From Human Rights to Human Security: Changing Paradigms for Dealing with Inequality in the Asia-Pacific Region. This project is particularly timely as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is clearly aligned with the national research priority goals of Understanding our Region and the World and Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. The question of human rights is a pressing issue throughout the Asia-Pacific region and much is to be gai ....From Human Rights to Human Security: Changing Paradigms for Dealing with Inequality in the Asia-Pacific Region. This project is particularly timely as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is clearly aligned with the national research priority goals of Understanding our Region and the World and Strengthening Australia's Social and Economic Fabric. The question of human rights is a pressing issue throughout the Asia-Pacific region and much is to be gained by a comparative approach which considers strategies for embedding human rights practice and principles in particular local contexts and how they may be adapted in other national contexts. Read moreRead less
Ascending the Cross: Soviet Dissidents and the Universalisation of Human Rights. This project will study the contribution of persecuted dissidents to a diplomatic revolution. It will investigate how apparently powerless Soviet intellectuals like Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn used their moral authority to transform detente and challenge the notion that human rights was an internal affair of sovereign states. My hypothesis is that this challenge helped to provoke the 1970s human rights boom, which sch ....Ascending the Cross: Soviet Dissidents and the Universalisation of Human Rights. This project will study the contribution of persecuted dissidents to a diplomatic revolution. It will investigate how apparently powerless Soviet intellectuals like Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn used their moral authority to transform detente and challenge the notion that human rights was an internal affair of sovereign states. My hypothesis is that this challenge helped to provoke the 1970s human rights boom, which scholarship traditionally attributes to the inspirational role of President Carter and Western NGOs. By illuminating the role of non-Western citizens, this research calls into question prevailing assumptions about the specificially Western sources of the emerging international human rights order.
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Defining and Attempting Reconciliation: A Critical Analysis of the Pursuit of Reconciliation in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This project challenges existing accounts of South Africa's confrontation of its apartheid past, by establishing the conceptual significance of 'reconciliation' in its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Using a perspective informed by the international context of transitional justice, and by comparison with other postcolonial racially-divided soci ....Defining and Attempting Reconciliation: A Critical Analysis of the Pursuit of Reconciliation in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This project challenges existing accounts of South Africa's confrontation of its apartheid past, by establishing the conceptual significance of 'reconciliation' in its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Using a perspective informed by the international context of transitional justice, and by comparison with other postcolonial racially-divided societies, it tests the hypothesis that restorative justice is more effective than retributive justice. Publication of the findings in a book and articles will illuminate the significance of 'reconciliation' for South Africa's recent political, legal and social history, and for its immediate future. In a larger thematic context, it also offers important applications for Australia.Read moreRead less
Cambodia: Place, People and Politics; Environmental, Economic, Cultural, Political, and Regional History since Earliest Times. Understanding the region and the world is vital to safeguarding Australia. Cambodian-Australian relations are important to Australia's foreign policy, both in Southeast Asia and globally. Australia's substantial Cambodian communities remain very interested in developments in their home country. This project will heighten Australia's profile in Cambodia, stimulate regiona ....Cambodia: Place, People and Politics; Environmental, Economic, Cultural, Political, and Regional History since Earliest Times. Understanding the region and the world is vital to safeguarding Australia. Cambodian-Australian relations are important to Australia's foreign policy, both in Southeast Asia and globally. Australia's substantial Cambodian communities remain very interested in developments in their home country. This project will heighten Australia's profile in Cambodia, stimulate regional research among Khmer-Australians, and attract top students and Post-Doctoral Fellows from Cambodia and other countries. Cambodia's specific ecological conditions and the long and important documented history of its people and their role in the region, will result in this project having a significant impact on Australian, regional and global study of Southeast Asia.Read moreRead less
'Puppet States' Revisited: Empire and Sovereign Subordination in Modern Asia. The term 'puppet state' is a part of public discourse in Australia. It is used by scholars, journalists, commentators and members of the public to characterize specific international relationships in the contemporary world. While being used as an analytical term, it carries a strong pejorative connotation. This project will contribute significantly to giving the term clarity and stability of meaning that will enhance t ....'Puppet States' Revisited: Empire and Sovereign Subordination in Modern Asia. The term 'puppet state' is a part of public discourse in Australia. It is used by scholars, journalists, commentators and members of the public to characterize specific international relationships in the contemporary world. While being used as an analytical term, it carries a strong pejorative connotation. This project will contribute significantly to giving the term clarity and stability of meaning that will enhance the quality of public discussion of international affairs and lead to a more informed approach to safeguarding Australia. The insights we generate by this comparison will illuminate the controversial contemporary issue of international intervention in the territory of sovereign states.Read moreRead less
Collaboration, Nationalism and Imperial Strategy: Japanese-trained Armies in Northeast Asia 1932-1949. This project analyses the political and military significance of three local armies developed by the Japanese in Manchuria and Mongolia between 1932 and 1945. The project examines archival material and newspapers, as well as conducting fresh interviews, to explain the reasons for Japan's creation of these armies, the reasons why local people took part in them, and the consequences of this parti ....Collaboration, Nationalism and Imperial Strategy: Japanese-trained Armies in Northeast Asia 1932-1949. This project analyses the political and military significance of three local armies developed by the Japanese in Manchuria and Mongolia between 1932 and 1945. The project examines archival material and newspapers, as well as conducting fresh interviews, to explain the reasons for Japan's creation of these armies, the reasons why local people took part in them, and the consequences of this participation for Japanese imperialist plans and local nationalist aspirations. The project sets this analysis in the broader context of Japanese imperialism and examines the continuing political role of the armies in the region.Read moreRead less
Civilisation, Masculinity, and the Body. By considering their relationship to broader Western concerns, this project examines the deep cultural origins of Australian masculinity and national identity. Much of the bush myth and the Anzac legend are grounded in assumptions that `true' manhood thrives outside of soft, sedentary and unhealthy cities, either in playing fields, battlefields, or the bush. Since Australia experienced growing anxieties about urban life and emphasized the importance of ph ....Civilisation, Masculinity, and the Body. By considering their relationship to broader Western concerns, this project examines the deep cultural origins of Australian masculinity and national identity. Much of the bush myth and the Anzac legend are grounded in assumptions that `true' manhood thrives outside of soft, sedentary and unhealthy cities, either in playing fields, battlefields, or the bush. Since Australia experienced growing anxieties about urban life and emphasized the importance of physical development along with most other Western countries, a project such as this helps situate this national experience within a broader cultural development. This is on the forefront of new scholarship that integrates the Australian experience with global culture.Read moreRead less
Lorenzo de Medici and Renaissance Italy. By providing a scholarly study of Lorenzo de' Medici, and bringing to conclusion the critical edition of his correspondence (a collaborative enterprise by several eminent research institutions in the UK. USA and Italy), this project makes a major Australian contribution to a classic research field of high international prestige, and helps ensure the continued strength of teaching and research in Italian Renaissance and early modern European history in Aus ....Lorenzo de Medici and Renaissance Italy. By providing a scholarly study of Lorenzo de' Medici, and bringing to conclusion the critical edition of his correspondence (a collaborative enterprise by several eminent research institutions in the UK. USA and Italy), this project makes a major Australian contribution to a classic research field of high international prestige, and helps ensure the continued strength of teaching and research in Italian Renaissance and early modern European history in Australia. This period, and Lorenzo, continue to intrigue the general reading public throughout the world, and broadly to disseminate specialist research on these themes, as this project also proposes, is to contribute to the maintenance of a lively and critical contemporary culture.
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The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will ....The Language of Old Norse Poetry, an important intellectual achievement of the Western Middle Ages. Old Norse poetry, produced from the Viking Age until the end of the Middle Ages, is one of the most important achievements in European literature. Thematically, it ranges from praise of Viking kings to Christian devotion; in metre and style it is extremely elaborate. It has applied value to a range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, linguistics and religious studies. This project will make Norse poetic language more accessible to scholars and the general public by providing new resources in the English language for its understanding, superseding previous studies because of the use of fully revised primary data.Read moreRead less
Precisely Dating the Evolution of Complex Societies in Polynesia: The Hawaiian Example. It is of enormous national benefit to develop intellectual innovations that set Australia apart from its neighbours and establish its position as a regional leader in science. Because the Australasian region relies heavily on primary resource exploitation, intellectual developments are crucial for sustainable economic growth. Understanding how societies meet the challenges of resource depletion, landscape de ....Precisely Dating the Evolution of Complex Societies in Polynesia: The Hawaiian Example. It is of enormous national benefit to develop intellectual innovations that set Australia apart from its neighbours and establish its position as a regional leader in science. Because the Australasian region relies heavily on primary resource exploitation, intellectual developments are crucial for sustainable economic growth. Understanding how societies meet the challenges of resource depletion, landscape degradation, drought and population increase can be monitored with archaeological data over hundreds of years. Our research seeks to use an innovative technique for precisely dating major changes in Oceanic societies over the past 500 years, which will provide insights into how modern communities can cope with these problems today. Read moreRead less