Muslims and Christians: Women, Religious Nationalism and Sustainability in the Asia Pacific Region. This project should provide agencies concerned with national security and immigration with an improved understanding of the impact of religious nationalism on communities and individuals. It should contribute to the effectiveness of Australian overseas aid initiatives, both government and voluntary, by increasing the available knowledge of how communities are sustaining themselves at present. It s ....Muslims and Christians: Women, Religious Nationalism and Sustainability in the Asia Pacific Region. This project should provide agencies concerned with national security and immigration with an improved understanding of the impact of religious nationalism on communities and individuals. It should contribute to the effectiveness of Australian overseas aid initiatives, both government and voluntary, by increasing the available knowledge of how communities are sustaining themselves at present. It should, further, produce findings that make it easier for health, education and welfare agencies to deal sensitively with Muslim communities within AustraliaRead moreRead less
Cultural competence in supporting Cambodians recovering from conflict. This project will (1) reduce the impact of conflict for the next generation, a key to a healthy start to life and ageing well (2) guide interventions in regional settings (3) inform guidelines for refugee programs in Australia (4) highlight culture as redressing weakened traditional support structures of survivors of war in Australia and the region, supporting the Government's welfare reform and participation agendas (5) equi ....Cultural competence in supporting Cambodians recovering from conflict. This project will (1) reduce the impact of conflict for the next generation, a key to a healthy start to life and ageing well (2) guide interventions in regional settings (3) inform guidelines for refugee programs in Australia (4) highlight culture as redressing weakened traditional support structures of survivors of war in Australia and the region, supporting the Government's welfare reform and participation agendas (5) equip Australia to understand insecurities of globalisation and what survivors of war can be driven to do - unless their culture is used as an asset rather than a source of terror (6) enhance Australia's capacity to engage with its cultural environment (7) enhance capacity for AusAID to interpret itself to the rest of the world.Read moreRead less
Government, Religion and the Problem of Moral Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea. Successful Australian international relations depend on understanding the popular culture within which neighbouring people formulate grievances and desires for change. PNG is physically close to Australia; it was an administered colony and today as a regional ally it receives much Australian aid. Many Australian organizations, companies and citizens reside in PNG. This project will provide accurate knowledge o ....Government, Religion and the Problem of Moral Order in Contemporary Papua New Guinea. Successful Australian international relations depend on understanding the popular culture within which neighbouring people formulate grievances and desires for change. PNG is physically close to Australia; it was an administered colony and today as a regional ally it receives much Australian aid. Many Australian organizations, companies and citizens reside in PNG. This project will provide accurate knowledge of how popular religious movements can provide a political language for voicing everyday expectations and grievances. Social and cultural changes can produce new perceptions of injustice that are voiced as a moral critique of present day government, where the future kingdom of God or of the dead is used as a point of ethical contrast.Read moreRead less
Arabian Africans or African Arabs? The dynamics of Islamic African identity in the Arabian Peninsula. An understanding of the social and cultural background to current conflicts is a step towards resolving them and this project is a significant contribution to Australia's understanding of the world and of Muslims. It will explain how and why many non-Arab Muslims are drawn towards the Arab world, by virtue of what it can offer them and of what the alternatives are increasingly failing to offer, ....Arabian Africans or African Arabs? The dynamics of Islamic African identity in the Arabian Peninsula. An understanding of the social and cultural background to current conflicts is a step towards resolving them and this project is a significant contribution to Australia's understanding of the world and of Muslims. It will explain how and why many non-Arab Muslims are drawn towards the Arab world, by virtue of what it can offer them and of what the alternatives are increasingly failing to offer, both on a personal level and in a political sense. This is a study of African Muslims, but as a comparative study it has a direct relevance to Australia's relationship with the Islamic world, Arab, African or Asian. Ultimately, it will help to explain why contemporary events seem to have led to the clash of two civilisations, the West and Islam.Read moreRead less