A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, an ....A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.Read moreRead less
Breaking Down Tradition: Women in male-dominated work, 1840-2000. Using historical analysis, this project aims to illuminate the endurance of sex-segregated work over more than 150 years. It plans to focus on particular occupations in Britain and Australia to identify the processes and agents of change and document the experiences of women. The project aims to trace the origins of workplace cultures which excluded women, and the circulation of ideas about occupations subsequently designated as ‘ ....Breaking Down Tradition: Women in male-dominated work, 1840-2000. Using historical analysis, this project aims to illuminate the endurance of sex-segregated work over more than 150 years. It plans to focus on particular occupations in Britain and Australia to identify the processes and agents of change and document the experiences of women. The project aims to trace the origins of workplace cultures which excluded women, and the circulation of ideas about occupations subsequently designated as ‘non-traditional’ for them. Expected outcomes are new insights into the history of women's experience of work and the factors that shape contemporary pay inequities, which may recast current understandings of gender in the workplace.Read moreRead less
Continuity and change in the Australian industrial landscape. This project aims to investigate the past, present and future significance of Australian industrial landscapes. It focuses on a crucial trading zone and one of the nation's most significant industrial precincts, Port Kembla, New South Wales. Amidst growing debate over the future of port infrastructures and urban industrial land, a novel interdisciplinary, place-based approach aims to understand how industrial ports and surrounding com ....Continuity and change in the Australian industrial landscape. This project aims to investigate the past, present and future significance of Australian industrial landscapes. It focuses on a crucial trading zone and one of the nation's most significant industrial precincts, Port Kembla, New South Wales. Amidst growing debate over the future of port infrastructures and urban industrial land, a novel interdisciplinary, place-based approach aims to understand how industrial ports and surrounding communities endure and evolve over time. Expected outcomes include timely archiving of recent industrial, worker and migrant histories, new knowledge that will contribute to resilient industrial port regions and economies, and an evidence base for future strategic thinking around industrial port infrastructure.Read moreRead less
Tuberculosis in Southern Africa: the history of a pandemic. South Africa and the states which supply workers to the gold mines of Johannesburg today have the highest rates of pulmonary tuberculosis in the world. This project will explore the role of the gold mines in creating a pandemic of a disease which was not so long ago considered to be in permanent retreat.
Occupational health and social justice in South Africa. This project aims to study South African asbestos and gold miners’ political and legal struggles for social justice. It will explain how their class actions for occupational injury against employers have been possible, and explore the wider significance of the legal cases. The research will examine how disabled miners re-captured science from corporate influence and used the law in pursuing their claims. The resultant book and articles are ....Occupational health and social justice in South Africa. This project aims to study South African asbestos and gold miners’ political and legal struggles for social justice. It will explain how their class actions for occupational injury against employers have been possible, and explore the wider significance of the legal cases. The research will examine how disabled miners re-captured science from corporate influence and used the law in pursuing their claims. The resultant book and articles are expected to illuminate aspects of a regional occupational health crisis and provide evidence to improve working conditions and action for legal redress.Read moreRead less