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Enterprising women: race, gender and power in the revolutionary Atlantic, 1770-1820. This historical project will research emancipated slave women who became successful entrepreneurs in the British slave colonies in the late eighteenth-century, to show how these remarkable free black women influenced the culture of the British empire, both in the colonies and at home.
Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880-1963): Visions of 'Man and Nature' in the Twentieth Century. This project will enhance Australians' appreciation of environmental problems as complex historical issues. Since scientists have recently rediscovered Thomas Griffith Taylor, an Australian geographer who studied climate, sustainability and settlement in the early to mid 20th century, it is timely that he also be reassessed by humanities scholars. By fully historicising environmental ideas of the recent pas ....Thomas Griffith Taylor (1880-1963): Visions of 'Man and Nature' in the Twentieth Century. This project will enhance Australians' appreciation of environmental problems as complex historical issues. Since scientists have recently rediscovered Thomas Griffith Taylor, an Australian geographer who studied climate, sustainability and settlement in the early to mid 20th century, it is timely that he also be reassessed by humanities scholars. By fully historicising environmental ideas of the recent past, this project will clarify and focus public debate on climate and the environment in the present and future.Read moreRead less
Family, violence and honour: the Walworth Murder. Australian statistics confirm that violence within the family is an intractable problem. Real-life narratives of spousal abuse and murder, including historical cases, provide compelling evidence of the causes and costs of family conflict. This project underlines the ways in which power asymmetries within families can become risk factors for violence.
A History of Women's Political Thought in Europe 1700-1800. This research will contribute to Australia's reputation for innovative scholarship on women and feminism and foster the development of models of active female citizenship and political participation by deepening our knowledge and understanding of the contribution that women made to political philosophy in the pre-revolutionary period.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101854
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Whose family values? the Christian right and sexual politics in postsecular Australia. This project will expand knowledge of the relationship between sexuality and religion in 'post-secular Australia'. It will show how connections between religion, sex, love and romance have evolved in the recent historical past and advance cultural understanding of conflicts between religious liberty and sexual discrimination.
Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project ....Ayahs and Amahs: Transcolonial Servants in Australia and Britain 1780-1945. This project looks at female domestic care workers from India and China who travelled to Australia and elsewhere during the period of British colonialism. Accompanying colonial families along circuits of empire between Australia, Asia, and the UK over two centuries, these were extraordinarily mobile women. By exploring the historical experiences and cultural memories of these earliest global domestic workers, the project aims to illuminate a broader transcolonial history of domestic work. Expected outcomes include a number of publications and a website; and the project offers the social and cultural benefits to be gained by advancing our historical understanding of the forgotten cross-cultural relationships that have shaped our world today.Read moreRead less
Precarious accounts: money, sex and power in the industrial revolution. This project aims to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates around the uses of self-tracking technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how practices for quantifying the self relate to significant social and economic change, from the industrial revolution, through to measuring the systems of big data that now shapes the world. It does so using a case study of Gilbert Innes, a banker know ....Precarious accounts: money, sex and power in the industrial revolution. This project aims to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates around the uses of self-tracking technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how practices for quantifying the self relate to significant social and economic change, from the industrial revolution, through to measuring the systems of big data that now shapes the world. It does so using a case study of Gilbert Innes, a banker known for his sexual exploitation of women and obsessive book-keeping. The expected outcome is a history of how accounting shaped identity and morality in the nineteenth century. Through improving our understanding of how quantification practices shape society, this research supports their effective use today.Read moreRead less
Has Feminism Failed the Family? A History of Equality, Law and Reform. The research will examine the history of legal reform since the introduction of the Family Law Act. As such, it will provide a broader perspective to feminist and conservative criticisms of gender bias and legal unfairness in the operation of a family law system understood to be based on equality principles. The project's outcomes will be of immediate significance therefore to policy makers, as well as to the divergent groups ....Has Feminism Failed the Family? A History of Equality, Law and Reform. The research will examine the history of legal reform since the introduction of the Family Law Act. As such, it will provide a broader perspective to feminist and conservative criticisms of gender bias and legal unfairness in the operation of a family law system understood to be based on equality principles. The project's outcomes will be of immediate significance therefore to policy makers, as well as to the divergent groups who currently research legal and government regulation of families and family breakdown. Further, the project will enhance national knowledge by contributing to the historical understanding of Australia's immediate past.
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Mapping Matrons: Women's Cultural Patronage Networks in Seventeenth Century Northern Italy: from Maria Cristina of Savoy to Vittoria della Rovere. This project adds an important historical dimension to contemporary debates concerning social capital and female leadership. It retrieves women's significant public engagement and community building in the realm of public taste. Historical precedents show how female networks and agency contribute to the community and public sector. Women's networks of ....Mapping Matrons: Women's Cultural Patronage Networks in Seventeenth Century Northern Italy: from Maria Cristina of Savoy to Vittoria della Rovere. This project adds an important historical dimension to contemporary debates concerning social capital and female leadership. It retrieves women's significant public engagement and community building in the realm of public taste. Historical precedents show how female networks and agency contribute to the community and public sector. Women's networks of taste shaped human creativity then...and now. This study will illuminate how our culture (and democracy) emerged in gendered networks of cultural exchange. The project also contributes to Australia's international reputation for high-quality scholarship on early modern Europe, and adds another dimension to cultural and gender studies in this country. Read moreRead less
INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. ....INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. With competitions held throughout the Commonwealth, the finalists were designated by their state of origin. Hence both regions and then states competed alongside individuals. The broadcast of the Quest was a major television event until 1986. An analysis of the Quest allows interrogation of the role of fundraising for charity, the construction of celebrity, the nature of idealised young womanhood and interstate rivalries. Scholarly articles and a book alongside a projected exhibition at the new National Museum of Australia are anticipated.Read moreRead less