Reading the Social Future of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. This project investigates how and if the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) is building social capital. It does this by interrogating existing practices and operations at the ARCBS and by surveying donors and non-donors. This project aims to develop a Deleuzian critique of the notion of social capital.
Living With Uncertainty: Creating the Postmodern Self in Contemporary Australia. Life in postmodernity is marked by rapid change and uncertainty. Increasingly, as tradition is worn away, individuals must create new scripts to give life meaning and structure. Through a case study of gays and lesbians, this project will investigate how a group of Australians are creating postmodern selves. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it traces the relationship between discursive and psychological accounts of t ....Living With Uncertainty: Creating the Postmodern Self in Contemporary Australia. Life in postmodernity is marked by rapid change and uncertainty. Increasingly, as tradition is worn away, individuals must create new scripts to give life meaning and structure. Through a case study of gays and lesbians, this project will investigate how a group of Australians are creating postmodern selves. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it traces the relationship between discursive and psychological accounts of the postmodern self and their political effects. With a particular interest in emotional life, this study will provide critical information on how individuals and communities can manage creatively the uncertain conditions of postmodernity.Read moreRead less
The human, human rights and the image. Today, human rights come a poor second to the security of society, with the human now largely defined in terms of its purely biological existence. Through case studies and theoretical innovation, this project seeks to counter this by showing that the human always has a transcendent quality, one highlighted by humanity's relation to the image.
An ethnographic study of obesity risk in a disadvantaged community. This project will investigate how families who are seen as ‘at risk’ of developing obesity respond to Australia's largest obesity intervention, and if messages about healthy eating and increased physical activity are acted upon. Information gathered will provide an important context for what works (and doesn’t work) in obesity intervention.
Large screens and the transnational public sphere. With over 8 million annual visitors, Federation Square, Melbourne, is emblematic of the new public sphere emerging at the junction of physical space and media networks. Fed Square's large screen is integral to 70 large-scale cultural events hosted at the site each year attracting an average of 30,000 people. This project will establish a partnership between Fed Square, the Australia Council and Art Center Nabi in Seoul, pioneering the exchange o ....Large screens and the transnational public sphere. With over 8 million annual visitors, Federation Square, Melbourne, is emblematic of the new public sphere emerging at the junction of physical space and media networks. Fed Square's large screen is integral to 70 large-scale cultural events hosted at the site each year attracting an average of 30,000 people. This project will establish a partnership between Fed Square, the Australia Council and Art Center Nabi in Seoul, pioneering the exchange of technology and cultural content. The empirical research will generate fresh insights into public interactions with large screens, providing a prototype for future cross-cultural events and offering new theoretical perspectives on the use of public space.Read moreRead less
Globalisation and the formation of meaning: the career of a key concept. How did globalisation become the most powerful buzzword of our time? The project will examine texts, contexts and interview the most prominent globalisation experts in the English-speaking world to develop the first comparative history of the concept.
The Atacama and Australian mining companies: identity, intercultural communication and negotiation in northern Chile. The involvement by state administrations and global corporations in planning for social responsibility in mining and the resulting negotiations with citizens - especially groups identified as indigenous - brings a range of people into dialogue. However, these contexts are under-researched. The proposed project will contribute an independent study of relationships between Chilean ....The Atacama and Australian mining companies: identity, intercultural communication and negotiation in northern Chile. The involvement by state administrations and global corporations in planning for social responsibility in mining and the resulting negotiations with citizens - especially groups identified as indigenous - brings a range of people into dialogue. However, these contexts are under-researched. The proposed project will contribute an independent study of relationships between Chilean citizens, Australian mining companies and the state in northern Chile. It seeks to provide theoretical insights and offer practical information in academic and plain language for local negotiators, global business and state administration: a timely analysis given recently (2008) signed Free Trade Agreement with Chile.Read moreRead less
Speed, Time and the Political Process in Australia. The project represents the first empirically-based study to research the traditional processes of political decision-making from the perspective of time and speed in the context of economic globalisation and the networked society. A clearer understanding of how political processes function in a globally-networked setting will provide valuable insight into how well the fundamental, politically grounded, aspects of Australian life and culture are ....Speed, Time and the Political Process in Australia. The project represents the first empirically-based study to research the traditional processes of political decision-making from the perspective of time and speed in the context of economic globalisation and the networked society. A clearer understanding of how political processes function in a globally-networked setting will provide valuable insight into how well the fundamental, politically grounded, aspects of Australian life and culture are functioning. This unique perspective will form the basis of an incisive method of applying 'time-awareness' not only to the political process, but to the many national/community sectors across Australian society that depend upon responsible and effective decision-making practices.Read moreRead less
Food/body encounters: New approaches and alternative solutions to obesity prevention and policy. There is growing recognition of the need for new ways to tackle the obesity problem, and for forms of intervention that move beyond the limitations of individual behavioural changes. This project provides a paradigm for re-orientating how we have come to know obesity by investigating the cultural and institutional processes that shape everyday food and activity practices. Understanding and intervenin ....Food/body encounters: New approaches and alternative solutions to obesity prevention and policy. There is growing recognition of the need for new ways to tackle the obesity problem, and for forms of intervention that move beyond the limitations of individual behavioural changes. This project provides a paradigm for re-orientating how we have come to know obesity by investigating the cultural and institutional processes that shape everyday food and activity practices. Understanding and intervening in these dynamics of social practice are central to the challenges of reversing trends in the prevalence of obesity.Read moreRead less
The making of market society on a world scale: social experience and social theory from the global South. How does our social world change, when markets become dominant? This project explores the problem on a global scale-beyond Eurocentrism. Placing Australia in a broad world context, using both web-based and close-focus research methods on four continents, this project will pioneer a new approach to understanding modern society.