Tracing change in family and social organisation in Indigenous Australia, using evidence from language. This project provides new approaches to knowing the ancient heritage of Australia and its first people through the distinctive ways in which they managed and talked about their family and social relationships. These relationships are the key to how they have survived, winning a livelihood from a difficult environment. The project has practical application in Native Title and land management, a ....Tracing change in family and social organisation in Indigenous Australia, using evidence from language. This project provides new approaches to knowing the ancient heritage of Australia and its first people through the distinctive ways in which they managed and talked about their family and social relationships. These relationships are the key to how they have survived, winning a livelihood from a difficult environment. The project has practical application in Native Title and land management, and in understanding the changes in Indigenous family structures which impact on their health and well-being. For the mainstream population too, confronted by influences destabilising the family, this study will also help us understand how and why family organization changes.Read moreRead less
A third way between religion and secularism: new Southeast Asian spiritualities. In the conflicts between religious fundamentalists and advocates of western-style secularism, the development of far more moderate religious trends are overlooked. This project investigates one of these: the development of a new spiritualism mainly among members of Southeast Asia's educated and professional classes.
Religious Innovation and Social Reform in Sri Lanka. This project proposes comparative research on socio-religious reform movements in Sri Lanka, exploring four separate yet related research foci in the post-war context involving each of the major world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam). It explores questions of human equality and social cohesion in the setting of post-conflict national reconstruction. The project is significant as an innovative, simultaneous study of Sri La ....Religious Innovation and Social Reform in Sri Lanka. This project proposes comparative research on socio-religious reform movements in Sri Lanka, exploring four separate yet related research foci in the post-war context involving each of the major world religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam). It explores questions of human equality and social cohesion in the setting of post-conflict national reconstruction. The project is significant as an innovative, simultaneous study of Sri Lankan religion combined with an examination of the relationship between religion and social difference, inclusion and exclusion. Involving four PhDs from Sri Lanka and Australia working with experienced anthropologists from each country, the project aims to produce a significant ongoing international collaboration.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100388
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,040.00
Summary
Ethnicity and Assimilation in China: The Case of the Monguor in Tibet. China is currently addressing many issues associated with issues of minority cultural autonomy and ethnic differences. This project will explore the ongoing assimilation of the Monguor, an ethnic minority group in Tibet. It seeks to fill an important gap in our knowledge of ethnic tensions, autonomy and assimilation in contemporary China. Ethnographic fieldwork and discourse analysis of texts in Tibetan will be used to invest ....Ethnicity and Assimilation in China: The Case of the Monguor in Tibet. China is currently addressing many issues associated with issues of minority cultural autonomy and ethnic differences. This project will explore the ongoing assimilation of the Monguor, an ethnic minority group in Tibet. It seeks to fill an important gap in our knowledge of ethnic tensions, autonomy and assimilation in contemporary China. Ethnographic fieldwork and discourse analysis of texts in Tibetan will be used to investigate the impact of state and ethno-national assimilationist projects on ethnic minorities in China. This new analysis of China's ethnic dynamics and their geopolitical consequences is designed to strengthen our understanding of the region.Read moreRead less
Children's language learning and the development of intersubjectivity. How do children learn languages? How do they learn to understand the intentions and perspectives of others, and coordinate their own with them? Based on research in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, this project will answer these questions, showing how the two processes are related to each other by studying them in a cross-cultural way.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100720
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Connecting, communicating and learning through new media: Indigenous youth and digital futures in remote Australia. This project examines the sociocultural and linguistic implications of digital technologies in remote Indigenous Australia. It will provide new perspectives to support policy development for youth engagement in the digital economy, as well as cultural and educational insights that will provide an important theoretical contribution to international youth media research.
The Long-term Dynamics of Higher Order social Organisation in Aboriginal Australia. The two principal aims of the project are to show: that the Holocene prehistory of Australia was dynamic, involving significant expansion and migration of language groups; and, that in such expansion, migration, and resistance to them, higher-order social groupings were formed: the ‘nations’ reported by earlier anthropology and the ‘cultural blocs’ of recent anthropology. Evidence will come from comparative lingu ....The Long-term Dynamics of Higher Order social Organisation in Aboriginal Australia. The two principal aims of the project are to show: that the Holocene prehistory of Australia was dynamic, involving significant expansion and migration of language groups; and, that in such expansion, migration, and resistance to them, higher-order social groupings were formed: the ‘nations’ reported by earlier anthropology and the ‘cultural blocs’ of recent anthropology. Evidence will come from comparative linguistics, anthropology, and the role of geography in the distribution of social groupings, principally in subtropical Eastern Australia but also in the Victoria River district and Tanami Desert, Northern Territory. This project challenges the dominant view of static Indigenous Australia pre-colonially, and will benefit Native Title anthropology.Read moreRead less
Howitt & Fison’s anthropology. Howitt & Fison’s anthropology. This project will systematically analyse nineteenth century anthropologists Lorimer Fison and A.W. Howitt’s accounts of Indigenous kinship, social organisation, and local languages, and historical encounters between settlers and Indigenous people. This project will assemble Fison and Howitt’s meticulous records into best-practice digital formats, with widely accessible interactive data presentation, and bring these extraordinary recor ....Howitt & Fison’s anthropology. Howitt & Fison’s anthropology. This project will systematically analyse nineteenth century anthropologists Lorimer Fison and A.W. Howitt’s accounts of Indigenous kinship, social organisation, and local languages, and historical encounters between settlers and Indigenous people. This project will assemble Fison and Howitt’s meticulous records into best-practice digital formats, with widely accessible interactive data presentation, and bring these extraordinary records to the broadest possible community. This research, which integrates anthropology, history and linguistics, is expected to open up new dimensions in Australian history, anthropological theory, and Australian linguistics.Read moreRead less
Quality and the Culture of Hierarchy, Governance and Socialization in Contemporary China. China is a key country for Australia in terms of economic, military, and cultural exchange, and mutual cooperation on regional issues. By contributing to understandings of the social and cultural bases of Chinese governance, this project will enhance the abilities of Australians involved in Chinese affairs in all fields. Understanding the dynamics of social hierarchy and local governance in China will als ....Quality and the Culture of Hierarchy, Governance and Socialization in Contemporary China. China is a key country for Australia in terms of economic, military, and cultural exchange, and mutual cooperation on regional issues. By contributing to understandings of the social and cultural bases of Chinese governance, this project will enhance the abilities of Australians involved in Chinese affairs in all fields. Understanding the dynamics of social hierarchy and local governance in China will also contribute to the project of imagining more equitable forms of governance in Australia. Finally, the project involves the training of two Australian postgraduate students in the severely under-represented sub-discipline of the anthropology of China.Read moreRead less
Understanding regulatory networks: Assessing the relevance of the 'rule of law' to business regulation in Vietnam. Consistent with Research Priority 4, the project will assist Australian policy makers and business investors/exporters to understand why market laws frequently produce fragmentation and instability in developing East Asia. It will also inform important theoretical debates about the relative influence of law, social norms, ethno-religious orientations and sentiment in forming regulat ....Understanding regulatory networks: Assessing the relevance of the 'rule of law' to business regulation in Vietnam. Consistent with Research Priority 4, the project will assist Australian policy makers and business investors/exporters to understand why market laws frequently produce fragmentation and instability in developing East Asia. It will also inform important theoretical debates about the relative influence of law, social norms, ethno-religious orientations and sentiment in forming regulatory networks that augment and rival state power. The project will strengthen linkages between Australian and Asian universities and research institutions and improve post-graduate research and teaching programs.Read moreRead less