Social Networks and Political Change in Contemporary Rural China. Rural China is home to nearly one-sixth of the world's population. Reforms in the Chinese countryside triggered a prolonged period of economic growth that has become the engine of the world economy and the major destination for Australian exports. Political and economic developments in the agricultural sector and the continued industrialisation of China's rural regions have an immediate impact on the Australian economy and will sh ....Social Networks and Political Change in Contemporary Rural China. Rural China is home to nearly one-sixth of the world's population. Reforms in the Chinese countryside triggered a prolonged period of economic growth that has become the engine of the world economy and the major destination for Australian exports. Political and economic developments in the agricultural sector and the continued industrialisation of China's rural regions have an immediate impact on the Australian economy and will shape Australia's relations with China long into the twenty-first century. Australia is a world leader in research on contemporary China and this project will help to consolidate that position.Read moreRead less
Communities and New Patterns of Stratification in a Chinese City. China plays a major geopolitical role in the Asia-Pacific region. It is essential to understand the political and social challenges faced by China. Whether or not Chinese urban areas are going to experience a period of further growth and stability depends largely on the ability of the Chinese government to manage social change. This research will be the first systematic investigation into contemporary community building in China. ....Communities and New Patterns of Stratification in a Chinese City. China plays a major geopolitical role in the Asia-Pacific region. It is essential to understand the political and social challenges faced by China. Whether or not Chinese urban areas are going to experience a period of further growth and stability depends largely on the ability of the Chinese government to manage social change. This research will be the first systematic investigation into contemporary community building in China. By looking at the fundamental re-organisation of urban society, it will significantly improve the understanding of the complex social implications of China's rapid modernization and regional integration, and provide unprecedented insights on the perspectives for political reform. Read moreRead less
Business collective action, networks and discourse: a fiscal sociology of mining tax reform in Australia. The mining tax revolt in 2010 was a landmark event in government-business relations in Australia, acknowledged by multinational corporations and governments around the world for its broader ramifications. This project is the first systematic study of what happened, and its implications for our understanding of government-business relations.
Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and th ....Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change. While few Australians have direct experience of courts, nearly all agree that courts are important to the community, though public confidence is low. Social changes and the ambiguous position of courts in relation to change are part of this tension. This project will undertake a concrete examination of one aspect of social change and the courts: the increasing number of women in the judiciary. The focus on how gender interacts with judicial work and the wider roles of courts will produce new and valuable understandings of gender and judging, gender and work, and courts and social change. Better knowledge about these complex relationships will strengthen Australian society and its legal integrity.Read moreRead less
The re-emergence of political labour in Indonesia. This project examines trade unions' attempts to encourage Indonesian political parties to think less about charismatic leadership and money politics and more about policy. The project will document and analyse unionists' strategies for the upcoming local and national elections and assess their efficacy and impact on the outcomes of those elections.
Global arenas of knowledge: centre/periphery relations and change in knowledge production on a world scale. This research will increase our understanding of the production and exchange of organised knowledge in the global context. Combining ethnographic fieldwork, quantitative analysis and new social theory, it will provide sociological input into higher education policy and establish a new research trajectory in this emerging international field.
The differential impact of performance-based and size-based funding of university research in Australia and Germany. The project will significantly increase knowledge about organisational and individual responses to systems of financing university research. A comparison of University research in Australia to a 'ground state' of research that has not been affected by evaluation-based funding will assist Australian policy makers to better manage the use of tax payer dollars to fund research. The ....The differential impact of performance-based and size-based funding of university research in Australia and Germany. The project will significantly increase knowledge about organisational and individual responses to systems of financing university research. A comparison of University research in Australia to a 'ground state' of research that has not been affected by evaluation-based funding will assist Australian policy makers to better manage the use of tax payer dollars to fund research. The project will identify adaptive behaviour, and will thus support the discussion about possible consequences of the upcoming new Research Quality Framework in Australia. German science policy will benefit from insights into the long-term effects of formula-based funding that cannot as yet be observed in Germany.Read moreRead less
Exploring social innovations in urban water systems with a novel modelling approach. The project will investigate how wide reaching social renewal takes place in the urban water sector. With improved understanding of how social innovation works, the project will develop a computer model to assist decision-making under conditions of high uncertainty with systematic scenario analysis.
Technologies of performance, technologies of governance: the bane, benefits, ethics and future of performance measurement in government. This study examines governments' increasing use of performance management and the complex ways this is transforming schools, universities, health and welfare services. It aims to improve service performance by identifying problems areas and engaging wider public perspectives.
Learning to make it work: education, work and wellbeing in young adulthood. The project plans to analyse young adults’ transitions from education to work from ages 27 to 31 (2016–20). This period is crucial for economic and social integration, however unemployment and insecure work are increasing, creating challenges. The longitudinal design includes a cross-generational analysis with a cohort of young Australians who were 27 in 2001 and 31 in 2005, to analyse changes in economic and social inte ....Learning to make it work: education, work and wellbeing in young adulthood. The project plans to analyse young adults’ transitions from education to work from ages 27 to 31 (2016–20). This period is crucial for economic and social integration, however unemployment and insecure work are increasing, creating challenges. The longitudinal design includes a cross-generational analysis with a cohort of young Australians who were 27 in 2001 and 31 in 2005, to analyse changes in economic and social integration since the global financial crisis. It plans to extend current policy frameworks of youth transitions to explore the relationship between education, work and wellbeing, and contribute new knowledge about changing forms of vulnerability and the factors that support integration and resilience for young adults. Expected project outcomes are an evidence base about the resources that enable young adults to maximise their social and economic participation in society.Read moreRead less