Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will ....Violence, Religion and Well-being in Contemporary Burma (Myanmar): A Medical Anthropological Study of Everyday Life Under Dictatorship. For 40 years, Burma has been controlled by a military dictatorship with human rights abuses occurring daily. Terror and political violence are used as tools of repression. An in-depth ethnographic study will be conducted into the relationship between emotional/psychological distress and the violence and fear that pervades everyday Burmese life. The project will test the hypothesis that religion plays an important role in mediating responses to fear. No other study has been conducted of everday life under this dictatorship, or of survival strategies created to alleviate fear. Outcomes will include refereed articles, a major monograph on the subject and the development of a new methodology appropriate for aiding victims of terror and torture.Read moreRead less
Understanding Burma's Health Crisis and its Challenge to Regional Security: New Pathways to Peacebuilding. Researching ways in which war-torn societies can build the human capital necessary for long-term implementation of peacebuilding initiatives will contribute to making peace interventions more successful. The unique focus upon the right to health and its linkages with human rights within conflict economies will provide significant information and new policy directions for improving human sec ....Understanding Burma's Health Crisis and its Challenge to Regional Security: New Pathways to Peacebuilding. Researching ways in which war-torn societies can build the human capital necessary for long-term implementation of peacebuilding initiatives will contribute to making peace interventions more successful. The unique focus upon the right to health and its linkages with human rights within conflict economies will provide significant information and new policy directions for improving human security and stability among Australia's neighbours in the Asian region.Read moreRead less
Development, Disease and Desire: AIDS and women's understandings of maternity and health among the Gogodala of PNG. This project explores articulations and experiences of health and illness among women in rural PNG, in light of the spread of HIV/AIDS in these communities. It examines the incorporation of new diseases, like HIV/AIDS, into Gogodala women's conceptualisations of sickness and health, arguing that in-depth analyses of cross-cultural notions of disease are vital for the provision of e ....Development, Disease and Desire: AIDS and women's understandings of maternity and health among the Gogodala of PNG. This project explores articulations and experiences of health and illness among women in rural PNG, in light of the spread of HIV/AIDS in these communities. It examines the incorporation of new diseases, like HIV/AIDS, into Gogodala women's conceptualisations of sickness and health, arguing that in-depth analyses of cross-cultural notions of disease are vital for the provision of effective health care. Given HIV's rapid spread into rural communities, and its devastating effects on women and children in PNG, the project seeks to provide ethnographically-informed material that contributes to the development of regional health care policies and programs.Read moreRead less
Sisters and Sojourners: Stories of Rural Women in Urban China. A large increase in unofficial rural to urban migration has been one of the most significant aspects of social change in China in the last two decades. This project aims to advance our understanding of this phenomenon through a study of rural Chinese women's experiences of migration to the city, and in particular, the effects of migration upon their sense of identity, worldview and relationships with others. The project will involv ....Sisters and Sojourners: Stories of Rural Women in Urban China. A large increase in unofficial rural to urban migration has been one of the most significant aspects of social change in China in the last two decades. This project aims to advance our understanding of this phenomenon through a study of rural Chinese women's experiences of migration to the city, and in particular, the effects of migration upon their sense of identity, worldview and relationships with others. The project will involve ethnographic fieldwork, centring on the collection and analysis of rural migrant women's life stories. It will result in the publication of a book and three scholarly articles.Read moreRead less
Contexts of Collection- a dialogic approach to understanding the making of the material record of Yolngu cultures. The research project will make people aware of the collaborative nature of the material record of Yolngu societies that has been made over time by the participation of researchers, collectors, filmmakers and Yolngu people themselves. It will demonstrate the ways in which digital technology can be used as an integral part of a research process to produce outcomes that can be made acc ....Contexts of Collection- a dialogic approach to understanding the making of the material record of Yolngu cultures. The research project will make people aware of the collaborative nature of the material record of Yolngu societies that has been made over time by the participation of researchers, collectors, filmmakers and Yolngu people themselves. It will demonstrate the ways in which digital technology can be used as an integral part of a research process to produce outcomes that can be made accessible to a wide range of different users. It will help people understand the complex historical processes that have resulted in the present museum and archival record and facilitate their use.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
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
Sonic practice in Japan: sound in everyday life. This anthropological project focuses on 'sonic practice' - a way of understanding how sound is made significant to people in their everyday life - and its impact on social relations in Japan.
Digital relations: new media in Arnhem Land. Digital media provide powerful new ways for remote Indigenous Australians to participate in a globalising world. Research partnerships between clan groups, community-based Aboriginal organisations, and international institutes will reveal how Yolngu are creatively re-articulating contemporary social concerns and identities via new media forms.
The Commercialization of Ritual and Transformation of Kinship in Urban China. This project analyses transformations in the practice of kinship in urban China by examining the commercial enterprises that conduct funerals and weddings. Through a focus on the imagination of kinship performed in these rituals, it will address major scholarly debates on three topics: the relationship between urbanisation and practices of kinship; the wider social ramifications of the commercialisation of ritual; and ....The Commercialization of Ritual and Transformation of Kinship in Urban China. This project analyses transformations in the practice of kinship in urban China by examining the commercial enterprises that conduct funerals and weddings. Through a focus on the imagination of kinship performed in these rituals, it will address major scholarly debates on three topics: the relationship between urbanisation and practices of kinship; the wider social ramifications of the commercialisation of ritual; and how to theorise Chinese modernity. In addition to contributing to theoretical debates, the project will make a major empirical contribution to China studies by providing the first systematic depiction of contemporary urban funerals.Read moreRead less