Judicial Loyalties and Resistance in Southeast Asia. This project is designed to stimulate new insights, for both theory and practice, into how courts in Southeast Asia are responding to growing politicization, interference by other branches, and political backlash. The study will advance understanding of the rule of law, democratic governance, and judicial politics and launch a new database on how high court justices defend judicial institutions and constitutional practice. The findings should ....Judicial Loyalties and Resistance in Southeast Asia. This project is designed to stimulate new insights, for both theory and practice, into how courts in Southeast Asia are responding to growing politicization, interference by other branches, and political backlash. The study will advance understanding of the rule of law, democratic governance, and judicial politics and launch a new database on how high court justices defend judicial institutions and constitutional practice. The findings should help both academics and policymakers to better understand how political, social, and ideational networks of judges can affect the ability of courts to resist threats to constitutional democracy as they arise. Read moreRead less
Pedalling for change: cultural geography for traffic congestion innovation. This project aims to offer new knowledge about why commuter cycling has failed to increase at a time when leisure cycling grows exponentially. The project seeks to provide evidence about what cycling enables people to achieve through analysis of a database of media discourses, policies and most importantly the experiences of cyclists. Expected outcomes include an enhanced understanding of cycling as response to congestio ....Pedalling for change: cultural geography for traffic congestion innovation. This project aims to offer new knowledge about why commuter cycling has failed to increase at a time when leisure cycling grows exponentially. The project seeks to provide evidence about what cycling enables people to achieve through analysis of a database of media discourses, policies and most importantly the experiences of cyclists. Expected outcomes include an enhanced understanding of cycling as response to congestion and improved policy strategies for increasing purposeful cycling in cities including moving the focus from cycling participation rates to cultures of cycling. Australia will benefit from cycling growing as a mode of transport to attenuate traffic congestion in metropolitan centres.Read moreRead less
Understanding online attention and user-generated content creation: An information consumption and production perspective. There is a strong practical need for methods for understanding and measuring online behaviour. In this project, economic index number theory will be used to study information consumption, leading to new ways of measuring online attention and influence. Techniques for studying scaling relationships in the physical world will be used to study information production, leading to ....Understanding online attention and user-generated content creation: An information consumption and production perspective. There is a strong practical need for methods for understanding and measuring online behaviour. In this project, economic index number theory will be used to study information consumption, leading to new ways of measuring online attention and influence. Techniques for studying scaling relationships in the physical world will be used to study information production, leading to new insights into the efficiency of production of user-generated content. The project will contribute to understanding how social media such as Twitter contribute to social unrest and affect consumer decisions, and how distributed online collaboration can produce economically-valuable information resources such as Wikipedia.Read moreRead less
Changing approaches to gender and development in rural China. Harmonious and cooperative relations with China are crucial to Australia's economic and cultural development and to security in the region. By contributing to Australian understanding of Chinese society, this project will enhance such relations. Knowledge gained through this project will also enhance Australian development projects in China, and more generally, contribute to development projects focusing on gender and development in A ....Changing approaches to gender and development in rural China. Harmonious and cooperative relations with China are crucial to Australia's economic and cultural development and to security in the region. By contributing to Australian understanding of Chinese society, this project will enhance such relations. Knowledge gained through this project will also enhance Australian development projects in China, and more generally, contribute to development projects focusing on gender and development in Asia and elsewhere. In addition, the contributions of the project to research and postgraduate training in Chinese studies, gender studies and development studies will benefit Australia by raising the international profile of Australian institutions within these disciplines.Read moreRead less
Ethical and Social Issues in Translating Epigenetics into Antenatal Care. This project aims to investigate how knowledge about the intergenerational transmission of health and disease is shaping antenatal care in Australia. It expects to generate new knowledge about how the science of epigenetics can be used to address social inequality and is anticipated to have impact across the social sciences, bioethics and public health. Expected outcomes of the project include novel theoretical approaches ....Ethical and Social Issues in Translating Epigenetics into Antenatal Care. This project aims to investigate how knowledge about the intergenerational transmission of health and disease is shaping antenatal care in Australia. It expects to generate new knowledge about how the science of epigenetics can be used to address social inequality and is anticipated to have impact across the social sciences, bioethics and public health. Expected outcomes of the project include novel theoretical approaches to the ethics of pregnancy, along with guidance tools to shape the use of epigenetics in antenatal care and social policy to reduce social inequalities. This should provide significant benefits, improving information and support available to vulnerable women as they negotiate maternal health and social services. Read moreRead less
Applying search theory for eradicating invasive species. Invasive species have major economic and environmental impacts in Australia and are a major cause of extinctions worldwide. Monitoring is crucial for the timely control of invasive species in sensitive environments. Early detection increases the probability of eradication and increased accuracy in detection reduces the impact of control programs on non-target species. Efficient monitoring also is crucial in determining whether eradication ....Applying search theory for eradicating invasive species. Invasive species have major economic and environmental impacts in Australia and are a major cause of extinctions worldwide. Monitoring is crucial for the timely control of invasive species in sensitive environments. Early detection increases the probability of eradication and increased accuracy in detection reduces the impact of control programs on non-target species. Efficient monitoring also is crucial in determining whether eradication has succeeded. Search Theory has been applied for over 60 years in a wide range of non-biological monitoring problems, resulting in large increases in target detection rates. Gains of a similar magnitude in invasive species detection would greatly enhance Australia's capacity to manage these threats.Read moreRead less
Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and envi ....Improving external validity of stated choice experiments. This project aims to deliver more accurate estimates of choice behaviour by reducing biases due to choice task complexity in surveys as well as design artefacts. Extracting 'true' preferences is challenging, not only due to possible hypothetical bias, but also due to increasingly complex choice tasks and the existence of design artefacts. This project will investigate the latter two in the context of marketing, transport, health, and environmental economics, and proposes new methodologies to extract preferences that more closely reflect true behaviour in real markets.Read moreRead less
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF WORLD POLITICS. Rights politics played a central role in the international changes that occurred at Westphalia (1648), in the Age of Revolutions (1776-1848), with decolonisation (1950s-1960s), and in the aftermath of the Cold War. Yet the literature on human rights and international relations has failed to consider the impact of rights politics over the longue duree. This project systematically examines how, and to what extent, rights politics has transform ....HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF WORLD POLITICS. Rights politics played a central role in the international changes that occurred at Westphalia (1648), in the Age of Revolutions (1776-1848), with decolonisation (1950s-1960s), and in the aftermath of the Cold War. Yet the literature on human rights and international relations has failed to consider the impact of rights politics over the longue duree. This project systematically examines how, and to what extent, rights politics has transformed the international system since the seventeenth century to the present era. It will generate a series of articles, a single-authored book, and an edited volume.Read moreRead less
Chieftainship and social change in the Trobriand islands: A new theory of leadership and sub-state political dynamics for the Pacific. Australia's closest neighbours to the north and east are Pacific nation-states where in many instances 'chieftainship' has been a dominant locus of social organisation and change from pre-colonial times to the present. While these systems in their modern forms have appeared to outsiders as 'weak', 'unstable' or 'failing', the real problem is that they have been p ....Chieftainship and social change in the Trobriand islands: A new theory of leadership and sub-state political dynamics for the Pacific. Australia's closest neighbours to the north and east are Pacific nation-states where in many instances 'chieftainship' has been a dominant locus of social organisation and change from pre-colonial times to the present. While these systems in their modern forms have appeared to outsiders as 'weak', 'unstable' or 'failing', the real problem is that they have been poorly understood by social scientists, policy-makers and others. This research will develop a more accurate theory of the dynamics of Pacific chieftainship that will enhance Australia's understanding of its neighbours and the effectiveness of our policies and approach to the region. Read moreRead less
Indigenous Diaspora: a new direction in the ethnographic study of the migration of Australian Aboriginal people from remote areas. This project relates directly to current policy debates about the future of Aboriginal populations in remote Australia and proposals for encouraging mobility between homeland centres and distant jobs and education. It seeks to understand the process and the social and cultural implications of the urbanisation of remote Aboriginal people. As such, it addresses the pri ....Indigenous Diaspora: a new direction in the ethnographic study of the migration of Australian Aboriginal people from remote areas. This project relates directly to current policy debates about the future of Aboriginal populations in remote Australia and proposals for encouraging mobility between homeland centres and distant jobs and education. It seeks to understand the process and the social and cultural implications of the urbanisation of remote Aboriginal people. As such, it addresses the priority goal of understanding and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric to help families and individuals lead healthy, productive and fulfilling lives (Research Priority 2). It will also provide a model for the extension of existing anthropological research on remote Aboriginal communities.Read moreRead less