Chinese trade and diplomacy in South-East Asia from the 9th to 19th century common era. China’s trade in porcelain to South-East Asia over the past millennium provides the longest, continuous, market record for a product. The contrast between official Chinese control and what the archaeology reveals the traders really did, displays the limits of state power and the role of trade as another path in China’s diplomatic engagement with SE Asia.
Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affectin ....Shop Talk: Department Stores, Shoppers and Consumer Capitalism, 1945-2025. This project aims to provide a deeper understanding of shopping and its significance in everyday Australian life by using oral history interviews with shoppers, workers and managers who have engaged with department stores since 1945. This project expects to produce the first history of the country’s post-war department stores. Expected outcomes include new, more nuanced perspectives of shopping and the challenges affecting the retail sector via a range of publications, international collaborations, and an archive of oral history recordings. This should provide significant benefits to researchers examining the retail sector, to Australians working in retail, and to ordinary Australians, whose stories will be placed on the historical record.Read moreRead less
The Overseas Chinese Water Frontier of Southeast Asia, 1700-1900. This project proposes to view the South China Sea/Gulf of Thailand rim as a single economic region, a "water frontier" that endured for two centuries. Focusing on the Mekong delta and adjacent coasts, it will examine the major roles the Chinese played in the establishment of the Siamese and Vietnamese states. Despite the frontier's marginalisation in the nineteenth century, the populations supplied the manpower and expertise that ....The Overseas Chinese Water Frontier of Southeast Asia, 1700-1900. This project proposes to view the South China Sea/Gulf of Thailand rim as a single economic region, a "water frontier" that endured for two centuries. Focusing on the Mekong delta and adjacent coasts, it will examine the major roles the Chinese played in the establishment of the Siamese and Vietnamese states. Despite the frontier's marginalisation in the nineteenth century, the populations supplied the manpower and expertise that fueled the national and colonial economies which later developed around Saigon, Bangkok and Singapore. Our aim is to restore the "lost" history of this region and its peoples and to set new agendas for future research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101236
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,201.00
Summary
Protected entry for asylum seekers in history and international refugee law. This project aims to investigate how States have permitted asylum seekers to safely cross international borders and access protection as refugees. Using rigorous qualitative historical research methods, and a refugee law-based analysis, the project intends to examine the history of protected entry procedures used by governments in Australia, the United States, Canada and Italy, with a view to clarifying the operations a ....Protected entry for asylum seekers in history and international refugee law. This project aims to investigate how States have permitted asylum seekers to safely cross international borders and access protection as refugees. Using rigorous qualitative historical research methods, and a refugee law-based analysis, the project intends to examine the history of protected entry procedures used by governments in Australia, the United States, Canada and Italy, with a view to clarifying the operations and outcomes of these procedures in relation to international refugee law obligations. In an era of record forced migration, this timely and original comparative history of safe access to asylum will advance scholarly knowledge about refugee law and policy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101799
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,988.00
Summary
Islamist Militias, the Military and Indonesia’s Authoritarian Turn. This project examines the relationship between Islamist militias and the Indonesian military. Adopting a multi-scalar approach, it assesses this relationship nationally and in Aceh, a province with a long history of military–militia relations and Islamisation of political life. In the first attempt to systematically locate current developments in their historical context, this study will draw on interviews and archival research ....Islamist Militias, the Military and Indonesia’s Authoritarian Turn. This project examines the relationship between Islamist militias and the Indonesian military. Adopting a multi-scalar approach, it assesses this relationship nationally and in Aceh, a province with a long history of military–militia relations and Islamisation of political life. In the first attempt to systematically locate current developments in their historical context, this study will draw on interviews and archival research to document and analyse the extent to which the military is using long-established tactics of civilian mobilisation to reassert its political power. The analysis it generates will provide new insight into the role of the military in Indonesia’s current authoritarian turn.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100116
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,000.00
Summary
The Aboriginal History Archive. This project aims to create an online archive of records about Aboriginal self-determination, the land rights movement and Aboriginal community survival programmes. The project will provide access to unavailable materials that record the perspectives and voices of Aboriginal participants in contemporary political history, including primary source material collected and donated by individuals and community-controlled organisations. The project expects to address th ....The Aboriginal History Archive. This project aims to create an online archive of records about Aboriginal self-determination, the land rights movement and Aboriginal community survival programmes. The project will provide access to unavailable materials that record the perspectives and voices of Aboriginal participants in contemporary political history, including primary source material collected and donated by individuals and community-controlled organisations. The project expects to address the data gaps in Australia’s historical record and improve public understanding and awareness. It will also inform educational curricula and public policy responses for the political, legal, health and social position of Australia’s indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
A Century of Sex and the Australian Military, 1914-2020. This project aims to explore how the Australian military and its members have dealt with sex and sexuality. Through uncovering policy, health and disciplinary files, as well as medical literature, civilian police, newspaper and court records, the project intends to analyse how the Australian military evolved its approach to members’ sexual and intimate relations, and the consequences military life had for individuals’ sexual and romantic p ....A Century of Sex and the Australian Military, 1914-2020. This project aims to explore how the Australian military and its members have dealt with sex and sexuality. Through uncovering policy, health and disciplinary files, as well as medical literature, civilian police, newspaper and court records, the project intends to analyse how the Australian military evolved its approach to members’ sexual and intimate relations, and the consequences military life had for individuals’ sexual and romantic partnerships. By illuminating the relationships between the Australian military, sexual cultures, the law, health and public policy, the findings should benefit the Australian Defence Force’s ongoing process of culture change and inform policy formulation around veterans’ health and welfare.Read moreRead less
The International History of Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism, 1814-1822. We cannot understand our entrapment in nationalism until we unravel the history of its complex inter-relationship with cosmopolitanism. This project excavates an understanding of politics and community that offers alternatives to the current global impasse. The moment in the past I will study was the origin of our present predicament, namely the inescapability of nationalism for the cosmopolitan and of cosmopolitanism for t ....The International History of Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism, 1814-1822. We cannot understand our entrapment in nationalism until we unravel the history of its complex inter-relationship with cosmopolitanism. This project excavates an understanding of politics and community that offers alternatives to the current global impasse. The moment in the past I will study was the origin of our present predicament, namely the inescapability of nationalism for the cosmopolitan and of cosmopolitanism for the nationalist. This project will consolidate the significance of Australian scholarship to a field that is critical to understanding our choices and destinies in a global society. It will make Australia the headquarters of a new international history that investigates the relevance of the past to policy-making.Read moreRead less
The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents ....The Origins and Effects of the Unified National System of Higher Education in Australia. The project will provide the first systematic and fully documented account of the genesis, aims, authorship, design, negotiation, carriage and implementation of the changes introduced to Australian higher education from 1987 to 1992. In addition, it will evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of these changes in reference to the purpose and rationale of the reforms as presented in the policy documents of the period. The project will undertake detailed case studies of four Australian universities, tracing how they were affected by the creation of the Unified National System of higher education. This account and analysis of the changes orchestrated by Minister John Dawkins will help inform future higher education policy debate.Read moreRead less
The Genie in the Bottle:Science, Politics and Diplomacy in Australia's Engagement with Chemical and Biological Weapons, 1915-1995. The threat of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) is attracting increasing attention worldwide. Australia's engagement with the CBW began during the First World War. Since then, Australia has been influential in promoting CBW control regimes. However, this experience has raised many questions. This project explores Australia's historical and current response to ....The Genie in the Bottle:Science, Politics and Diplomacy in Australia's Engagement with Chemical and Biological Weapons, 1915-1995. The threat of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) is attracting increasing attention worldwide. Australia's engagement with the CBW began during the First World War. Since then, Australia has been influential in promoting CBW control regimes. However, this experience has raised many questions. This project explores Australia's historical and current response to the central issues of CBW. Using archival and contemporary sources, it analyses the interplay between science, politics and diplomacy. Combining history and political science, it assesses the implications of recent developments in CBW for Australia's role in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.Read moreRead less