Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101125
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,158.00
Summary
Australindia: An environmental history of Australia, India and Empire. This project intends to examine the trajectory of environmental ideas and practices between India and Australia between 1788 and 1901. At this time, India and the Australian colonies served as important laboratories for environmental ideas and practices. Examining colonial Australia in terms of these environmental connections may broaden perspectives on Australian history and allow us to reassess the development of colonial u ....Australindia: An environmental history of Australia, India and Empire. This project intends to examine the trajectory of environmental ideas and practices between India and Australia between 1788 and 1901. At this time, India and the Australian colonies served as important laboratories for environmental ideas and practices. Examining colonial Australia in terms of these environmental connections may broaden perspectives on Australian history and allow us to reassess the development of colonial understandings of the Australian environment. The project aims to examine how people have understood and adapted to changing natural and human systems and to illuminate the ways in which the Australian environment continues to bear the legacies of empire.Read moreRead less
Critical thought in Thailand after Marxism: modern political history through ideas. This collaborative Australian-Thai project will document competing schools of critical thought that emerged in Thailand after the Cold War. Our team will map and analyse the battles of ideas that parallel political contests in the country, deepening understanding of tensions that now polarise one of Australia's most important regional neighbours.
The Buddhist roots of neo-Confucian philosophy. This project will: show for the first time how Buddhist philosophy shaped the intellectual construction of neo-Confucian philosophy; demonstrate that Chinese philosophy owes far more to its engagement with other philosophical traditions than has hitherto been demonstrated; and enable us to view Chinese philosophy as part of a global enterprise.
War crimes and the Japanese military, 1941-1945. During the Second World War, Japanese military forces in Asia and the Pacific committed extraordinary atrocities against prisoners-of-war, civilian internees and local populations. These atrocities shocked Japan's Western enemies, not least because Japanese military behaviour in the early 20th century had been celebrated as remarkably humane. This project seeks to explain Japanese wartime brutality, identifying the specific circumstances in which ....War crimes and the Japanese military, 1941-1945. During the Second World War, Japanese military forces in Asia and the Pacific committed extraordinary atrocities against prisoners-of-war, civilian internees and local populations. These atrocities shocked Japan's Western enemies, not least because Japanese military behaviour in the early 20th century had been celebrated as remarkably humane. This project seeks to explain Japanese wartime brutality, identifying the specific circumstances in which it occurred and considering the particular wartime context. It challenges the prevalent explanation of Japanese wartime violence which locates the causes of brutality in deeply rooted aspects of Japanese national culture. This research is expected to contribute to understandings of war and violence.Read moreRead less
Repatriation and release of Japanese war criminals 1946-1958: Southeast Asia, Japan and the Great Powers. Japanese war criminals held in Southeast Asia were repatriated and released in Japan from the late 1940s. Releases were negotiated between Japan and the nation that had convicted the prisoner. The project provides new understandings of the emergence of Southeast Asian states in regional diplomacy and of Japan's re-emergence as a regional power.
The Politics of Guilt in Asia: the Afterlife of Japanese War Crimes. This project aims to investigate the perception of Japan’s continuing guilt for atrocities committed during the Second World War. Until the 1970s, it was widely believed that Japan had resolved its guilt by accepting punishment, paying recompense and apologising, and could move on. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the process by which the idea of Japan’s guilt was revived to become a major issue in East Asian ....The Politics of Guilt in Asia: the Afterlife of Japanese War Crimes. This project aims to investigate the perception of Japan’s continuing guilt for atrocities committed during the Second World War. Until the 1970s, it was widely believed that Japan had resolved its guilt by accepting punishment, paying recompense and apologising, and could move on. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the process by which the idea of Japan’s guilt was revived to become a major issue in East Asian and world affairs. Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of how historical grievance is constructed and why it has come to be considered always open to review. Anticipated benefits include a greater understanding of the changing ways in which historical grievance is used, both politically and ethically.Read moreRead less
Mekong governance: State officials at the margins of empire. This project aims to bring a historical perspective to a zone of ongoing conflict, disorder and international competition. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the British, French and Siamese imperial powers posted officials to the upper Mekong. This project will explore how their cross-empire interaction created a zone of hybrid and compromised governance which blurred the political demarcation between Burma, Indochin ....Mekong governance: State officials at the margins of empire. This project aims to bring a historical perspective to a zone of ongoing conflict, disorder and international competition. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the British, French and Siamese imperial powers posted officials to the upper Mekong. This project will explore how their cross-empire interaction created a zone of hybrid and compromised governance which blurred the political demarcation between Burma, Indochina and Siam. It aims to show how officials at the margins of empire created some of the region’s contemporary governance challenges. The project could influence policies and programmes that promote development and stability in the region.Read moreRead less
Soybeans and socialism: agrarian transformation in Manchuria, 1935-1965. Throughout the early twentieth century, Manchuria was known for two things: its strategic importance and its soybeans. At the same time that the region was politically and militarily contested, Manchuria also experienced stellar economic growth, propelled in large part by the soy economy. This project aims to analyse the changing importance of soy as Manchuria transitioned from Japanese to Chinese rule. Each established mec ....Soybeans and socialism: agrarian transformation in Manchuria, 1935-1965. Throughout the early twentieth century, Manchuria was known for two things: its strategic importance and its soybeans. At the same time that the region was politically and militarily contested, Manchuria also experienced stellar economic growth, propelled in large part by the soy economy. This project aims to analyse the changing importance of soy as Manchuria transitioned from Japanese to Chinese rule. Each established mechanisms to control the soy economy, direct its proceeds to private wealth and regional development and increase production through development, reorganization or coercion. The Manchurian soy economy was a proving ground for rural policy elsewhere, and demonstrates both its potential and its limitations.Read moreRead less
Politics of public health in the Asia-Pacific region: the League of Nations Health Organization and the Japanese Empire, 1921-41. The project's outcomes will deepen public knowledge of how key actors in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, interacted with the League of Nations in shaping norms of global health governance. It will also show the continued engagement of these regional actors in a period of military confrontation.
Unlocking the missing Millennia of mainland Southeast Asia. This project will reveal the prehistoric transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age in South and Southeast Asia, the missing Millennia of the archaeological record. Sophisticated linguistic analyses, facilitated by innovative computational methods and bioinformatics, reconstruct the languages, migrations, and societies of the region’s oldest cultures