Social engagement in Spiritualism. This project aims to investigate the sociological, anthropological and historical dimensions of Spiritualism in Australia, a small but highly influential religious movement. 19th century Spiritualist ideas about the afterlife have shaped many citizens’ beliefs that individual personality survives death in a family-centred spirit realm. Combining both sociological and anthropological approaches, the project will map the production and effect of belief on family, ....Social engagement in Spiritualism. This project aims to investigate the sociological, anthropological and historical dimensions of Spiritualism in Australia, a small but highly influential religious movement. 19th century Spiritualist ideas about the afterlife have shaped many citizens’ beliefs that individual personality survives death in a family-centred spirit realm. Combining both sociological and anthropological approaches, the project will map the production and effect of belief on family, civic participation and ethics. This project aims to give scholars a fuller, more accurate view of religious dynamics in Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101073
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$450,015.00
Summary
Donkey Politics: How China’s Belt & Road shapes everyday life in Pakistan. This project will develop a socio-cultural understanding of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), through an ethnographic examination of the donkey trade with China. The research will produce fine-grained data on the impacts of the massive export of donkeys on the work, livelihoods, and health-seeking behaviour of marginalised populations in Pakistan. Expecte ....Donkey Politics: How China’s Belt & Road shapes everyday life in Pakistan. This project will develop a socio-cultural understanding of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), through an ethnographic examination of the donkey trade with China. The research will produce fine-grained data on the impacts of the massive export of donkeys on the work, livelihoods, and health-seeking behaviour of marginalised populations in Pakistan. Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of Chinese mega projects on host countries. It will benefit Australian and international policymakers seeking to develop a grounded understanding of BRI and its broader implications for the Indo-Pacific region, including the risk of zoonotic diseases associated with animal trade.Read moreRead less
Antimicrobial resistance, inequality and development in India. This project aims to provide an analysis of the cultural and social drivers behind the threat of antimicrobial resistance in India. As the highest consumer of antibiotics globally, India is central to the global challenge of addressing antimicrobial resistance. This project will focus on antimicrobial resistance as a distinctly social problem. The intended outcomes include a deep understanding of how the crisis is unfolding in India ....Antimicrobial resistance, inequality and development in India. This project aims to provide an analysis of the cultural and social drivers behind the threat of antimicrobial resistance in India. As the highest consumer of antibiotics globally, India is central to the global challenge of addressing antimicrobial resistance. This project will focus on antimicrobial resistance as a distinctly social problem. The intended outcomes include a deep understanding of how the crisis is unfolding in India at the nexus of poverty, weak governance and embedded cultural practices. Anticipated findings will generate policy-relevant outputs to optimise antimicrobial use, position Australia as a leading voice in addressing a global threat, and prepare Australia against the specific issue of microbial resistance.Read moreRead less
Beyond Allied Histories: Dayak Memories of World War II in Borneo. Western histories of wars focus overwhelmingly on the experiences of European participants. This project explores World War II in Borneo, a highly significant but little-known Australian wartime site, by focusing on the marginalised memories of the island’s indigenous Dayak peoples. By juxtaposing Dayak memories of the war with those of Australian soldiers and prisoners-of-war, the project aims to both advance scholarly understan ....Beyond Allied Histories: Dayak Memories of World War II in Borneo. Western histories of wars focus overwhelmingly on the experiences of European participants. This project explores World War II in Borneo, a highly significant but little-known Australian wartime site, by focusing on the marginalised memories of the island’s indigenous Dayak peoples. By juxtaposing Dayak memories of the war with those of Australian soldiers and prisoners-of-war, the project aims to both advance scholarly understanding of Dayak codes of otherness and relatedness, and cast new light on the war itself.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100575
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,000.00
Summary
Not drowning, fighting?: UN climate governance and Pacific Island countries. This project aims to significantly advance understandings of UN climate governance processes, and the spaces and strategies utilised by Pacific Island countries to influence the final decision outcomes. This project will generate important new knowledge about global climate governance using an innovative approach to collaborative event ethnography that involves a majority Pacific Islander research team and working ‘inte ....Not drowning, fighting?: UN climate governance and Pacific Island countries. This project aims to significantly advance understandings of UN climate governance processes, and the spaces and strategies utilised by Pacific Island countries to influence the final decision outcomes. This project will generate important new knowledge about global climate governance using an innovative approach to collaborative event ethnography that involves a majority Pacific Islander research team and working ‘internal’ to formal UN climate negotiations. The project should identify key climate change outcomes for the Pacific and Australia that will help address climate security issues, and that raise the status of Pacific Indigenous knowledge systems by incorporating them centrally within understandings of climate change policy. Read moreRead less
A Multispecies Anthropological Approach to Influenza. Influenza-type viruses currently pose a considerable threat to humanity, as well as to both domestic and wild animals. This project aims to address a significant gap in our knowledge about cultural perceptions towards influenza across different species, particularly horse flu. Through multispecies anthropology, planned outcomes are to gain a greater understanding of cross-species medical knowledge, including insights into cultural heritage, b ....A Multispecies Anthropological Approach to Influenza. Influenza-type viruses currently pose a considerable threat to humanity, as well as to both domestic and wild animals. This project aims to address a significant gap in our knowledge about cultural perceptions towards influenza across different species, particularly horse flu. Through multispecies anthropology, planned outcomes are to gain a greater understanding of cross-species medical knowledge, including insights into cultural heritage, biodiversity and disease resilience through an integrated socio-cultural-ecological approach. Benefits of these new insights into multi-species dynamics will be a greater understanding of viral spread and Mongolian pastoral health practices that may be employed in the prevention of influenza.Read moreRead less
Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainabl ....Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainable social and environmental policies of governance. The project is designed to be both a timely study of social renewal in post-conflict societies, and a contribution to the possibilities of sustainable environmental and resource management in East Timor and the wider region.Read moreRead less
A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will an ....A socio-ecological comparison of nations making a transition to renewable energy. This project aims to use ethnography to investigate how legitimacy for renewable energy can be won or lost. The project will focus on Germany, India and Australia, regions that are undergoing ‘energy transition.’ It, conducts in-depth studies of changing socio-ecological relations, theorising through comparative analysis, and creating new data on the socio-cultural forces for emission reduction. The project will analyse what can be done to enhance the transition to renewable energy. The expected outcomes are grounded in the comparative study of regions that are making a transition to renewable power.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200563
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$194,500.00
Summary
Following the Trade Routes: exchange and innovations in cultural economy. This project aims to create new understanding of cultural economies and trade routes that shaped Aboriginal societies across Australia, and to explore how such knowledge informs society today. It expects to generate national research capacity through innovative networks of early-mid career scholars, Indigenous researchers and cultural custodians, and new understandings of connections between living and archival knowledge o ....Following the Trade Routes: exchange and innovations in cultural economy. This project aims to create new understanding of cultural economies and trade routes that shaped Aboriginal societies across Australia, and to explore how such knowledge informs society today. It expects to generate national research capacity through innovative networks of early-mid career scholars, Indigenous researchers and cultural custodians, and new understandings of connections between living and archival knowledge of Indigenous trade in the Kimberley and Desert Regions. This should provide significant outcomes and benefits including revitalised Indigenous cultural exchange and trade practices; strengthened Indigenous networks and cultural authority; and greater awareness of this part of Australia’s history, economy and society.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100496
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$446,291.00
Summary
Standardising Halal: interpreting the tension between global and local. This project aims to advance understanding of how halal standardisation has been reimagined in the context of global Muslim cultural diversity. It investigates the halal cultural economy—finance, food, travel, fashion, media, and cosmetics—in Malaysia and Indonesia. Using innovative interdisciplinary approaches, in particular anthropology and Islamic textual analysis, this project expects to generate a new level of understan ....Standardising Halal: interpreting the tension between global and local. This project aims to advance understanding of how halal standardisation has been reimagined in the context of global Muslim cultural diversity. It investigates the halal cultural economy—finance, food, travel, fashion, media, and cosmetics—in Malaysia and Indonesia. Using innovative interdisciplinary approaches, in particular anthropology and Islamic textual analysis, this project expects to generate a new level of understanding of halal industries. Expected outcomes include identifying major players and unpacking local cultural responses to the global move to homogenise halal practices. Australia is the world’s second-largest halal food exporter: this research should benefit its businesses’ expansion into contemporary halal industries.Read moreRead less