The Just-in-Time Self: Young Men, Skill and Narratives of Aspiration in the New Economy. Employers and policy-makers frequently lament the 'skills gap': the shortage of workers with the skills required to perform the available jobs. This cannot be solved simply by funding more vocational training courses. To improve participation in training it is important to understand how vocational aspirations are formed. This research will demonstrate how, through their involvement in collective creative pr ....The Just-in-Time Self: Young Men, Skill and Narratives of Aspiration in the New Economy. Employers and policy-makers frequently lament the 'skills gap': the shortage of workers with the skills required to perform the available jobs. This cannot be solved simply by funding more vocational training courses. To improve participation in training it is important to understand how vocational aspirations are formed. This research will demonstrate how, through their involvement in collective creative projects, young men from poor backgrounds, develop skills and inclinations that might move them beyond the traditional model of manual labour to develop the flexibility required of workers in the 'new economy'.Read moreRead less
Promoting young people's citizenship in a complex world. This project aims to promote empowerment and agency to young Australians by developing the concept and practice of 'active citizenship'. This is done by confronting the emerging sense of disempowerment and alienation that many young people feel by developing ongoing work with a cross section of groups that are an important part of the civic landscape.
Migration and mobility: the question of childhood in Chinese and European cinema since 1945. This project will produce a comparative account of the migrant and mobile child in postwar film, researched in China and Europe. It will contribute deeper knowledge of how childhood has been valued in key societies since 1945, and will bring new energy to international and domestic debates on the status, image and experience of migrant children.
Seeking the state: Incorporating the state on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This study will provide significant theoretical insight into the functioning of the state both regionally and internationally by providing a local perspective on how Cocos Malays bring the state into their daily lives. Because they lie between Indonesia and Northwest Australia, the Cocos Islands play an important role in Australia's defence, security, and quarantine interests. The Malays residing there constitute an impor ....Seeking the state: Incorporating the state on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This study will provide significant theoretical insight into the functioning of the state both regionally and internationally by providing a local perspective on how Cocos Malays bring the state into their daily lives. Because they lie between Indonesia and Northwest Australia, the Cocos Islands play an important role in Australia's defence, security, and quarantine interests. The Malays residing there constitute an important minority and one of Australia's oldest Islamic communities. This project is a fieldwork-based analysis of the way community members negotiate their identity as Australian citizens and Malay Muslims in relation to the state.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100416
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$422,044.00
Summary
Young women’s online experiences of learning about gender inequality. This project aims to investigate how young women engage with socially significant knowledge about gender inequality in social media groups and online discussion forums, and how they use this knowledge. This project expects to generate new knowledge by explaining how online environments shape knowledge acquisition for young people, using an innovative digital ethnographic approach. Expected outcomes include practical guidelines ....Young women’s online experiences of learning about gender inequality. This project aims to investigate how young women engage with socially significant knowledge about gender inequality in social media groups and online discussion forums, and how they use this knowledge. This project expects to generate new knowledge by explaining how online environments shape knowledge acquisition for young people, using an innovative digital ethnographic approach. Expected outcomes include practical guidelines for assessing the positive and negative aspects of online culture as a pedagogical resource. This should provide significant benefits in helping young people to better navigate online cultures and to recognise, negotiate and, wherever possible, overcome gender-based inequality in their lives. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200605
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$247,683.00
Summary
Australian Boys: Beyond the Boy Problem. In Australia, most research on boys and boyhood is focused on risk-reduction, representing boys as problems at school, on the streets, or in relationships, with an ambivalent (if not oppositional) relation to feminism. At the same time, anti-feminist public discourse highlighting the experiences of boys and young men is used to justify violence towards women as well as call for the reversal of social changes that have expanded opportunities available to g ....Australian Boys: Beyond the Boy Problem. In Australia, most research on boys and boyhood is focused on risk-reduction, representing boys as problems at school, on the streets, or in relationships, with an ambivalent (if not oppositional) relation to feminism. At the same time, anti-feminist public discourse highlighting the experiences of boys and young men is used to justify violence towards women as well as call for the reversal of social changes that have expanded opportunities available to girls. This research project will develop a framework for interdisciplinary research that takes Australian boys and boyhood as the subjects of a more inclusive future, working to overcome ingrained oppositions between feminist scholarship and the lives and interests of boys. Read moreRead less
Photography and eugenics: an historical investigation of photography's role in the development and popularisation of the eugenics movement. This project analyses the uses of racial type photographs by the eugenics movement. Photography was used as a scientific tool by eugenicists but this project is primarily concerned with its role in popularising and legitimating a movement that won widespread acceptance between c.1870 and WW2. It will explore the techniques, media forms, aims and effects of B ....Photography and eugenics: an historical investigation of photography's role in the development and popularisation of the eugenics movement. This project analyses the uses of racial type photographs by the eugenics movement. Photography was used as a scientific tool by eugenicists but this project is primarily concerned with its role in popularising and legitimating a movement that won widespread acceptance between c.1870 and WW2. It will explore the techniques, media forms, aims and effects of British, American and German eugenic photography and compare eugenics photography with the use of photography in contemporary liberal anthropology. The project will result in a groundbreaking monograph on a topic which will make a major contribution to our understanding of the history of racism.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100989
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,408.00
Summary
Beyond Skin-Deep: Social and Emotional Work in the Beauty Industry . Hair and beauty salon workers are in frequent contact with diverse members of the community. This project aims to investigate the under-explored role that salon workers play in the emotional lives of their clients. It also aims to understand how salon workers might be a unique avenue for addressing pressing social issues such as family violence, mental health, and social isolation. Expected outcomes include co-designed solution ....Beyond Skin-Deep: Social and Emotional Work in the Beauty Industry . Hair and beauty salon workers are in frequent contact with diverse members of the community. This project aims to investigate the under-explored role that salon workers play in the emotional lives of their clients. It also aims to understand how salon workers might be a unique avenue for addressing pressing social issues such as family violence, mental health, and social isolation. Expected outcomes include co-designed solutions to facilitate connection between community services and salon workers, to utilise salon workers as a community resource as well as more effectively support workers in negotiating an emotionally complex workplace.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100151
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$431,891.00
Summary
Institutional abortion stigma as a barrier to equitable access. This project aims to understand how ingrained institutional abortion stigma produces barriers to access. Despite progressive law reform, access to abortion in Australia remains uneven and discriminates against the most marginal women. Institutions of law, government, medical training and health care significantly influence access to abortion. The nature and extent of this influence is under-researched and poorly understood. The proj ....Institutional abortion stigma as a barrier to equitable access. This project aims to understand how ingrained institutional abortion stigma produces barriers to access. Despite progressive law reform, access to abortion in Australia remains uneven and discriminates against the most marginal women. Institutions of law, government, medical training and health care significantly influence access to abortion. The nature and extent of this influence is under-researched and poorly understood. The project expects to identify and begin enacting the institutional-level change required for more equitable access to reproductive health care. The anticipated benefits include developing tools to optimise abortion access and, in so doing, helping to meet a goal repeatedly highlighted by State and Federal governments.Read moreRead less