Racial Classifications in Transnational Context: Aborigines and Islanders in Australia, Native Americans, African Americans and Afro-Brazilians. This ongoing project seeks to develop a new and more powerful scholarly paradigm for understanding race through a comparative historical study designed to identify features which are common to concepts of race as they have emerged and shifted in the different societies studied, and to distinguish these from features which are specific to particular soc ....Racial Classifications in Transnational Context: Aborigines and Islanders in Australia, Native Americans, African Americans and Afro-Brazilians. This ongoing project seeks to develop a new and more powerful scholarly paradigm for understanding race through a comparative historical study designed to identify features which are common to concepts of race as they have emerged and shifted in the different societies studied, and to distinguish these from features which are specific to particular societies and/or eras. In addition to developing and demonstrating the approach, the project will reanalyse the racialisation of the four colonised groups, each of which have figured centrally in studies of race. One monograph and at least three major journal articles will result.Read moreRead less
Genocide: Critical History of an Idea. Australians have been accused of genocide against Indigenous peoples. Australian troops are sent abroad to participate in humanitarian interventions based on the occurrence of genocide. Yet its meaning is bitterly contested. By explaining the origins of the genocide concept, how and why it has changed since its codification after World War II, as well as how it is used today, I will clarify knowledge of genocide's meanings in international law, politics and ....Genocide: Critical History of an Idea. Australians have been accused of genocide against Indigenous peoples. Australian troops are sent abroad to participate in humanitarian interventions based on the occurrence of genocide. Yet its meaning is bitterly contested. By explaining the origins of the genocide concept, how and why it has changed since its codification after World War II, as well as how it is used today, I will clarify knowledge of genocide's meanings in international law, politics and diplomacy. Australia's status and role in the international community is based in part on its stance against genocide. It is imperative, therefore, that its meanings are accurately understood.Read moreRead less
Medicine and Culture: Bioethics in Historical Perspective, 1850 to the present. Australia has long been looked to as an example for legislative and community responses to new medical technologies and as a leader in debates about medical ethics. The project will contribute to the international profile of Australia as a leader in health policy issues, as well as sustaining a focus on informed community debate.
Xenologies: Discourses on aliens, foreigners and other races in transnational historical contexts. This project will identify and describe some of the ways in which Western societies have classified and characterised other societies. It will retrace the historical contexts under which such classifications have emerged and developed. A major example is the concept of race, which dates from the late-eighteenth century and developed in close association with the historical expansion of European ....Xenologies: Discourses on aliens, foreigners and other races in transnational historical contexts. This project will identify and describe some of the ways in which Western societies have classified and characterised other societies. It will retrace the historical contexts under which such classifications have emerged and developed. A major example is the concept of race, which dates from the late-eighteenth century and developed in close association with the historical expansion of European colonialism. The concept of race will be situated in the context of other Western discourses on aliens, foreigners, strangers and the like, a comparative procedure that will enhance scholarly understandings of the phenomena of race, racism and xenophobia.Read moreRead less
Discipline, Morale and Winning Wars: Understanding the Relationships Between Discipline and Combat Performance in Low-Intensity Conflict. Discipline and morale are key elements in combat performance, particularly in Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC). This project examines the relationships between discipline, morale and combat performance using the Australian Army in Vietnam as a case study. It provides insights into better understanding and managing discipline and morale to produce and sustain comba ....Discipline, Morale and Winning Wars: Understanding the Relationships Between Discipline and Combat Performance in Low-Intensity Conflict. Discipline and morale are key elements in combat performance, particularly in Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC). This project examines the relationships between discipline, morale and combat performance using the Australian Army in Vietnam as a case study. It provides insights into better understanding and managing discipline and morale to produce and sustain combat performance. It assists the Army to avoid the negative effects of failures in discipline and morale that produced the My Lai massacre and the Abu Ghraib fiasco. It also helps position Australia internationally as a contributor to the better understanding of LIC, and fills a gap in Australian historiography of war.Read moreRead less
Understanding Low-Intensity Conflict. Since 1945, Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC) has become the dominant form of warfare. Conventional armies have a poor record of success in fighting LIC. This project uses the records of the Australian Army's operations in the Vietnam War to better understand it's operational performance there and to unearth insights into the conduct of LIC. The project has the potential to reduce casualties, both military and civilian, and assist the Army in selecting new war-fi ....Understanding Low-Intensity Conflict. Since 1945, Low-Intensity Conflict (LIC) has become the dominant form of warfare. Conventional armies have a poor record of success in fighting LIC. This project uses the records of the Australian Army's operations in the Vietnam War to better understand it's operational performance there and to unearth insights into the conduct of LIC. The project has the potential to reduce casualties, both military and civilian, and assist the Army in selecting new war-fighting technologies, designing training and developing doctrine for future LIC. The project will raise Australia's profile in theorising about this troubling but increasingly common form of warfare.Read moreRead less
Completing the Gallipoli story: Researching Turkish Archives for a More Comprehensive History. Both Australia and Turkey see the Gallipoli Campaign as a defining event. Australian perceptions of the Campaign are based on C.E.W. Bean's Official History and a number of popular publications. Yet, despite the vast collection of material held in Turkish archives, existing accounts give scant attention to Turkish operations leaving the story incomplete. This project will rectify that imbalance by loca ....Completing the Gallipoli story: Researching Turkish Archives for a More Comprehensive History. Both Australia and Turkey see the Gallipoli Campaign as a defining event. Australian perceptions of the Campaign are based on C.E.W. Bean's Official History and a number of popular publications. Yet, despite the vast collection of material held in Turkish archives, existing accounts give scant attention to Turkish operations leaving the story incomplete. This project will rectify that imbalance by locating and translating key documents-battlefield reports and signals, War Ministry communications, records of prisoner interrogations, aircraft logs and diaries. The result will be a comprehensive history that will contribute to the deepening relationship between Australia and Turkey as we approach the centenary of the Campaign. Read moreRead less
War, Trauma, and Rehabilitation: The Army, Psychiatry, and World War II. This project will examine a key episode in the history of twentieth century psychiatry: the development of new theoretical approaches and treatment methods for war neurosis encountered during World War II. This will be the first in-depth study of the topic and will be conducted from a trans-national perspective, in which the contributions of Australian, British, and American psychiatrists will be analysed. The development o ....War, Trauma, and Rehabilitation: The Army, Psychiatry, and World War II. This project will examine a key episode in the history of twentieth century psychiatry: the development of new theoretical approaches and treatment methods for war neurosis encountered during World War II. This will be the first in-depth study of the topic and will be conducted from a trans-national perspective, in which the contributions of Australian, British, and American psychiatrists will be analysed. The development of psychiatric diagnoses will be analysed in the context of the dynamic relationship between psychiatrists, soldiers, and the army. The outcome will be at least three refereed journal articles and a scholarly monograph.Read moreRead less
A matter of history: possession, colonialism and Batman's treaties. Australia continues to be possessed by its dispossession of the Aboriginal owners of this country. Settler Australians declare the past is past but dispossession continues to be a matter of history in another sense. By considering the only treaty ever made between settlers and Aborigines, this research investigates why Aboriginal rights to land were denied by the governments in Australia, and what histories settlers and Aborigin ....A matter of history: possession, colonialism and Batman's treaties. Australia continues to be possessed by its dispossession of the Aboriginal owners of this country. Settler Australians declare the past is past but dispossession continues to be a matter of history in another sense. By considering the only treaty ever made between settlers and Aborigines, this research investigates why Aboriginal rights to land were denied by the governments in Australia, and what histories settlers and Aborigines have told to legitimise their rights to that land. Since the moral basis of any nation lies in true stories, this research seeks to advance a truer history than the ones we have.Read moreRead less
Dispossession, history and restorative justice: a comparative study of three settler societies. By comparing how the property rights and sovereignty of aboriginal people were treated in British colonies of settlement in Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the nineteenth century, how this process was understood and registered in stories narrated by contemporaries and their descendants, and how the settler societies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have tried to deal with the consequences of ....Dispossession, history and restorative justice: a comparative study of three settler societies. By comparing how the property rights and sovereignty of aboriginal people were treated in British colonies of settlement in Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the nineteenth century, how this process was understood and registered in stories narrated by contemporaries and their descendants, and how the settler societies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have tried to deal with the consequences of their histories in the last thirty or so years, this project will shed new light on Australian history and contribute to ongoing debate about this country might best tackle the work of restorative justice.Read moreRead less