Global production networks and worker representation in Myanmar. This project aims to assess the impact of global production networks on worker representation in Myanmar’s garment sector, which is leading the country’s integration into global supply chains at this crucial time in its economic and political development. This project’s findings will be used to theorise how complex interactions between different economic and social actors across geographic scale affect the rights and interests of g ....Global production networks and worker representation in Myanmar. This project aims to assess the impact of global production networks on worker representation in Myanmar’s garment sector, which is leading the country’s integration into global supply chains at this crucial time in its economic and political development. This project’s findings will be used to theorise how complex interactions between different economic and social actors across geographic scale affect the rights and interests of garment workers, and the quality of their employment. This will provide significant benefits that will make an important contribution to scholarly understandings of the impact of labour agency on global production networks and provide a strong evidence base for decision-making by local and international stakeholders.Read moreRead less
Social exclusion in adolescence: risks, assets, experiences and policy action. This project aims to investigate social exclusion among young people aged 8 to 17 including the risks of exclusion they face, the assets mobilised to support their inclusion and their life experiences in the context of these risks and assets. The project intends to investigate which risks, assets and experiences are most closely related to outcomes, and how these vary by age and gender. Expected outcomes include a new ....Social exclusion in adolescence: risks, assets, experiences and policy action. This project aims to investigate social exclusion among young people aged 8 to 17 including the risks of exclusion they face, the assets mobilised to support their inclusion and their life experiences in the context of these risks and assets. The project intends to investigate which risks, assets and experiences are most closely related to outcomes, and how these vary by age and gender. Expected outcomes include a new understanding of the relationship between social exclusion and outcomes in adolescence as well as entry points for policy intervention. Addressing social exclusion in adolescence will lead to improved outcomes in health, education and productivity, and a more socially-cohesive society.Read moreRead less
The financialisation of older persons residential parks and rental villages. The project aims to explore and explain contemporary change in the residential parks and communities (PC) and rental villages (RV) sectors, and to set out policy implications, including for housing affordability; housing legal rights; ageing support and care; and financial services consumer protection.
Pitched to older persons as affordable alternatives to homeownership and to retirement villages, PCs and RVs are chang ....The financialisation of older persons residential parks and rental villages. The project aims to explore and explain contemporary change in the residential parks and communities (PC) and rental villages (RV) sectors, and to set out policy implications, including for housing affordability; housing legal rights; ageing support and care; and financial services consumer protection.
Pitched to older persons as affordable alternatives to homeownership and to retirement villages, PCs and RVs are changing, with new large corporate proprietors introducing new business models and housing offers. Financialisation perspectives offer new critical insights into the sectors, including their relations to wider housing and economic dynamics, the strategies and operations of sector organisations, and the everyday lives of residents.Read moreRead less
Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circle ....Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circles. The project has the capacity to provide insights into and benefits for policy discourse on government deficit-spending and public debt.Read moreRead less
Survival & Wellbeing among Migrant Precariat in Australia’s Gig Economy . The food and parcel delivery industry is now a structural feature of the Australian labour market. Little is known about the social consequences of this development for the workforce. especially temporary and long-term migrant workers involved in this industry. This project aims to investigate the risks to safety and wellbeing to migrant cohorts who undertake this work, interrogating the intersecting impact of age, gende ....Survival & Wellbeing among Migrant Precariat in Australia’s Gig Economy . The food and parcel delivery industry is now a structural feature of the Australian labour market. Little is known about the social consequences of this development for the workforce. especially temporary and long-term migrant workers involved in this industry. This project aims to investigate the risks to safety and wellbeing to migrant cohorts who undertake this work, interrogating the intersecting impact of age, gender, class, and ethnicity and particularly migration status. The project produces major national benefits, such as an enhanced capacity to inform future labour market policies and regulation as well as conceptual innovation in describing the 'everyday survival' strategies of migrant workers in Australia.Read moreRead less
Migrant Worlds: Labouring Lives and Worker Consciousness in Global Cities. Some of the most invisible, yet essential work in the global economy is done by low wage migrant workers. The proposed research aims to understand why migrants acquiesce to exploitative conditions, using a literary analysis of novels and ethnography of migrant workers in Sydney, Mumbai, and New York. It offers an urgent contribution to social science and policy debates over labour, collective action, and the nature of ine ....Migrant Worlds: Labouring Lives and Worker Consciousness in Global Cities. Some of the most invisible, yet essential work in the global economy is done by low wage migrant workers. The proposed research aims to understand why migrants acquiesce to exploitative conditions, using a literary analysis of novels and ethnography of migrant workers in Sydney, Mumbai, and New York. It offers an urgent contribution to social science and policy debates over labour, collective action, and the nature of inequality in global cities. Expected outcomes include new ways of conceiving migrant worker agency and new frameworks for theorising power. Immediate attention is needed to address the ongoing exploitation of migrant workers and to provide information for policymakers to craft interventions to regulate low wage migrant work.Read moreRead less
Schooling, Parenting & Ethnicity: Asian Migration & Australian Education. This project involves a comparative analysis of Asian- and Anglo- Australian families’ approaches to education. In the ‘Asian century’, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of migration and cultural diversity on Australian education and the factors underpinning the relations between parenting and schooling. The project will develop new ways of analysing education cultures beyond simplistic notions of ‘tiger pa ....Schooling, Parenting & Ethnicity: Asian Migration & Australian Education. This project involves a comparative analysis of Asian- and Anglo- Australian families’ approaches to education. In the ‘Asian century’, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of migration and cultural diversity on Australian education and the factors underpinning the relations between parenting and schooling. The project will develop new ways of analysing education cultures beyond simplistic notions of ‘tiger parenting’ that are pitted against more liberal ‘Western’ approaches. It will produce new knowledge enhancing education practitioners’ and community agencies' understandings of families’ engagement with education, providing an evidence base to inform public debate and social and education policy.Read moreRead less
Eviction: How private renters lose their homes and the consequences. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic. An estimated 75,000 private renters are evicted annually leading to ongoing housing precarity, poor health and trauma. This first large-scale study of the evicting process in Australia aims to examine how the process of evicting low-income private renters occurs, the actors, instruments and technologies involved and the long-term impacts of being ....Eviction: How private renters lose their homes and the consequences. Australia is experiencing a housing crisis that has been worsened by the pandemic. An estimated 75,000 private renters are evicted annually leading to ongoing housing precarity, poor health and trauma. This first large-scale study of the evicting process in Australia aims to examine how the process of evicting low-income private renters occurs, the actors, instruments and technologies involved and the long-term impacts of being under the constant threat of eviction or losing one’s home. The intended outcomes of the study are to deliver a comprehensive analysis of the evicting process and its impacts, identify how evictions might be avoided and provide evidence for policy changes that could benefit all parties in the private rental sector.
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Planet Chicken: Chemical Entanglements in Asia's Poultry Boom . This project aims to study the effects of Asia’s rapidly expanding chicken meat industry on environmental degradation, social inequality, public health and animal welfare. Agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs saturate this industry, with little regulation or data on types, quantities and applications. Deploying interdisciplinary methods at key nodes of the chicken value chain in India, Thailand and Vietnam, this study will 1) ....Planet Chicken: Chemical Entanglements in Asia's Poultry Boom . This project aims to study the effects of Asia’s rapidly expanding chicken meat industry on environmental degradation, social inequality, public health and animal welfare. Agricultural chemicals and veterinary drugs saturate this industry, with little regulation or data on types, quantities and applications. Deploying interdisciplinary methods at key nodes of the chicken value chain in India, Thailand and Vietnam, this study will 1) examine practices and market structures that shape chemical use and 2) uncover chemical presence and socio-ecological impacts. The project intends to expose how toxicity, biodiversity, and health interact with global food systems and to propose interventions for effective governance of factory farming in Asia.Read moreRead less
Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) int ....Investigating voluntary and involuntary intergroup contact . Extensive research suggests that interactions between people of opposing groups - intergroup contact - reduce prejudices and improve social cohesion. Yet these benefits may not be realised if intergroup contact is actively avoided, passively received, or mandated. Drawing from social psychology and human geography, this project aims to establish the conditions under which voluntary contact occurs and how voluntary (vs. involuntary) intergroup contact shapes diversity experiences and impacts social attitudes, trust, and civic participation. With data from multiple settings and participant populations, this project has the potential to inform interventions and policies that deliver harmonious, healthy and productive communities.Read moreRead less