Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101526
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,560.00
Summary
How Republics Die: Rome's democratic breakdown in the first century BCE. This project aims to use recent political science scholarship on democratic breakdown and the threat of a competitive authoritarian regime in Trump’s US to analyse the breakdown of the Roman Republic in the 50s BCE under Caesar and Pompey. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of how and why constitutional government collapsed in Rome, using language and concepts directly transferable to our own fragile democracy ....How Republics Die: Rome's democratic breakdown in the first century BCE. This project aims to use recent political science scholarship on democratic breakdown and the threat of a competitive authoritarian regime in Trump’s US to analyse the breakdown of the Roman Republic in the 50s BCE under Caesar and Pompey. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of how and why constitutional government collapsed in Rome, using language and concepts directly transferable to our own fragile democracy. This should benefit the study of Roman history at all levels and provide historians and political scientists with a unique dataset for analysing how a centuries-old democracy fell into authoritarian rule.Read moreRead less
Graham Berry and the making of colonial democracy. This project offers the first major biography of Graham Berry - Victoria's leading statesman of the nineteenth century. It uses Berry's life and career as a parliamentarian, newspaper proprietor, party-builder, radical orator, and federationist as a means of better understanding the development and significance of Australian colonial democracy.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100466
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$358,506.00
Summary
History of professions in Australia, 1901-2001. This project aims to produce a history of professions in 20th-century Australia, identifying the dynamics underpinning a changing labour market, an expanding middle class and changing ideas about education, work and status. The project will map the professions in Australia through census data 1901-2001 to explain the growth of sample professions, their regulation and interaction with other sectors, and analyse changing cultural representations of p ....History of professions in Australia, 1901-2001. This project aims to produce a history of professions in 20th-century Australia, identifying the dynamics underpinning a changing labour market, an expanding middle class and changing ideas about education, work and status. The project will map the professions in Australia through census data 1901-2001 to explain the growth of sample professions, their regulation and interaction with other sectors, and analyse changing cultural representations of professions and professional status in selected media. By re-evaluating Australia’s economic history through the lens of the professions, the project aims to inform public debate and government policy on labour-force planning, education and social mobility.Read moreRead less
Managing trust: a comparative historical study of political accountability in Australia. Some Australian political leaders have acknowledged a crisis in their trust relationship with voters and seek ways to fix it. By historicising the 'crisis of trust' thesis, and testing its assumptions, I expect to demonstrate that, far from being alienated from voters, representatives both reflect and shape society's notions of trustworthiness. This knowledge offers political leaders new ways of approaching ....Managing trust: a comparative historical study of political accountability in Australia. Some Australian political leaders have acknowledged a crisis in their trust relationship with voters and seek ways to fix it. By historicising the 'crisis of trust' thesis, and testing its assumptions, I expect to demonstrate that, far from being alienated from voters, representatives both reflect and shape society's notions of trustworthiness. This knowledge offers political leaders new ways of approaching their relationships with voters in order to redress the trust dilemma. It also provides fresh, more positive ways of conceptualising trust relations generally, offering a way forward from the present cynicism, for a variety of trust relationships to be made anew.Read moreRead less
The Post-Mao Transition in China: From the Ashes of Revolution toward Reform, 1976-1978. The project contributes to national benefit by deepening understanding of a regional powerhouse, the People's Republic of China. While the study is historical, it has relevance for Australia's contemporary dealings with China since key aspects of Chinese leadership politics such as the tension between formal and informal authority derive from the period under examination. As such it furthers the national res ....The Post-Mao Transition in China: From the Ashes of Revolution toward Reform, 1976-1978. The project contributes to national benefit by deepening understanding of a regional powerhouse, the People's Republic of China. While the study is historical, it has relevance for Australia's contemporary dealings with China since key aspects of Chinese leadership politics such as the tension between formal and informal authority derive from the period under examination. As such it furthers the national research priority of 'Understanding our region and the world'. In addition, the study will further enhance the reputation of Australian scholarship on China, thus sustaining its world standing as second only to that of the United States. Read moreRead less
Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive exa ....Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive examination of structural factors influencing women's political engagement. My project will be the first in Chinese Studies to adapt western notions of gender, citizenship and ideologies of governance to understandings of Chinese women in politics.Read moreRead less
Cultural Politics in Victorian England: the Cowper-Temples and their circle. In an era of 'culture wars' across the English-speaking world (Australia included) the link between elite cultural attitudes and the formation of political agendas is a controversial one - easier to allege than to prove. This project aims to give a firm basis for exploration of interaction between cultural and political elites by going back to historical baseline. Taking the period of the coming of democracy in Victoria ....Cultural Politics in Victorian England: the Cowper-Temples and their circle. In an era of 'culture wars' across the English-speaking world (Australia included) the link between elite cultural attitudes and the formation of political agendas is a controversial one - easier to allege than to prove. This project aims to give a firm basis for exploration of interaction between cultural and political elites by going back to historical baseline. Taking the period of the coming of democracy in Victorian England as this baseline, it investigates the ways in which political insiders in that pioneering society grappled with the possibilities of harnessing cultural issues to shape political agendas.Read moreRead less
Warriors, Patriots, Traitors and Opportunists: Chinese Women and War. This project furthers our knowledge of the workings of the political, military and security scene in one of our most strategically important neighbours, the PRC. The better we understand the PRC and how it responds in times of military disruption the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market and ensure continued national security. The project also enhances Australia's strong reputat ....Warriors, Patriots, Traitors and Opportunists: Chinese Women and War. This project furthers our knowledge of the workings of the political, military and security scene in one of our most strategically important neighbours, the PRC. The better we understand the PRC and how it responds in times of military disruption the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market and ensure continued national security. The project also enhances Australia's strong reputation as leaders in scholarship in Chinese Studies by producing research publications of high impact that present new perspectives on old projects. This project will keep Australia at the forefront of research in Chinese Studies.Read moreRead less
Nation Building and Elite Formation in Singapore, 1966-85. * The project will study elite formation, the praxis of elite governance, and the development of the relationship between elitism and nation building in Singapore from independence in late 1965 to approximately 1985.
* This study is significant because it is arguably the pivotal axis on which the Singapore experience of governance rests, and yet it has not been the subject of a dedicated study.
* It is expected that the study will prod ....Nation Building and Elite Formation in Singapore, 1966-85. * The project will study elite formation, the praxis of elite governance, and the development of the relationship between elitism and nation building in Singapore from independence in late 1965 to approximately 1985.
* This study is significant because it is arguably the pivotal axis on which the Singapore experience of governance rests, and yet it has not been the subject of a dedicated study.
* It is expected that the study will produce a series of articles and a book that will contribute to our understanding of elite formation and nation building generally, as well as specifically in Singapore.
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State, War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1945-1954. The explosive experience of state formation, war and revolution combining together, thought by many to have vanished along with colonialism and the Cold War, now threatens to engulf the Middle East and/or Central Asia, much as it did Indochina fifty years ago. The largely untold story of Vietnam's 'Anti-French Resistance' in 1945-1954 offers plenty of policy warnings, if no prescriptions. Notably, those who argue that Australia's interests overs ....State, War and Revolution in Vietnam, 1945-1954. The explosive experience of state formation, war and revolution combining together, thought by many to have vanished along with colonialism and the Cold War, now threatens to engulf the Middle East and/or Central Asia, much as it did Indochina fifty years ago. The largely untold story of Vietnam's 'Anti-French Resistance' in 1945-1954 offers plenty of policy warnings, if no prescriptions. Notably, those who argue that Australia's interests overseas can be safeguarded by technology and big-power alliances, ignoring human grievances, contentious politics, mass movements and social upheavals, put future generations at risk.Read moreRead less