Workers of the world: International labour movement responses to globalization. Industrial relations was the most significant issue in the 2007 federal election. The return of the Labor Government suggests the majority of Australians wished to preserve workers' rights to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. This project speaks directly to such concerns by analysing the global forces that have prompted anti-worker policies internationally and the worldwide responses on th ....Workers of the world: International labour movement responses to globalization. Industrial relations was the most significant issue in the 2007 federal election. The return of the Labor Government suggests the majority of Australians wished to preserve workers' rights to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions. This project speaks directly to such concerns by analysing the global forces that have prompted anti-worker policies internationally and the worldwide responses on the part of labour movements. It will also incorporate Australian scholarship and subject-matter into a major comparative study for an international audience, at a time when the global political pendulum has swung in the direction of confronting corporate excesses and improving employees' living and working standards.Read moreRead less
A Regional Perspective on Work & Family Balance and Changes in Employment Regulation. Work/family balance is a focus of significant attention at the community, national and international level. This project will generate new knowledge about the ways in which employment regulation directly and indirectly impacts on employee work/family balance outcomes within different regional and industry contexts. A growing body of research recognises the linkages between employment regulation and effects on c ....A Regional Perspective on Work & Family Balance and Changes in Employment Regulation. Work/family balance is a focus of significant attention at the community, national and international level. This project will generate new knowledge about the ways in which employment regulation directly and indirectly impacts on employee work/family balance outcomes within different regional and industry contexts. A growing body of research recognises the linkages between employment regulation and effects on child and parent well-being and health, labour force supply and economic outcomes. However, little is known about how geographical location shapes work/family balance. The research will thus contribute to improved understandings and to better social policy at the local, state and federal levels.Read moreRead less
Unions and Regional Regeneration. Unions face many challenges in older industrial regions, where they previously have had a strong presence. Successful regeneration of such regions depends on the active involvement of unions and their members as well as business. In some places, however, unions have remained marginal to these processes. Not only does this project extend theory on union purpose, capacities and organisation in support of economic, political and environmental change towards sustain ....Unions and Regional Regeneration. Unions face many challenges in older industrial regions, where they previously have had a strong presence. Successful regeneration of such regions depends on the active involvement of unions and their members as well as business. In some places, however, unions have remained marginal to these processes. Not only does this project extend theory on union purpose, capacities and organisation in support of economic, political and environmental change towards sustainable futures, it applies a novel combination of methods. This application examines the consequences of involvement and non-involvement in these processes. The project seeks to extend theories of social change and social mobilisation.Read moreRead less
Parents, Time Pressure and Earnings. Parents of young children are time poor. They struggle to find the time to provide both income security and care for young children and themselves. This has become a pressing public policy issue, because an ageing society faces a critical labour shortage unless it mobilizes the underutilized capacity of mothers. The project has the potential to improve the well-being of all family members. Promoting the conditions for good parenting ensures that children have ....Parents, Time Pressure and Earnings. Parents of young children are time poor. They struggle to find the time to provide both income security and care for young children and themselves. This has become a pressing public policy issue, because an ageing society faces a critical labour shortage unless it mobilizes the underutilized capacity of mothers. The project has the potential to improve the well-being of all family members. Promoting the conditions for good parenting ensures that children have a healthy start to life in their early years. Facilitating parents' continuing employment promotes self esteem, self-reliance and the ability to save for a comfortable retirement.Read moreRead less
Work, life and sustainable living: how work, household and community life interact to affect environmental behaviours and outcomes. The project addresses the research priority of an environmentally sustainable Australia. It examines how the circumstances and interaction of work, home and community affect capacities to reduce negative environmental impacts especially workplace and household transport, waste, energy and water use practices. The project brings the changing configuration of work to ....Work, life and sustainable living: how work, household and community life interact to affect environmental behaviours and outcomes. The project addresses the research priority of an environmentally sustainable Australia. It examines how the circumstances and interaction of work, home and community affect capacities to reduce negative environmental impacts especially workplace and household transport, waste, energy and water use practices. The project brings the changing configuration of work to the fore, addressing a gap in current research. It examines the implications for environmental change of the temporal and spatial organisation of 'work-life', including analysis of socio-economic and gender differences, informing practice and theory about how workers, workplaces and households can change for the better, in the interests of a sustainable, socially inclusive society.Read moreRead less
Nation, Race, Rights and the New World Order, 1945-1966. Given the beleaguered status of international organisations, the postwar universal human rights agenda, and race relations, the history of the ideas of nation, race, and rights is ripe for an analysis that seeks to understand the formative post-Second World War period. This project examines the contribution to international discussions and legislation concerning rights and racism, made by representatives of a nation that continued to adher ....Nation, Race, Rights and the New World Order, 1945-1966. Given the beleaguered status of international organisations, the postwar universal human rights agenda, and race relations, the history of the ideas of nation, race, and rights is ripe for an analysis that seeks to understand the formative post-Second World War period. This project examines the contribution to international discussions and legislation concerning rights and racism, made by representatives of a nation that continued to adhere to a policy of 'white Australia' after the Second World War. As a result it places the history of race and nationalism in Australia in a comparative and international context. Read moreRead less
Black on White: Indigenous Social Constructions of Race. This project examines the constested meanings of race for Indigenous people in Australia through an analysis of the discourses they deploy in articulating their experiences. By considering their lives as contexts for the reproduction of race the research will offer new knowledge about the ways in which Indigenous people racialise themselves and others. The project has important theoretical and practical implications by elaborating and pr ....Black on White: Indigenous Social Constructions of Race. This project examines the constested meanings of race for Indigenous people in Australia through an analysis of the discourses they deploy in articulating their experiences. By considering their lives as contexts for the reproduction of race the research will offer new knowledge about the ways in which Indigenous people racialise themselves and others. The project has important theoretical and practical implications by elaborating and progressing recent advances in constructions of identity and whiteness. The findings will add new knowledge to the current field of race studies in Australia and abroad. They will be presented in a book and a series of scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Affinities in Multicultural Australia. Concern has grown in Australia and other advanced societies about perceived threats to social cohesion and national identity through diversity. But are people’s values really so different, and are they directly related to ethnicity? This project will provide the first systematic analysis of the affinities (similarities in values and practices) that link diverse groups and individuals in multicultural Australia. It will examine whether such affinities can ou ....Affinities in Multicultural Australia. Concern has grown in Australia and other advanced societies about perceived threats to social cohesion and national identity through diversity. But are people’s values really so different, and are they directly related to ethnicity? This project will provide the first systematic analysis of the affinities (similarities in values and practices) that link diverse groups and individuals in multicultural Australia. It will examine whether such affinities can outweigh differences and provide the basis for local belonging in multi-ethnic neighbourhoods. The Affinities Project turns the current emphasis on difference on its head. It will provide a new knowledge base, crucial to social scientific analysis as well as to policy formation.Read moreRead less
Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our sec ....Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our security. These national and regional diagnoses will enhance the quality of Australia's contribution to security and stability in our part of the globe and enhance national capacity to contribute to global peace strategies. Read moreRead less
Restorative Justice and Responsive Governance: Fresh Challenges, New Theory, Global Networks. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of children and children's children. It sets back economies, encourages transnational crime through trafficking drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across our region in ways that directly affect Australians. This research will provide fresh insights from the successes and failures of peacebuilding in the Pacific and ....Restorative Justice and Responsive Governance: Fresh Challenges, New Theory, Global Networks. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of children and children's children. It sets back economies, encourages transnational crime through trafficking drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across our region in ways that directly affect Australians. This research will provide fresh insights from the successes and failures of peacebuilding in the Pacific and Asia. The effectiveness of new restorative and responsive strategies for improving the performance of our health system, strengthening the knowledge economy, improving competition and preventing crime will be tested and developed. Australia will grow as the dominant locus of research on restorative and responsive strategies that work.Read moreRead less