Farmers of the Future: the Challenges of Feminised Agriculture in India. Neoliberal economic policies are fundamentally transforming the social landscapes of rural India, causing a deep agrarian crisis. The agrarian changes accentuate the unequal consequences for poor women and men in relation to: production (labour, tenure); livelihood and food security; access to and ownership of assets such as land and water and access to agricultural innovations and institutions. This multiscalar project inv ....Farmers of the Future: the Challenges of Feminised Agriculture in India. Neoliberal economic policies are fundamentally transforming the social landscapes of rural India, causing a deep agrarian crisis. The agrarian changes accentuate the unequal consequences for poor women and men in relation to: production (labour, tenure); livelihood and food security; access to and ownership of assets such as land and water and access to agricultural innovations and institutions. This multiscalar project investigates the causes and consequences of feminisation of agriculture in India’s transitioning economy in order to understand how gender roles and relations are being re-shaped in communities and households in diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts and agro-ecological areas.Read moreRead less
Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainabl ....Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor. This project examines the dynamics of a 'return to custom’ in post-conflict East Timor: a set of practices connecting ancestral house communities with complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. Drawing on extensive background experience and detailed comparative studies, the project plans to consider the contribution of custom and its inter-generational legacies to the development of sustainable social and environmental policies of governance. The project is designed to be both a timely study of social renewal in post-conflict societies, and a contribution to the possibilities of sustainable environmental and resource management in East Timor and the wider region.Read moreRead less
Religious clerics, medical authorities, and sexuality in Islamic interpretations of reproductive health technologies in Egypt. Taking reproductive health in Egypt as a case study, this research investigates how religious and secular authorities interact to shape access to and availability of medical technologies. The resulting ethnography and research articles will broaden international understandings of the relationship between Islam, sexuality, and modernity.
The Moral and Cultural Economy of Mobile Phones in the Pacific. Over the last decade, developing countries have experienced a digital revolution through the medium of the mobile phone. Basic handsets are now used for personal communication, social connection, internet access, electronic banking and money transfers. Through a comparative study of mobile telecommunications markets in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, this research will provide fresh insight into a transformative moment by examining how c ....The Moral and Cultural Economy of Mobile Phones in the Pacific. Over the last decade, developing countries have experienced a digital revolution through the medium of the mobile phone. Basic handsets are now used for personal communication, social connection, internet access, electronic banking and money transfers. Through a comparative study of mobile telecommunications markets in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, this research will provide fresh insight into a transformative moment by examining how companies, consumers and state actors shape the moral and cultural dimensions of economic life. The research will historically and ethnographically document the broad social consequences of new digital technologies in the Pacific region.Read moreRead less
The Politics of Moral Order: How Peripheralised Communities are Made and Masked. The focus of this research is two peripheralised communities, one in Central Australia, and the other Kingston, Jamaica. It will analyse their anomalous economies, the welfare economy in Central Australia and the drug economy in downtown Kingston, in order to demonstrate how cultural difference and disprivilege are masked by a politics of moral order. The project will therefore explore a central feature of modernity ....The Politics of Moral Order: How Peripheralised Communities are Made and Masked. The focus of this research is two peripheralised communities, one in Central Australia, and the other Kingston, Jamaica. It will analyse their anomalous economies, the welfare economy in Central Australia and the drug economy in downtown Kingston, in order to demonstrate how cultural difference and disprivilege are masked by a politics of moral order. The project will therefore explore a central feature of modernity and demonstrate striking structural parallels, both mythic and social, at sites with different histories and cultures.Read moreRead less
Mining voids and just transition: reimagining post-mining landscapes . This project aims to address the complex problem of how to deal with the long-term legacies of coal mining. Through a combination of ethnographic and Arts-Based Methods, the project will advance insight into how local communities in the Hunter Valley, NSW, experience socio-cultural impacts of environmental disturbance and mining legacies, particularly where final voids are present. It will generate new knowledge into potentia ....Mining voids and just transition: reimagining post-mining landscapes . This project aims to address the complex problem of how to deal with the long-term legacies of coal mining. Through a combination of ethnographic and Arts-Based Methods, the project will advance insight into how local communities in the Hunter Valley, NSW, experience socio-cultural impacts of environmental disturbance and mining legacies, particularly where final voids are present. It will generate new knowledge into potentials for reimagining post-mining landscapes and how such landscapes can support a just transition towards a post-mining future. Expected benefits include advancement of public discourses around mining legacies, research capacity building and theory development to support multi-stakeholder engagement and dialogue.Read moreRead less
Contingent development in regional India: ethnographies of neoliberal globalisation in Gujarat and West Bengal. This project aims to understand the regional impacts of globalisation in India by comparing and contrasting two regional towns and their hinterlands (Anand, Gujarat and Darjeeling, West Bengal). Develop a more comprehensive, localised and regionalised account of the neoliberal globalisation process in India.
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
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
The African Diaspora and Pentecostalism in Australia. This project aims to investigate the new African Diaspora in Australia and its embrace of Pentecostalism. The African community in Australia has often been associated with poor settlement outcomes, and has also been subject to racialised moral panic regarding so-called ‘African gangs.’ This project will use new methods to understand the role of Pentecostal translocal and transnational networks in supporting African communities to overcome the ....The African Diaspora and Pentecostalism in Australia. This project aims to investigate the new African Diaspora in Australia and its embrace of Pentecostalism. The African community in Australia has often been associated with poor settlement outcomes, and has also been subject to racialised moral panic regarding so-called ‘African gangs.’ This project will use new methods to understand the role of Pentecostal translocal and transnational networks in supporting African communities to overcome the challenges of settlement. The project expects to contribute to policy efforts to improve outcomes for new African arrivals in Australia.Read moreRead less