Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101064
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,000.00
Summary
Un/making homeland: Sinophone literature and Cold War culture in Malaya. This project aims to advance understanding of Cold War culture and decolonisation through Chinese diaspora experience and literature. By unearthing a corpus of underexplored archives, using literary analysis and ethnography, this interdisciplinary project offers the first comprehensive study of Sinophone literature and print culture in Cold War Malaya. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of how Chinese diaspora writers ....Un/making homeland: Sinophone literature and Cold War culture in Malaya. This project aims to advance understanding of Cold War culture and decolonisation through Chinese diaspora experience and literature. By unearthing a corpus of underexplored archives, using literary analysis and ethnography, this interdisciplinary project offers the first comprehensive study of Sinophone literature and print culture in Cold War Malaya. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of how Chinese diaspora writers claim subjecthood amidst anti-communist violence in Southeast Asia, which shed light on the complex interplay of geopolitics, literature and identity. This project benefits Australian understanding of Chinese diaspora responses to global superpower rivalry during the ‘old’ Cold War amidst a similar phenomenon today.Read moreRead less
The Politics of Guilt in Asia: the Afterlife of Japanese War Crimes. This project aims to investigate the perception of Japan’s continuing guilt for atrocities committed during the Second World War. Until the 1970s, it was widely believed that Japan had resolved its guilt by accepting punishment, paying recompense and apologising, and could move on. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the process by which the idea of Japan’s guilt was revived to become a major issue in East Asian ....The Politics of Guilt in Asia: the Afterlife of Japanese War Crimes. This project aims to investigate the perception of Japan’s continuing guilt for atrocities committed during the Second World War. Until the 1970s, it was widely believed that Japan had resolved its guilt by accepting punishment, paying recompense and apologising, and could move on. The project expects to generate new knowledge about the process by which the idea of Japan’s guilt was revived to become a major issue in East Asian and world affairs. Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of how historical grievance is constructed and why it has come to be considered always open to review. Anticipated benefits include a greater understanding of the changing ways in which historical grievance is used, both politically and ethically.Read moreRead less
Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected ....Decolonisation and photography in Southeast Asia: Histories and legacies. This project aims to investigate the untold history of decolonisation in Southeast Asia through amateur soldier photographs taken on the front line of conflicts. Such photographs constitute a vast yet neglected archive that promises unique insights into encounters between combatants on all sides, and with civilians whose experiences have rarely been accessible, particularly women, children and unfree workers. The expected outcomes of this project are to produce new understandings of violence in decolonisation and the long-term legacies of colonialism in Southeast Asia. This project also intends to provide a critical historical framework for understanding the meaning and impact of photographs taken in war.Read moreRead less
A history of women as consumers, 1902-2010. This project aims to give women their own autonomous history as proactive consumers altering spaces outside the domestic sphere. Using a case study of Filipino elite and migrant women, and women’s magazines, ‘migrant archives’, interviews and ethnographic mapping, the project will write a history of the influence of women’s consumption practices on the economy, business and spaces of consumption in the twentieth century. The project aims to challenge t ....A history of women as consumers, 1902-2010. This project aims to give women their own autonomous history as proactive consumers altering spaces outside the domestic sphere. Using a case study of Filipino elite and migrant women, and women’s magazines, ‘migrant archives’, interviews and ethnographic mapping, the project will write a history of the influence of women’s consumption practices on the economy, business and spaces of consumption in the twentieth century. The project aims to challenge the view of women as peripheral to the Philippines’ economic history or having little influence on countries to which they migrated. This could enhance Australia’s reputation in the field of women in Asia and foster international collaboration.Read moreRead less
Beauty, Ugliness and China’s Changing Gender Norms. This project intends to explore the connections between political programs promoting social change and cultural and commercial activities in China since 1900. It intends to generate new knowledge about the factors that influence people’s perceptions of desirable male and female behaviours by examining the evolution of ideals of beauty and ugliness and how they are used by political, cultural or commercial actors. The expected outcomes include d ....Beauty, Ugliness and China’s Changing Gender Norms. This project intends to explore the connections between political programs promoting social change and cultural and commercial activities in China since 1900. It intends to generate new knowledge about the factors that influence people’s perceptions of desirable male and female behaviours by examining the evolution of ideals of beauty and ugliness and how they are used by political, cultural or commercial actors. The expected outcomes include deepening Australia’s knowledge of what constitutes a positive or negative attribute in the Chinese marketplace (both the commercial market of products and the political market of ideas) and enabling Australians to promote their products/ideas more effectively in the global powerhouse that is China.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101282
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$364,237.00
Summary
China's economic ideas: From Bretton Woods to Bandung. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of China’s role in shaping the post-World War II international economic order. Though not widely known today, Nationalist and Communist China played a leading role in two key international economic conferences between 1944 and 1955: Bretton Woods and Bandung. By studying recently declassified Chinese archives, the project aims to uncover how nationalism shaped China’s economic ideas, and t ....China's economic ideas: From Bretton Woods to Bandung. This project aims to provide a comprehensive account of China’s role in shaping the post-World War II international economic order. Though not widely known today, Nationalist and Communist China played a leading role in two key international economic conferences between 1944 and 1955: Bretton Woods and Bandung. By studying recently declassified Chinese archives, the project aims to uncover how nationalism shaped China’s economic ideas, and the historical origins of 21st century Chinese economic institutions and initiatives. Understanding China’s post-war economic ideas is expected to refine theories of economic nationalism, and help policymakers understand how China seeks to shape the global economy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100603
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$411,000.00
Summary
Unwanted heroes: the Nationalist Sino-Japanese War veterans in China. This project aims to conceptualise the history of one of East Asia’s most significant modern conflicts, the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), focusing on neglected stories of the Nationalist soldiers. Combining historical research, ethnography and discourse analysis, the project intends to investigate the local, national and international context behind the veterans' journey of being forgotten and re-remembered in Chinese history ....Unwanted heroes: the Nationalist Sino-Japanese War veterans in China. This project aims to conceptualise the history of one of East Asia’s most significant modern conflicts, the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), focusing on neglected stories of the Nationalist soldiers. Combining historical research, ethnography and discourse analysis, the project intends to investigate the local, national and international context behind the veterans' journey of being forgotten and re-remembered in Chinese history. This work will assist governments and others to understand the legacies of the Second World War in China, and the complexity of Chinese nationalism. Potential benefits include reconciliation in this region through the facilitation of a more open discussion on war experiences and commemoration in Asia, intersecting with Australian commemoration practices.Read moreRead less
Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices ....Islamic Bureaucracies and Pious Publics in Turkey and Indonesia. This project aims to investigate state support for Islamic practices in two large, Muslim-majority nation states, Turkey and Indonesia. In these countries, massively-funded bureaucracies allocate state resources for pious practices that until recently were considered outside the national interest. Combining the skills of anthropologists of Islam as well as a public economist, this project will ask which Muslim actors and practices receive and are denied these budgetary allocations. An outcome of the project will be to establish the role in governance of these compacts between Muslims and governments. The benefit is to gauge the prospects for moderate Islam in the two countries that are known as the foremost incubators of progressive Islam. Read moreRead less
A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include ....A cultural history of food safety from Singapore. This project aims to trace how ordinary people’s thinking about food safety has changed over time; from this, we can investigate food safety techniques and practices by government and industry. In studying Singapore, which has always imported nearly all food, the project expects to generate new lessons from Singapore's history that may widely apply in an era of globalisation and contemporary food system complexity. Benefits of the project include assisting food exporters and other food safety stakeholders in Australia to better understand the origins and complexity of food safety thinking.Read moreRead less
Tibet's rivers in the Anthropocene: history and present trajectories. This project aims to produce a multifaceted history of the eastern Tibetan Plateau's rivers, focusing on the increasing human impacts during the Anthropocene. It will combine data from archival, cultural and oral sources in multiple languages with the results of scientific studies of river flow, water quality, and sediment, ice, and tree-rings analysis. The project will produce both historical narratives and graphic representa ....Tibet's rivers in the Anthropocene: history and present trajectories. This project aims to produce a multifaceted history of the eastern Tibetan Plateau's rivers, focusing on the increasing human impacts during the Anthropocene. It will combine data from archival, cultural and oral sources in multiple languages with the results of scientific studies of river flow, water quality, and sediment, ice, and tree-rings analysis. The project will produce both historical narratives and graphic representations that model past land and water usage. The results of the project will underpin environmental policy for this hydrologically and ecologically crucial region, including the development of a paradigm of care based on the region's indigenous cultural resources.Read moreRead less