Sound Studies to the history of anti-colonialism in India. Extending on earlier work which draws extensively on visual archives to construct historical narratives, this project aims to explicitly trace the reverberations of sound – especially mediated speech, slogans and song – in anti-colonial mobilisation in the interwar period. Orality was a critical element of political communication which, due ....A Sonic Approach to Anticolonialism in Interwar India . This project aims to apply the methods of Sound Studies to the history of anti-colonialism in India. Extending on earlier work which draws extensively on visual archives to construct historical narratives, this project aims to explicitly trace the reverberations of sound – especially mediated speech, slogans and song – in anti-colonial mobilisation in the interwar period. Orality was a critical element of political communication which, due to the difficulties in capturing the spoken word, has not yet been studied in detail; yet the archives are full of sound. The deeply affective qualities inherent in sound, and the growth of technologies to amplify and record them, renders this a rich approach to understanding anti-colonial politics.Read moreRead less
Chinese trade and diplomacy in South-East Asia from the 9th to 19th century common era. China’s trade in porcelain to South-East Asia over the past millennium provides the longest, continuous, market record for a product. The contrast between official Chinese control and what the archaeology reveals the traders really did, displays the limits of state power and the role of trade as another path in China’s diplomatic engagement with SE Asia.
Traffic in women and girls in the Asia Pacific region, 1865-1940. This project will offer a critical analysis of historical narratives on the traffic in women within Asia Pacific networks. It will position Australian history at the forefront of international research on transnational history, informed by race and gender studies and considers parallels with today’s human trafficking debates.
From Human Rights to Human Security: Changing Paradigms for Dealing with Inequality in the Asia-Pacific Region. This project is particularly timely as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is clearly aligned with the national research priority goals of Understanding our Region and the World and Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. The question of human rights is a pressing issue throughout the Asia-Pacific region and much is to be gai ....From Human Rights to Human Security: Changing Paradigms for Dealing with Inequality in the Asia-Pacific Region. This project is particularly timely as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is clearly aligned with the national research priority goals of Understanding our Region and the World and Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. The question of human rights is a pressing issue throughout the Asia-Pacific region and much is to be gained by a comparative approach which considers strategies for embedding human rights practice and principles in particular local contexts and how they may be adapted in other national contexts. Read moreRead less
Australia: the search for a foundational history. The first history of Australia's search for a foundational past, this project examines the historical debates that have divided Australian society since the late twentieth century. Set against the background of Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of history and place, it provides a groundbreaking study of history in Australian culture.
How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the rol ....How to Feel Safe at the End of the World. This project aims to provide the first history of how early modern families created conditions to feel safe in times of crisis, revealing how ideas of safety, security and hope for the future were conceived and put into practice. Its innovative research focus explores how histories, personal and national, inform psychosocial conditions of safety and security for families and build resilience within the next generation. Expected outcomes highlight the role of families as agents of historical change and help parents, teachers, children and youth to manage anxiety, build hope and improve life opportunities. This historical perspective on a contemporary problem has the benefit of supporting families struggling with today's changing world.Read moreRead less
Cultural values, birth and parenting: Reproductive health and Lao socialism. This project aims to provide an anthropology of procreation and parenting through ethnography of the Government of Laos’ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health rollout as well as everyday reproduction in rural and remote Laos. It expects to generate new knowledge of core values in Laos, including those underpinning official treatment of children as human capital, difference as deprivation, and mother-and-chil ....Cultural values, birth and parenting: Reproductive health and Lao socialism. This project aims to provide an anthropology of procreation and parenting through ethnography of the Government of Laos’ Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health rollout as well as everyday reproduction in rural and remote Laos. It expects to generate new knowledge of core values in Laos, including those underpinning official treatment of children as human capital, difference as deprivation, and mother-and-child biomedical care as universal, as well as the (counter-)values lived in rural and remote practices, knowledge and sentiments. Anticipated benefits include advanced understandings of Lao culture and society, socialism as it articulates with international health and economic agendas, and the anthropology of human flourishing.Read moreRead less
Climate change and the history of environmental determinism. In previous centuries, most scientists presumed that environment and climate determined human health, capacities and difference. By tracing this longstanding idea through the twentieth century, this project will identify implications for current climate science.
Economic Sanctions after the Cold War. This project investigates the post-Cold War proliferation of economic sanctions. Advocates of sanctions see them as peaceful alternatives to armed conflict that uphold international norms without resort to force. Yet sanctions have significant and unpredictable effects and their use remains deeply contested. This project draws on detailed archival research to understand how liberal polities have come to view economic sanctions as non-violent tools of diplo ....Economic Sanctions after the Cold War. This project investigates the post-Cold War proliferation of economic sanctions. Advocates of sanctions see them as peaceful alternatives to armed conflict that uphold international norms without resort to force. Yet sanctions have significant and unpredictable effects and their use remains deeply contested. This project draws on detailed archival research to understand how liberal polities have come to view economic sanctions as non-violent tools of diplomacy and how this view has been contested by those subjected to them. By analysing the moral, political and economic theories that inform the imposition of sanctions, the research will throw new light on a crucial dimension of international politics. Read moreRead less