Understanding forms of violence and their regulation in Australian history. In contemporary Australia inter-personal violence (such as domestic violence, the abuse of children, Aboriginal deaths in custody, the Cronulla riots) occupies intense media and public interest. Governmental responses to violence (through policing or the courts) themselves rest on the exercise of authorised and regulated control which itself may be considered a form of violence. In examining the historical changes in vio ....Understanding forms of violence and their regulation in Australian history. In contemporary Australia inter-personal violence (such as domestic violence, the abuse of children, Aboriginal deaths in custody, the Cronulla riots) occupies intense media and public interest. Governmental responses to violence (through policing or the courts) themselves rest on the exercise of authorised and regulated control which itself may be considered a form of violence. In examining the historical changes in violence, its social impact and media resonances, and the public policy responses to it, this research seeks to contribute to contemporary understanding of these important questions on the basis of a greater appreciation of the specifically Australian history of these phenomena.Read moreRead less
John Vincent Barry: law, social reform and institutional innovation in mid-twentieth century Australia. The capacity of governing institutions to adapt to changing social conditions was a critical component of Australian post-war history. As jurist, social reformer, sponsor and mentor of an emerging Australian criminology, criminal justice practitioner, intellectual and internationalist, John Barry was an exemplar of an activist in this cause. This study explores the dimensions of this activity ....John Vincent Barry: law, social reform and institutional innovation in mid-twentieth century Australia. The capacity of governing institutions to adapt to changing social conditions was a critical component of Australian post-war history. As jurist, social reformer, sponsor and mentor of an emerging Australian criminology, criminal justice practitioner, intellectual and internationalist, John Barry was an exemplar of an activist in this cause. This study explores the dimensions of this activity of institution-building and intellectual engagement through the record of Barry's life in its political and social context. Outcomes will include a published biography and articles dealing with the conditions of intellectual and political engagement in social reform in post-war Australia.Read moreRead less
Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historica ....Australian violence: understanding victimisation through history. This project aims to undertake the first national study to investigate longitudinal trends in the history of interpersonal violence in Australia. Interpersonal violence is a major national challenge and violence prevention is a policy concern. By analysing case-level data for ten thousand criminal prosecutions over modern Australian history, the project will assess long-term trends in violent events and their relation to historical change. Tracking the rise and fall of prosecuted violence, the project will test current scholarly understanding about the history of violence, yield new insights about historical victimisation, and provide a critical background for understanding contemporary violence.Read moreRead less
Sexual Offences, Legal Responses and Public Perceptions: 1880s-1980s. Testimony of sexual abuse before the current Royal Commission has exposed the historic neglect and cover-up of institutional offences. Yet, to unearth the deeper and wider dimensions of sexual offending requires scholarly historical analysis. This project aims to use qualitative and quantitative analysis to track how and why certain forms of sexual behaviour sparked public concern and provoked legal responses and public inquir ....Sexual Offences, Legal Responses and Public Perceptions: 1880s-1980s. Testimony of sexual abuse before the current Royal Commission has exposed the historic neglect and cover-up of institutional offences. Yet, to unearth the deeper and wider dimensions of sexual offending requires scholarly historical analysis. This project aims to use qualitative and quantitative analysis to track how and why certain forms of sexual behaviour sparked public concern and provoked legal responses and public inquiries from the 1880s to the 1980s. The systematic examination of these patterns through archival and published documents is intended to test the relation between shifting community and political concerns and the conduct of criminal trials.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100051
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,000.00
Summary
The Australasian Legal History Libraries: Stage II. The Australasian legal history libraries stage II: Australia's leading legal historians will partner with the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) to create a massive expansion of free online access to Australasian legal history through digitisation and data aggregation. The Legal History Libraries on AustLII will become a comprehensive trans-Tasman collection from 1788-1999, including all reported case series and those from colon ....The Australasian Legal History Libraries: Stage II. The Australasian legal history libraries stage II: Australia's leading legal historians will partner with the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) to create a massive expansion of free online access to Australasian legal history through digitisation and data aggregation. The Legal History Libraries on AustLII will become a comprehensive trans-Tasman collection from 1788-1999, including all reported case series and those from colonial newspaper reports, and all Acts enacted, plus key collections of historical Bills, Gazettes, legal commentaries, and Parliamentary reports. The Libraries are expected to double in size from their current 50,000 items of cases and legislation. The Libraries will enable previously impractical access, comparative research, and international collaborations.Read moreRead less
From illustration to evidence in native title: The potential of photographs. This project aims to test the evidentiary value of large photographic collections of Aboriginal people in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. The project will seek to identify the photographed subjects and where and how they were photographed. Drawing on photographic theory, anthropology and Indigenous studies, the project should throw light on how photographs can reveal information about historical conti ....From illustration to evidence in native title: The potential of photographs. This project aims to test the evidentiary value of large photographic collections of Aboriginal people in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. The project will seek to identify the photographed subjects and where and how they were photographed. Drawing on photographic theory, anthropology and Indigenous studies, the project should throw light on how photographs can reveal information about historical continuities and changes, regional mobility patterns and connections to country over time. The expected benefit of the project is to assist in demonstrating Indigenous connections with land and place in native title claims.Read moreRead less
Aboriginalia: Collecting Histories of Aboriginal Representation. Since Federation, non-Indigenous people have produced material objects for the home depicting Aboriginal bodies, artefacts and designs and marketing these as the truly Australian look. Since the 1960s, Aboriginal people started to collect these material objects, defined as 'Aboriginalia'. This interdisciplinary project aims to examine Aboriginal collectors' representations of 'Aboriginalia'. This is the first study to examine Abori ....Aboriginalia: Collecting Histories of Aboriginal Representation. Since Federation, non-Indigenous people have produced material objects for the home depicting Aboriginal bodies, artefacts and designs and marketing these as the truly Australian look. Since the 1960s, Aboriginal people started to collect these material objects, defined as 'Aboriginalia'. This interdisciplinary project aims to examine Aboriginal collectors' representations of 'Aboriginalia'. This is the first study to examine Aboriginal collectors' representations of non-Indigenous historical depictions of Aboriginality within Australian material culture. The research and associated publications will explore the Aboriginal social life of material objects in historical perspective.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL130100050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,073,424.00
Summary
What counts? Prosecution and the criminal trial in Australian history. This project will investigate the successes, failures and limits of the criminal trial in Australia, from the colonial era to the post-war decades. By using the rich resource of Australian archives, this project will provide an enduring foundational knowledge of Australian criminal justice in its historical and international context.
Sentimental blokes: a cultural history of working-class masculinities in Australia, 1850-1929. For decades now, therapists, academics and activists have called for Australian men to be more emotionally articulate. This is necessary in part because stereotypes of Australian masculinity emphasise hostility towards emotion, especially sentimental emotion. By demonstrating the significance of masculine sentimentality in Australia's past, this project will help to change this. Drawing on the insights ....Sentimental blokes: a cultural history of working-class masculinities in Australia, 1850-1929. For decades now, therapists, academics and activists have called for Australian men to be more emotionally articulate. This is necessary in part because stereotypes of Australian masculinity emphasise hostility towards emotion, especially sentimental emotion. By demonstrating the significance of masculine sentimentality in Australia's past, this project will help to change this. Drawing on the insights of theatre and cultural studies and publishing in diverse forums, it will also bring a more interdisciplinary dimension to the history of Australian masculinities. Further, it will make Australian material relevant to international scholarship on emotional history, the relationship between class and gender, and gendered subjectivities.Read moreRead less
The search for family: A history of adoption in Australia. How has Australia cared for its children? This study will fill a significant gap in the nation's self-understanding by explaining the historical factors driving the changing place, meaning and significance of adoption. Whilst participants and practitioners debate its social worth, the policy pendulum is swinging back to an acceptance of adoption. Australian society is in urgent need of an open hearing of the contesting voices, and a bala ....The search for family: A history of adoption in Australia. How has Australia cared for its children? This study will fill a significant gap in the nation's self-understanding by explaining the historical factors driving the changing place, meaning and significance of adoption. Whilst participants and practitioners debate its social worth, the policy pendulum is swinging back to an acceptance of adoption. Australian society is in urgent need of an open hearing of the contesting voices, and a balanced account of the historical impact of adoption. Our project promises both, thus 'understanding and strengthening (a) key element of Australia's social fabric' - the family.Read moreRead less