A cultural history of West Australian popular music, 1945 to 2010. The Valentines, The Triffids, The John Butler Trio all had their origins in the western Australian musical scene. This is the first cultural history of West Australia's popular music industry. It documents the life and times of its musical artists, bands, managers, recording studios, relevant radio programs since 1945.
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
Encountering Crows: Living with wildlife in a changing world. This project will analyse the cultural and ethical issues that define human interactions with wildlife in the context of environmental and social change. It will fuse ethnography, philosophy and biology in an environmental humanities approach, through comparative studies.
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
The social ontology of personhood: a recognition-theoretical approach. This project pursues the hypothesis that what distinguishes human persons from animals is a certain form of sociality consisting of 'attitudes of recognition'. Understanding the role of these attitudes in the coming about and flourishing of human persons and their communities is essential for fostering the social fabric of multicultural Australia.
Sustainable Fish: a material analysis of cultures of consumption & production. This project is a multifaceted, innovative cultural analysis of the crucial role of fish and fishing in feeding a growing global population. Estimates are that the world’s population will be nine billion by 2050. It is imperative that innovative research strategies are developed to explore how to best respond to questions of food security in a sustainable manner. This brings challenges across numerous scales, includin ....Sustainable Fish: a material analysis of cultures of consumption & production. This project is a multifaceted, innovative cultural analysis of the crucial role of fish and fishing in feeding a growing global population. Estimates are that the world’s population will be nine billion by 2050. It is imperative that innovative research strategies are developed to explore how to best respond to questions of food security in a sustainable manner. This brings challenges across numerous scales, including: changing consumer tastes, new State, Commonwealth and international regimes of marine governance, and adapting fishing communities to new forms of livelihood. This project will provide the first in-depth cultural account of the complex entanglement of the economy, the environment and the humans involved in fish and fishing.Read moreRead less
Regimes of reading. The project analyses the ways in which reading and interpretation have been socially organised across a range of cultures, from ancient Rome to the contemporary world of virtual reality. It focuses in particular on conflict between different practices of reading in order to highlight the cultural assumptions underlying the uses of texts.
IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: The Global Experience. The 40th anniversary of the birth of the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) will occur in 2018. This project aims to produce a history of IVF and the range of assisted reproductive technologies with which it is associated. These new forms of conception, gestation and parenting have transformed understandings of the family and have led to regulatory and policy responses and public debate, which can only be u ....IVF and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: The Global Experience. The 40th anniversary of the birth of the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) will occur in 2018. This project aims to produce a history of IVF and the range of assisted reproductive technologies with which it is associated. These new forms of conception, gestation and parenting have transformed understandings of the family and have led to regulatory and policy responses and public debate, which can only be understood in a global frame. A series of transnational case studies, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region, will be designed to explore the development of the present consumer, medical and regulatory environments and provide a historically informed basis for dealing with policy deliberations locally and internationally.Read moreRead less
Civic Sinoburbia? New Chinese migrants and everyday citizenship in Sydney . Australia has seen a large influx of China-born migrants in the past few decades. Large numbers of them have taken up residency in various Sydney suburbs, where they now make up almost a third of the population. Focusing on four such suburbs, this project examines how these new Chinese migrants participate in everyday civic life, the barriers that may prevent participation, and how local civic organisations adapt to thei ....Civic Sinoburbia? New Chinese migrants and everyday citizenship in Sydney . Australia has seen a large influx of China-born migrants in the past few decades. Large numbers of them have taken up residency in various Sydney suburbs, where they now make up almost a third of the population. Focusing on four such suburbs, this project examines how these new Chinese migrants participate in everyday civic life, the barriers that may prevent participation, and how local civic organisations adapt to their growing presence in five domains of social life: education, culture, sport, religion and community service. The project will generate nuanced new knowledge on the local impacts of new Chinese migration, of benefit for urban multicultural governance and enhancing local community cohesion. Read moreRead less
Cultural sustainability in Australian country towns: amenity, mobility, and everyday life. By exploring the everyday experiences of culture and cultural amenity in three country towns, this cross-disciplinary project provides the first comprehensive documentation of the complexity of cultural sustainability within rural Australia. We will explore issues of demographic mobility; individual and community relationships to places and histories; social and economic adaptability to local, national and ....Cultural sustainability in Australian country towns: amenity, mobility, and everyday life. By exploring the everyday experiences of culture and cultural amenity in three country towns, this cross-disciplinary project provides the first comprehensive documentation of the complexity of cultural sustainability within rural Australia. We will explore issues of demographic mobility; individual and community relationships to places and histories; social and economic adaptability to local, national and global cultural influences; and the role of cultural infrastructure and heritage in community well-being and sustainability. Project outcomes include scholarly publications and presentations; a series of community-driven digital cultural maps; and feedback for community and government on the impact of culture on sustainability.Read moreRead less