The Gender Politics of Global Economic Competitiveness in Southeast Asia. States such as Malaysia face similar economic challenges to Australia - for example maintaining economic competitiveness in the face of rising competition from low(er) wage labour countries (especially China), maintaining and enhancing a competitive ICT infrastructure and building successful and sustainable technology policies. Critically assessing the role that women and the family can play in Malaysia's attempts to trans ....The Gender Politics of Global Economic Competitiveness in Southeast Asia. States such as Malaysia face similar economic challenges to Australia - for example maintaining economic competitiveness in the face of rising competition from low(er) wage labour countries (especially China), maintaining and enhancing a competitive ICT infrastructure and building successful and sustainable technology policies. Critically assessing the role that women and the family can play in Malaysia's attempts to transition to a more knowledge intensive economy will invariably open up policy lessons for Australia.Read moreRead less
State, Class and Islamic Populism: Indonesia in Comparative Perspective. This study will provide a different basis for the assessment of Australian policy responses to Islamic radicalism in Indonesia. It will expose the social foundations of Islamic populism as a particular expression of political Islam and in so doing allow the Australian public and policymakers to understand the complex networks and relationships that generate and sustain Islamic populism, including its radical streams. It wil ....State, Class and Islamic Populism: Indonesia in Comparative Perspective. This study will provide a different basis for the assessment of Australian policy responses to Islamic radicalism in Indonesia. It will expose the social foundations of Islamic populism as a particular expression of political Islam and in so doing allow the Australian public and policymakers to understand the complex networks and relationships that generate and sustain Islamic populism, including its radical streams. It will enable an identification and differentiation of the social forces resisting or advancing democratic governance reforms in Indonesia. With this knowledge, programmes intended to help develop domestic pro-democratic coalitions to stem the rise of radical Islamic groups have a sounder social scientific base.Read moreRead less
Reaping the patriotic whirlwind: managed nationalism and the rise of militant xenophobia in Russia. This project examines the relationship between 'managed nationalism' and upsurges of ultranationalist activism and racially-motivated violence. This research will enhance our understanding of politics, diplomacy, and alternative governance.
An Australian dilemma: liberal democracy, cultural diversity and the quest for national identity. This project traces how liberal nationalism and its chief rival, cultural nationalism, apply to and help make sense of Australian politics and political debate. It defends liberal nationalism as the most feasible, accommodating, and just political solution to addressing the question of national identity in Australia's multicultural democracy.
Constitutional resilience in South Asian democracies. This project aims to find out whether constitutional design could, and should, be used to make constitutional democracies more resilient. Democratic constitutionalism is facing serious challenges, not only in new fragile democracies, but also older established ones. The project will investigate the role that the constitutional accommodation of salient ethnocultural and ideological groups, the autonomy of non-partisan constitutional watchdog i ....Constitutional resilience in South Asian democracies. This project aims to find out whether constitutional design could, and should, be used to make constitutional democracies more resilient. Democratic constitutionalism is facing serious challenges, not only in new fragile democracies, but also older established ones. The project will investigate the role that the constitutional accommodation of salient ethnocultural and ideological groups, the autonomy of non-partisan constitutional watchdog institutions, and the adaptability of the constitution to changing circumstances could play in securing its resilience against serious threats. Relying on conceptual and empirical methods, using case studies from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, to answer these questions, the project will produce a better understanding of constitutional resilience, and the features that promote it to allow constitution makers and reformers to better protect democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This will provide significant national benefit for Australia as it deepens its engagement with South Asia, and the world more generally.Read moreRead less
Global Challenges, Reluctant Publics? The Role of Public Opinion in International Cooperation on Crucial Global Issues. When challenges emerge that demand international cooperation, what is the facilitating or constraining role of public opinion in states’ ability for joint action? Which factors, under what conditions, influence citizens’ attitudes? Can governments or issue activists meaningfully change public opinion about crucial issues? Human society faces a number of major challenges to its ....Global Challenges, Reluctant Publics? The Role of Public Opinion in International Cooperation on Crucial Global Issues. When challenges emerge that demand international cooperation, what is the facilitating or constraining role of public opinion in states’ ability for joint action? Which factors, under what conditions, influence citizens’ attitudes? Can governments or issue activists meaningfully change public opinion about crucial issues? Human society faces a number of major challenges to its environmental, economic, and political wellbeing that are not contained by international borders and may require international cooperation for effective action. Developing and testing new theory, this project aims to address these under-explored issues of the role of opinion in multinational cooperation, and the degree to which opinion is an independent agenda setter.Read moreRead less
Reconceiving Australian federalism: fundamental values, comparative models and constitutional interpretation. Through systematic comparison with other federal systems, this project identifies the range of fundamental principles and values that could underlie the Australian system of government, explores their application to the interpretation of the Australian Constitution and scrutinises proposed reforms to the Australian system on the basis of that analysis.
A Colonial and Conceptual History of Asymmetric Warfare and Security. War and terrorism feature prominently in popular, political and scholarly perceptions of Australia's colonial past and its geopolitical future. Our understanding of what constitutes war and terrorism emerged from a long colonial and conceptual history of Western international and political thought. The national and community benefits of this program of research derive precisely from its ability to link the uniqueness of Austra ....A Colonial and Conceptual History of Asymmetric Warfare and Security. War and terrorism feature prominently in popular, political and scholarly perceptions of Australia's colonial past and its geopolitical future. Our understanding of what constitutes war and terrorism emerged from a long colonial and conceptual history of Western international and political thought. The national and community benefits of this program of research derive precisely from its ability to link the uniqueness of Australia's colonial history to its global context, and to use both to provide new insight into current debates on terrorism and security that are integral to Australia's capacity to interpret itself to the rest of the world.Read moreRead less
Freedom of speech in the post 9/11 era. This project will assess the place of freedom of speech in political attitudes in a post 9/11 world. It will show that, and how, liberal democracies both undermine and simultaneously assert the importance of the fundamental human rights that are the very basis for their perceived vulnerability to terrorists.
Constructing ethnic politics in Indonesia. Exploring political dynamics in provincial Indonesia, this project will address fundamental questions about how ethnicity becomes important in political affairs, and about why political actors choose to emphasise some ethnic identities but not others. It will also help identify the conditions which lead to inter-ethnic cooperation rather than conflict.