Coexisting with Coronaviruses: Rethinking the Emergence of the Pandemic. Before COVID-19 disrupted modern life, benign coronaviruses were circulating among people and animals in Southeast Asia. As medical researchers work to control the spread of this infectious disease, multispecies ethnography has a special role to play in generating basic knowledge about coronaviruses. This project aims to understand how interactions between people and multiple animal species generated a virus with pandemic p ....Coexisting with Coronaviruses: Rethinking the Emergence of the Pandemic. Before COVID-19 disrupted modern life, benign coronaviruses were circulating among people and animals in Southeast Asia. As medical researchers work to control the spread of this infectious disease, multispecies ethnography has a special role to play in generating basic knowledge about coronaviruses. This project aims to understand how interactions between people and multiple animal species generated a virus with pandemic potential. Approaches from science studies and the environmental humanities will generate conceptual innovations related to three themes: viral visibility, coexistence, and pathogen emergence. Innovations in multispecies methods should produce knowledge about viruses with broad benefits that may safeguard future health.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100080
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,933.00
Summary
Tasting history: food, culture, and national identity. This project aims to prioritise the role of taste in history by mapping how cultural heritage has driven nation building in Australia through the example of food. Scholarly research on the sense of taste is a significant area of critical historical inquiry. This project will develop a novel approach in a comparative study of the significance of biscuit consumption from colonial expansion to militarism; among other sources, it explores cookbo ....Tasting history: food, culture, and national identity. This project aims to prioritise the role of taste in history by mapping how cultural heritage has driven nation building in Australia through the example of food. Scholarly research on the sense of taste is a significant area of critical historical inquiry. This project will develop a novel approach in a comparative study of the significance of biscuit consumption from colonial expansion to militarism; among other sources, it explores cookbooks and recipe archives as documents that underpin cultural heritage. In addition to historical analysis, this project will yield cultural, health, and environmental benefits in Australia that intersect with international debates about the sociocultural ramifications of food politics and food sovereignty.Read moreRead less
The Promise of Justice. Justice is often framed as a human problem. How other species shape just or unjust futures is rarely considered. Biodiversity loss and modernisation programs can result in unequal suffering for Indigenous communities. Health inequalities, produced by microbial diseases, also disproportionately impact marginalsed peoples in developing countries. Collaborative ethnographic research in Indonesia will enable participants to reconceptualise justice and make policy reccomendati ....The Promise of Justice. Justice is often framed as a human problem. How other species shape just or unjust futures is rarely considered. Biodiversity loss and modernisation programs can result in unequal suffering for Indigenous communities. Health inequalities, produced by microbial diseases, also disproportionately impact marginalsed peoples in developing countries. Collaborative ethnographic research in Indonesia will enable participants to reconceptualise justice and make policy reccomendations in three arenas: 1) the environment, 2) human rights, and 3) health. New knowledge in cultural theory and multispecies studies will be generated through collaborations with distinguished international scholars and indigenous intellectuals.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100025
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,250.00
Summary
Human-kangaroo relations: Reconciling perceptions, knowledges and practices. This research aims to reveal the diverse perceptions, knowledges and practices shaping human-kangaroo relations in Australia. Using inter-disciplinary and multi-sited methods, the project expects to generate innovative empirical and conceptual insights into the contested status of the kangaroo as native species and pest, food resource and political symbol. Planned outcomes of the project include the development of parti ....Human-kangaroo relations: Reconciling perceptions, knowledges and practices. This research aims to reveal the diverse perceptions, knowledges and practices shaping human-kangaroo relations in Australia. Using inter-disciplinary and multi-sited methods, the project expects to generate innovative empirical and conceptual insights into the contested status of the kangaroo as native species and pest, food resource and political symbol. Planned outcomes of the project include the development of participatory and applied approaches to reconciling environmental conservation with ethical food production and multispecies justice. Anticipated benefits include fast-tracking a multi-stakeholder dialogue to ensure an ecologically viable, ethically just and economically sustainable future for Australian wildlife. Read moreRead less
Extinction stories: Inhabiting landscapes of loss in the Anthropocene. This project aims to explore the cultural, political and ethical dimensions of biodiversity loss in three of the world’s ‘extinction capitals’ in an age of mass extinction. Drawing on ethnographic research, philosophy and the natural sciences, the project asks how the loss of species and efforts to prevent these losses shape the contours of local people’s lives and the landscapes they inhabit. This project will also use a ser ....Extinction stories: Inhabiting landscapes of loss in the Anthropocene. This project aims to explore the cultural, political and ethical dimensions of biodiversity loss in three of the world’s ‘extinction capitals’ in an age of mass extinction. Drawing on ethnographic research, philosophy and the natural sciences, the project asks how the loss of species and efforts to prevent these losses shape the contours of local people’s lives and the landscapes they inhabit. This project will also use a series of creative storytelling interventions that aim to cultivate community understanding of why and how extinctions matter. The project also aims to benefit public environmental humanities through the development of resources.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240101246
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,214.00
Summary
Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and ....Beyond Big Brother: New Narratives for Understanding Surveillance. This project aims to investigate how recent forms of narrative fiction reflect and shape understandings of digital surveillance. It expects to generate new knowledge about the personal and social implications of digital surveillance across different cultural, technological and geographical contexts. Expected outcomes include a significant interdisciplinary methodology that integrates surveillance studies, digital humanities, and literary studies to improve our understanding of surveillance. The project also aims to generate teaching and public engagement resources for research, industry, and government. This will substantially improve our understanding of the impact of digital surveillance at the individual, community, and national levels.Read moreRead less
Investigating Innovative Waste Economies: redrawing the circular economy . Australia is facing a waste crisis and government and industry are promoting the Circular Economy as a solution. This project investigates innovative cultural and economic practices in three waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste, to understand how they realise or redraw the circle. The project develops empirical evidence to advance thinking about how novel waste economies are organised and ....Investigating Innovative Waste Economies: redrawing the circular economy . Australia is facing a waste crisis and government and industry are promoting the Circular Economy as a solution. This project investigates innovative cultural and economic practices in three waste streams: single use plastics, organics and bulky household waste, to understand how they realise or redraw the circle. The project develops empirical evidence to advance thinking about how novel waste economies are organised and the cultural and social innovations they generate. Outcomes include national and international case studies of innovative waste economies, social learning events with industry stakeholders and academic publications. Key benefits provide evidence of how different waste practices enable more sustainable ways of living. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100233
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,574.00
Summary
Pyrosecurity: understanding and managing bushfires in a changing climate. This project aims to examine cultural and political factors that have shaped bushfire management in Australasia during the past two decades and identify how practices might better adapt to a changing world. Bushfires are a serious natural hazard with major social, economic, and environmental impacts. Social and climatic changes are altering the intensity, frequency, and consequences of bushfires, creating significant uncer ....Pyrosecurity: understanding and managing bushfires in a changing climate. This project aims to examine cultural and political factors that have shaped bushfire management in Australasia during the past two decades and identify how practices might better adapt to a changing world. Bushfires are a serious natural hazard with major social, economic, and environmental impacts. Social and climatic changes are altering the intensity, frequency, and consequences of bushfires, creating significant uncertainties in how we anticipate them. This project will examine how bushfire management practitioners and institutions manage diverse uncertainties, leading to new theoretical insights and strategic policy advice. Expected benefits include better prediction and management of bushfire impacts and improved education and training of bushfire practitioners.Read moreRead less
The couple: commitment and durability in the era of marriage equality. This project aims to examine the notion of the couple in the era of marriage equality. It is generally thought that couple longevity is an incontestable good socially, psychologically, and economically. The advent of same-sex marriage in Australia provides the occasion to reconsider why it is that general cultural benefits are thought to devolve from coupled intimacy alone. Rather than dismiss the value of marriage, either st ....The couple: commitment and durability in the era of marriage equality. This project aims to examine the notion of the couple in the era of marriage equality. It is generally thought that couple longevity is an incontestable good socially, psychologically, and economically. The advent of same-sex marriage in Australia provides the occasion to reconsider why it is that general cultural benefits are thought to devolve from coupled intimacy alone. Rather than dismiss the value of marriage, either straight or gay, this project looks at an archive of contemporary representations in which the couple form presents as a public good, not a private good. This anthropological study tests the supposed connection between intimate companionship and collective thriving.Read moreRead less
Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures. This project investigates the challenges, opportunities and implications of outer space as a site of economic, political, environmental and cultural interest for Australia. Combining ethnography and creative practice, the project analyses how a range of imaginaries of outer space are produced through a study of the development of Australia’s National Space Agency, the role of new venture capital firms in Australia, and ....Australia a space-faring nation: imaginaries and practices of space futures. This project investigates the challenges, opportunities and implications of outer space as a site of economic, political, environmental and cultural interest for Australia. Combining ethnography and creative practice, the project analyses how a range of imaginaries of outer space are produced through a study of the development of Australia’s National Space Agency, the role of new venture capital firms in Australia, and scientific research on alien life in terrestrial analogue sites in Australia, the U.S and Chile. Research outputs will contribute to national research capacity in social studies of science, foster opportunities for international interdisciplinary collaborations, and inspire Australian public engagement with space research. Read moreRead less