Journalism Beyond the Crisis: emerging forms, practices and uses. This project seeks to conduct a transnational comparative study designed to discover how journalism is changing as a cultural form, and the implications of this for political and cultural life. Journalistic culture in Australia is in transition, with significant implications for politics, culture and economic life. Change is affecting the forms of journalism available to Australian audiences; the ways in which, and by whom, journa ....Journalism Beyond the Crisis: emerging forms, practices and uses. This project seeks to conduct a transnational comparative study designed to discover how journalism is changing as a cultural form, and the implications of this for political and cultural life. Journalistic culture in Australia is in transition, with significant implications for politics, culture and economic life. Change is affecting the forms of journalism available to Australian audiences; the ways in which, and by whom, journalism is produced; and the uses to which practitioners and citizens in general put journalistic content.Read moreRead less
Australian television and popular memory: new approaches to the cultural history of the media in the project of nation-building. Despite its importance to our everyday lives since the 1950s, there is no history of television's role in Australian popular culture. This project will develop a series of collaborative histories that focus upon the popular experience of television and in particular its role in forming national culture. The research will not only involve conventional academic sources, ....Australian television and popular memory: new approaches to the cultural history of the media in the project of nation-building. Despite its importance to our everyday lives since the 1950s, there is no history of television's role in Australian popular culture. This project will develop a series of collaborative histories that focus upon the popular experience of television and in particular its role in forming national culture. The research will not only involve conventional academic sources, but also those connected with 'the people': memories, memorabilia, personal collections as well as the full range of popular and ephemeral publications which support the popular engagement with the medium. The project is the first to examine television's historical role in our national life.Read moreRead less
Politics, media and democracy in Australia: public and producer perceptions of the political public sphere. At a time of widespread criticism of the role of the media in informing and enabling Australian democratic processes, this study explores the perceptions of ordinary Australians about the performance of the variety of media forms in which politics is reported, analysed and discussed.
Empire and Antipodes: Australian-New Zealand involvement in the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970). This project will investigate the role and changing significance of the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970) focussing on its regular international conferences and the communication issues raised by the Australian-New Zealand delegations which attended. Drawing on the work of Harold Innis on the history of communication across empires and using the E./C.P.U as a case study, the pr ....Empire and Antipodes: Australian-New Zealand involvement in the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970). This project will investigate the role and changing significance of the Empire/Commonwealth Press Union (1909-1970) focussing on its regular international conferences and the communication issues raised by the Australian-New Zealand delegations which attended. Drawing on the work of Harold Innis on the history of communication across empires and using the E./C.P.U as a case study, the project seeks to investigate the ascendancy and decline of British imperial communications in terms of old/new media and British/antipodean communications. Key debates and concerns of the A/NZ press delegations, including press freedom, cable technology and the advent of broadcast media, will be examined within the shifting contexts of private/public monopoly and imperial/national loyalty with reference to parallel developments in India.Read moreRead less
Creative Suburbia: A Critical Evaluation of the Scope for Creative Cultural Development in Australia's Suburban and Peri Urban Communities. Creative industries enterprises are increasingly important to Australia in a global knowledge-based economy. They account for 5.5% of national income, and recent work has shown they are 50% bigger than first estimated. But much research and policy assumes that these enterprises only take place in inner urban environments. This project will examine the work ....Creative Suburbia: A Critical Evaluation of the Scope for Creative Cultural Development in Australia's Suburban and Peri Urban Communities. Creative industries enterprises are increasingly important to Australia in a global knowledge-based economy. They account for 5.5% of national income, and recent work has shown they are 50% bigger than first estimated. But much research and policy assumes that these enterprises only take place in inner urban environments. This project will examine the work patterns of creative enterprise workers in the outer suburbs of Brisbane and Melbourne, investigating how these enterprises work outside of inner city zones. Such work will enable a more empirically grounded understanding of creative enterprise dynamics, so that the creative and economic potential of these activities are better realised.Read moreRead less
Wild Man from Borneo: species, race, representation. This project addresses the representation of species boundaries in Western accounts of the orangutan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Darwinian theory raised the possibility that animals could ?evolve?. Orangutans seemed ?closest? to humans and therefore raised key questions about the border between humans and animals. These questions were addressed in a vast range of scientific, popular, imaginative and juvenile literature. Even when ecolo ....Wild Man from Borneo: species, race, representation. This project addresses the representation of species boundaries in Western accounts of the orangutan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Darwinian theory raised the possibility that animals could ?evolve?. Orangutans seemed ?closest? to humans and therefore raised key questions about the border between humans and animals. These questions were addressed in a vast range of scientific, popular, imaginative and juvenile literature. Even when ecological models of the environment shifted attention from evolutionary potential to ecological role, orangutans retained a special status as ?sentinel? species. This project will produce a monograph examining the construction, maintenance and erosion of ideas of species boundaries.Read moreRead less
Mobile Indonesians: social differentiation and digital literacies in the twenty first century. This is the first dedicated study of the social implications of mobile telephony's recent and rapid popularisation throughout the country. This project will study metropolitan, urban and rural users to understand how mobile phones create the new and unexpected social networks which will shape tomorrow's Indonesians.
From Mass to Public: Discourses and Representations of Popular Sovereignty in Indonesia. The end of the New Order and transition to more representative government in Indonesia since 1998 have been unruly and violent. The process of political transition has been represented on Australian radios and television screens and has contributed to a perception that Indonesia is in crisis and inherently chaotic. This research aims to show that we can understand this unruliness in part as an outcome of a r ....From Mass to Public: Discourses and Representations of Popular Sovereignty in Indonesia. The end of the New Order and transition to more representative government in Indonesia since 1998 have been unruly and violent. The process of political transition has been represented on Australian radios and television screens and has contributed to a perception that Indonesia is in crisis and inherently chaotic. This research aims to show that we can understand this unruliness in part as an outcome of a rapid development of publicness: a desire for public discussion and activity, motivated by values of popular sovereignty, transparency and accountablity in governance which were seen as crucially lacking during the New Order period.Read moreRead less
Redesigning Australian film and television production for Multichannel Environments, 1995-2009. The project has clear national benefits in that it represents a new approach to understanding the difficulties and opportunities confronting Australian situated audio-visual production at a time of profound change. In centering the transformation of the production industry under the impact of structural adjustment to multi-channeling and increasing transnationalization, the study promises new perspect ....Redesigning Australian film and television production for Multichannel Environments, 1995-2009. The project has clear national benefits in that it represents a new approach to understanding the difficulties and opportunities confronting Australian situated audio-visual production at a time of profound change. In centering the transformation of the production industry under the impact of structural adjustment to multi-channeling and increasing transnationalization, the study promises new perspectives on strategic policy and industry priorities which will strengthen the capacity for innovation and international linkages among producers, policy makers and educators. It fits the national priority of 'Frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries' related to 'promoting an innovation culture and economy'.Read moreRead less
A society divided: a multilevel approach for understanding socio-economic opportunity and vulnerability. Despite a strong economy since the early 1990s uneven socioeconomic outcomes remain characteristic of Australian society. The costs to individuals, communities and society itself of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially policy needs understand the multi-dimensional nature of the drivers of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate the negative cost. In its integration of multilevel ....A society divided: a multilevel approach for understanding socio-economic opportunity and vulnerability. Despite a strong economy since the early 1990s uneven socioeconomic outcomes remain characteristic of Australian society. The costs to individuals, communities and society itself of these uneven outcomes are significant. Crucially policy needs understand the multi-dimensional nature of the drivers of these uneven outcomes so as to ameliorate the negative cost. In its integration of multilevel research methodologies this project aims to advance understandings of well targeted and effective policy interventions. It combines the skills and knowledge of researchers trained in economics and sociology, whose collaboration is a direct result of a linkage formed within an ARC research network. Read moreRead less