Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability in the Context of Melanesian Mining Projects. This is an interdisciplinary study of Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects. It entails research into traditional ecological knowledge and assessment of ways that local understandings and expectations compromise programs based on Western scientific principles. It will examine local ideas about land use and food security, and the ....Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability in the Context of Melanesian Mining Projects. This is an interdisciplinary study of Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects. It entails research into traditional ecological knowledge and assessment of ways that local understandings and expectations compromise programs based on Western scientific principles. It will examine local ideas about land use and food security, and the social and cultural factors that determine responses to impacts of mining projects. The project will involve collaborative, interdisciplinary research, integrating social and cultural analysis and environmental and agrarian studies. It will contribute to current debates on environmentalism, mining impact and sustainable development.Read moreRead less
Social Capital, Natural Resources and Local Governance in Indonesia. Australia's relationship with Indonesia is critical to our political and environmental security. This proposed research addresses the need for more effective development assistance policy, and will broaden public understanding of Indonesia's urgent social and environmental issues. International collaboration among an experienced team of field researchers, working with government agencies and NGOs, will enhance the capacity of I ....Social Capital, Natural Resources and Local Governance in Indonesia. Australia's relationship with Indonesia is critical to our political and environmental security. This proposed research addresses the need for more effective development assistance policy, and will broaden public understanding of Indonesia's urgent social and environmental issues. International collaboration among an experienced team of field researchers, working with government agencies and NGOs, will enhance the capacity of Indonesian communities to achieve more sustainable and equitable outcomes, contributing to regional security. Social capital questions concerning local capacity building and public engagement in decision-making also have comparative importance for the role of civil society and NGOs in Australian public policy.Read moreRead less
Locating the Commonweal: Community, Environment and Local Governance Regimes in Reform Era Indonesia. The Indonesian government is currently implementing decentralisation legislation to address increasing regional discontent. In the context of political and economic crisis, these institutional reforms are intended to bring about greater popular participation in the political process and in resource management. This research will study several intersecting dimensions of reform in the local domai ....Locating the Commonweal: Community, Environment and Local Governance Regimes in Reform Era Indonesia. The Indonesian government is currently implementing decentralisation legislation to address increasing regional discontent. In the context of political and economic crisis, these institutional reforms are intended to bring about greater popular participation in the political process and in resource management. This research will study several intersecting dimensions of reform in the local domain: popular participation in decentralised governance; resource access and management by local communities; and the implications of reform for local sustainability and equity. The research will produce a comparative analysis of emerging governance patterns in the Reform Era based on locally grounded case studies spanning the Indonesian archipelago.Read moreRead less
Inequality, Identity and Future Discounting: A Comparative Ethnographic Approach to Social Trauma in Aboriginal Australian Communities. Via fieldwork in Aboriginal communities, this study examines the extent to which psychosocial processes of identity serve as a mechanism whereby social inequality becomes personal and community disadvantage. We focus on Aboriginal perspectives, their experiences and accounts of social traumas. The study's significance lies in the persistence of differentially hi ....Inequality, Identity and Future Discounting: A Comparative Ethnographic Approach to Social Trauma in Aboriginal Australian Communities. Via fieldwork in Aboriginal communities, this study examines the extent to which psychosocial processes of identity serve as a mechanism whereby social inequality becomes personal and community disadvantage. We focus on Aboriginal perspectives, their experiences and accounts of social traumas. The study's significance lies in the persistence of differentially high negative social indicators in Aboriginal communities. Its originality lies in conceptualizations of future discounting as a dimension of identity and of identity as a process critical to well-being. Outcomes include further understanding of the relationship between inequality,identity and well-being.Read moreRead less
Australian Western Desert Kinship and Land Tenure Systems. The project aims to investigate the relationship between kinship and land tenure in Aboriginal Australia in the region between the NT/WA-border and Wiluna and Kalgoorlie following three aspects of group identification and differentiation.
Formal aspects: investigation of kinship terminologies and land tenure systems among the various groups; analysis of the semantic shifts of terms in space according to the diffusion of social categorie ....Australian Western Desert Kinship and Land Tenure Systems. The project aims to investigate the relationship between kinship and land tenure in Aboriginal Australia in the region between the NT/WA-border and Wiluna and Kalgoorlie following three aspects of group identification and differentiation.
Formal aspects: investigation of kinship terminologies and land tenure systems among the various groups; analysis of the semantic shifts of terms in space according to the diffusion of social categories. Pragmatic aspects: analysis of alliance strategies and kin-network in relation to places of birth and ?regional group? membership. Dynamic aspects: examination of the impact of migration and settlement on terminologies, alliance strategies, and land tenure systems.Read moreRead less
Italians in Western Australia: A cultural history and archive of migrants and migration. This project brings together the interdisciplinary skills and international reputations of experts on Italian migration, peak State Government institutions and international and local Italian communities and institutions to redress a significant absence in the study of Western Australian Italian migration. An accessible history and archive of the Italian presence in WA urban, rural and transnational contexts ....Italians in Western Australia: A cultural history and archive of migrants and migration. This project brings together the interdisciplinary skills and international reputations of experts on Italian migration, peak State Government institutions and international and local Italian communities and institutions to redress a significant absence in the study of Western Australian Italian migration. An accessible history and archive of the Italian presence in WA urban, rural and transnational contexts will be produced. An exhibition will display this heritage to audiences across the State. Fine-grained historical research will provide valuable ethnographic evidence to inform pressing intellectual debates regarding migration, racism, multiculturalism, nationalism and transnationalism.Read moreRead less
Revitalisation Movements in Contemporary Indonesia: Nativist Reworkings of Custom and Religion in Reaction to Decentralisation, Islamisation and Globalisation. Australia needs to understand the ethno-cultural diversity of its neighbour Indonesia to appreciate the wider pluralist context in which political Islam, including the terrorist fringe (e.g. JI), operates. Understanding of emergent social movements among Indonesian minorities highlights the constraints upon political Islam and divergent p ....Revitalisation Movements in Contemporary Indonesia: Nativist Reworkings of Custom and Religion in Reaction to Decentralisation, Islamisation and Globalisation. Australia needs to understand the ethno-cultural diversity of its neighbour Indonesia to appreciate the wider pluralist context in which political Islam, including the terrorist fringe (e.g. JI), operates. Understanding of emergent social movements among Indonesian minorities highlights the constraints upon political Islam and divergent pressures upon Indonesian national integrity, crucial issues for formulating foreign policy. It also provides comparative understanding of Indonesian movements parallel to those harnessing Indigenous and migrant aspirations in Australia, which is central to domestic policies insuring minority rights in a multiculturalist framework.Read moreRead less
Maid in China: Gendered Mobilities, Internal Migration, and the Translocal Imagination. Internal migration always restructures the spatial imagination, and variably across different social groups. In China, gender, class and power relations are important determinants of both mobility and concepts of place. Studying the phenomenon of the migrant baomu (the domestic maid), this project hypothsises that the emerging translocal practices of rural-urban migrants have significantly reworked the spatia ....Maid in China: Gendered Mobilities, Internal Migration, and the Translocal Imagination. Internal migration always restructures the spatial imagination, and variably across different social groups. In China, gender, class and power relations are important determinants of both mobility and concepts of place. Studying the phenomenon of the migrant baomu (the domestic maid), this project hypothsises that the emerging translocal practices of rural-urban migrants have significantly reworked the spatial imagination of the Chinese people. This project will lead to a new conceptualisation of place and space, with the flow of people and the flow of media images brought into productive interface. It will also generate important cross-cultural perspectives on women, work and migration. Research findings will be communicated in a book, Maid in China.Read moreRead less
A study of writers and regional identity in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There is currently heightened community concern about supra-national loyalties that transcend and seem to threaten national boundaries. This project will help to inform discussion about the role of transnational belonging and the complexities of regional identities, so that it can be seen that multiple loyalties are common and often enriching. It will increase the audience for some neglected lif ....A study of writers and regional identity in the Pacific, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. There is currently heightened community concern about supra-national loyalties that transcend and seem to threaten national boundaries. This project will help to inform discussion about the role of transnational belonging and the complexities of regional identities, so that it can be seen that multiple loyalties are common and often enriching. It will increase the audience for some neglected life writing in the Pacific area, particularly from Indigenous writers.Read moreRead less
Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development - Grant ID: DI0347845
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Cultural continuity and change at Shark Bay, Western Australia: an anthopological and historical study of the Malagana Aboriginal people. This project considers issues of cultural change, continuity and identity as they arise from the historical foundations of Shark Bay's present day community in Western Australia. It examines the ways in which Indigenous customary practices continue among the Malgana people, and how connection to sea and country remains an important facet of life. Drawing upon ....Cultural continuity and change at Shark Bay, Western Australia: an anthopological and historical study of the Malagana Aboriginal people. This project considers issues of cultural change, continuity and identity as they arise from the historical foundations of Shark Bay's present day community in Western Australia. It examines the ways in which Indigenous customary practices continue among the Malgana people, and how connection to sea and country remains an important facet of life. Drawing upon archaeological, historical and ethnographic materials, this project will produce an original account of changing patterns of identification with Aboriginal cultural heritage in an Indigenous community. The study will encompass relations between Malgana people and others who have historically come to live in the area.Read moreRead less