Associate Professor Tim Scrase

BA (VU); Dip Ed, PhD (La Trobe)

I am the Deputy Director of the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (see: http://www.capstrans.edu.au/) and Associate Professor in Sociology. I am also the Course Coordinator for the Masters (and Grad Dip) in Social Change and Development. I completed my undergraduate degree at Victoria University of Technology (BA in Urban Studies and Sociology) in 1982. I then commenced seven years of study at La Trobe University completing a MA (preliminary) in Sociology in 1984; a Diploma of Education in 1985; and a PhD from 1986-1989. My PhD dissertation was essentially a social and cultural analysis of Indian school textbooks (published by Sage in 1993 as: Image, Ideology and Inequality: Cultural Domination, Hegemony and Schooling in India).

I joined the Sociology Program at the University of Wollongong in February 2002. Prior to that I held teaching positions in the Sociology discipline at Charles Sturt University (1998-2001; 1990-1993) and in the Department of Sociology at the University of Tasmania in Hobart (1994-1997). In 2001 I was a visiting research fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, University of Amsterdam. My field-site for research over the past 20 years has mainly been in India. I am currently supervising six PhD students and two Masters students.

I have provided some brief details about my research and publications below. Please do not hesitate to contact me for more information (tims@uow.edu.au).

Research Interests

• contemporary cultural formation (especially in terms of analysing imagery and ideology in the mass media)
• globalization and underdevelopment (focusing on South and Southeast Asia)
• the sociology of consumption and consumerism
• social impact assessment
• education: with a focus on comparative education and social justice and schooling

Current Research Projects

Over the past decade I have been awarded over $220,000 in competitive research funding. Some of my current projects are as follows:

1. "Australian volunteers abroad in communities in the Asia/Pacific Region" (with Assoc Prof Peter Kell, Dr Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase, and PALMS Australia). Funded by the ARC (2005-08), this project aims to: (i) provide a comprehensive re-assessment of the national benefits of overseas volunteering in the context of Australia's interaction with the Asia Pacific region; (ii) identify significant features of volunteering from the perspective of volunteers, volunteer organisations, host communities and government; and (iii) assist the industry partner (PALMS Australia) to prepare richly informed, professional development programs for future Australian volunteers abroad.
2. “The Social Impact of the Transformation of Asia-pacific Ports” (with Prof Andrew Wells and Meyrick and Associates). The major aim of this project is to conceptualize, compare and measure the social impact of changes to Asia-pacific ports. The research has three distinct phases: (i) to survey, analyze and theorise the existing literature on ports and port cities and social impact analysis; (ii) to review the extant literature on ports and their privatisation and regulation; and (iii) to undertake an historical, sociological and anthropological research of five regional ports (Calcutta, Chittagong, Port Klang, Saigon, Port Kembla).
3. “Consuming Exotica: The Marketing of Asian Artisanal Crafts in Australia”. This study aims to analyze the ways South Asian craft goods are advertised and promoted in “fair-trading” shops such as Community Aid Abroad shops, OXFAM, CARE and Red Cross catalogues and associated NGO web-sites. It analyses the cultural context of, and determines the extent to which, “third world” craft production is incorporated into the mainstream consumption processes in the first world.
4. “Precarious Production: Indian Artisans in the Global Economy” (with Dr. R. Ganguly-Scrase, UOW). This project, exploring the impact of economic globalisation on Indian artisans, aims to: outline the survival strategies of these artisans; detail and record innovations in artisan skills to improve marketability of crafts; and describe the changing market for the crafts. This research is significant as it will provide detailed data on the viability of artisan labour in the new global economy, accurately record skills innovation and development of artisans, and because it builds on previous international research on craft workers.
5. “The Social Impact of Globalisation in India” (with Dr. R. Ganguly-Scrase). This project examines the social and cultural impact of globalisation in India. In particular it considers the trajectory of modernity engendered by the process of globalisation. It examines the responses of low-income families in eastern India and analyses their ambiguous attitudes towards globalisation and economic liberalisation by drawing attention to the nature of class relations and cultural formations of metropolitan/ provincial divide within Indian culture. A sample (120) of male and female workers (and their families) has been interviewed and results compared between urban salaried workers in the Calcutta metropolitan area and those in rural town.

Publications

Searchable RIS publications from 2000 to date

Books:

• 2006: Todd Joseph Miles Holden and Timothy J. Scrase (editors), medi@sia: Global media/tion in and out of context, London and New York: Routledge (xviii+272pp)
• 2003: Timothy J. Scrase, Todd Joseph Miles Holden and Scott Baum (editors), Globalization, Culture and Inequality in Asia, Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press (xvi + 370pp).
• 1997: Timothy J. Scrase (editor), Social Justice and Third World Education, New York and London: Garland*. (Reference Books in International Education, Vol. 37; Garland Reference Library of Social Science, Vol. 1130; xxi + 217pp). *Garland is now owned by Routledge.
• 1993: Timothy J. Scrase, Image, Ideology and Inequality: Cultural Domination, Hegemony and Schooling in India, New Delhi, London & Newbury Park: Sage (178pp).

Journal Articles:

• 2003: Timothy J Scrase, “Precarious Production: Globalisation and Artisan Labour in the Third World”, Third World Quarterly, 24 (3): 449-461.
• 2002a: Timothy J Scrase, “Globalization And The Future Of Asian Artisan Labour”, The International Scope Review, Volume 4, Issue 8 (Winter)
• 2002b: Timothy J Scrase, “Globalisation and the Cultural Politics of Educational Change: The Controversy Over the Teaching of English in West Bengal”, International Review of Education, 48 (5): 361-375.
• 2002c: Timothy J Scrase, “Television, the Middle Classes and the Transformation of Cultural Identities in West Bengal, India”, Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies, 64 (4): 323-342.
• 2001: Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase and Timothy J Scrase, “Who Wins? Who Loses? And Who Even Knows? – Responses to Economic Liberalization and Cultural Globalization in India”, South Asia, 24 (1): 141-58.
• 1999: Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase and Timothy J Scrase, “A Bitter Pill Or Sweet Nectar? Contradictory Attitudes Of Salaried Workers To Economic Liberalisation In India”, Development and Society, 28 (2): 259-83.
• 1996: Timothy J Scrase, “Globalization, Social Justice and Education in the Developing World”, Melbourne Studies in Education, 37 (2): 61-76.
• 1991: Timothy J Scrase, “The Politics of Education and Social Change in the Third World: A Review of Carnoy and Samoff”, Habitus: A Journal of Educational and Cultural Studies, 1 (1): 87-92.
• 1990: Timothy J Scrase, “Cultural Hegemony and the Dialectics of Educational Reform in India”, International Journal of Indian Studies, 1 (1): 23-40.
• 1988: Timothy J Scrase, “Education, Change and Development in the Third World: A Critical Review of Educational Reform in India”, Asian Profile, 16 (4): 351-62.

Book Chapters:

• 2006: Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase and Timothy J Scrase, “Constructing middle class culture: Globalization, modernity and Indian media”, Chapter 2 in Todd Joseph Miles Holden and Timothy J. Scrase (editors), medi@sia: Global media/tion in and out of context, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 44-61.
• 2003a: Timothy J Scrase, Todd Holden and Scott Baum “Asia’s Globalization: A Sociological View”; Chapter 1 in T. Scrase, Todd Holden and Scott Baum (eds) Globalization, Culture and Inequality in Asia, Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press: 1-18.
• 2003b: Timothy J Scrase, “Producing on the Margins: Asian Artisans in the Global Economy”; Chapter 5 in T. Scrase, Todd Holden and Scott Baum (eds) Globalization, Culture and Inequality in Asia. Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press: 95-116.
• 2003c: Timothy J Scrase, Todd Holden and Scott Baum, “Social and Cultural Transformation in Asia: A Critical Assessment”; Chapter 13 in T. Scrase, Todd Holden and Scott Baum (eds) Globalization, Culture and Inequality in Asia, Melbourne: Trans Pacific Press: 269-284.
• 2001: Timothy J Scrase, “Social Movements, Globalisation and the Cultural Politics of Educational Change in West Bengal: An Exploration of the Teaching of English Controversy” in Kar, S (ed) West Bengal in the New Millennium: Problems and Prospects, Calcutta: Printograph: 105-118.
• 1997: Timothy J Scrase, “Introduction: Social Justice, Education, and the Third World” in Timothy J Scrase (editor), Social Justice and Third World Education, NY & London: Garland: xi-xxi.
• 1995: Timothy J Scrase, “Globalization, India and the Struggle for Justice” in J. Borocz and D. Smith (eds) A New World Order: Global Transformation in the Late 20th Century, Westport, CT: Praeger: 147-161.
• 1992: Timothy J Scrase, “Education and Cultural Reproduction in India” in Robin Burns and Anthony R Welch (eds) Contemporary Perspectives in Comparative Education, New York and London: Garland: 295-326.

Published Papers in Conference Proceedings:

• 2006: Timothy J Scrase, “Economic Liberalization and the Ideology of Work Reform in India: Interpreting Middle Class Responses to New Economic Policies”, In: Barbara Pocock, Chris provis and Eileen Willis (eds) 21st Century Work: High Road or Low Road?, Proceedings of the 20th Conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ); Adelaide: University of South Australia: Division of Education, Arts & Social Sciences, pp. 481-91 (ISBN: 0-86803-544-0).
• 2005: Timothy J Scrase, “Crafts, Consumers and Consumption: Asian Artisanal Crafts and the Marketing of Exotica”, In: Roberta Julian, Reannan Rottier and Robert White (eds) Community, Place and Change, Proceedings of the TASA 2005 conference, Hobart: The Australian Sociological Association (TASA); (ISBN: 0-9598460-5-0).
• 2004: Timothy J Scrase, “The Hegemony of English in India” In: Cribb, Robert (ed.). Asia Examined: Proceedings of the 15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA, 2004, Canberra, Australia. Canberra: Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) & ResearchSchool of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), The Australian National University. http://www.coombs.anu.edu.au/ASAA/conference/proceedings/Scrase-T1-ASAA2004.pdf
• 2004b: Timothy J Scrase, “ Liberalizing Bengal: Middle Class Experiences and Interpretations of Workplace Change in West Bengal ” In: Cribb, Robert (ed.) Asia Examined: Proceedings of the15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA, 2004, Canberra, Australia. Canberra: Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) & Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), The Australian National University. http://www.coombs.anu.edu.au/ASAA/conference/proceedings/Scrase-T2-ASAA2004.pdf
• 2000: Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase and Timothy J Scrase, “The Ambiguities and Social Impact of Economic Liberalisation in India”, in N. Pavel and A. Weigold (eds) Midnight to Millennium: Australia- India Interconnections, Canberra, ACT: High Commission of India and The University of Canberra: 121-130.
• 1999: Timothy J Scrase, “Globalization, Social Movements and Community Development” in Robert Doyle et.al. (eds) Proceedings of the 1st International Outlook Conference on Community Development in Asia-Pacific, Building Partnerships for Better Development; Sukhothai Thammithirat Open University, Bangkok, Thailand; and Wagga Wagga: Charles Sturt University: 92-101.
• 1991: Timothy J Scrase, “Can Losers Become Winners? The Cultural Contradictions of Educational Reform - Australia and India Compared” in James R. Liesch (ed) Culture, Education and the State. Proceedings of the 19th Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society conference, Macquarie University, Sydney: 29-42.
• 1990: Timothy J Scrase, “Marginality in Third World Education: Towards an Ethnography of Indian Schooling” in Roger Peddie (ed) Nationhood, Internationalism and Education. Proceedings of the 18th Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society conference, University of Auckland: 92-105.
• 1989: Timothy J Scrase, “Educating the Dispossessed: A Comparison of the Education of Australian Aborigines and Indian Tribals” in Roger Woock (ed) Education, Equity and National Interests. Proceedings of the 17th Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society conference, University of Melbourne: 227-241.
• 1987: Timothy J Scrase, “Cultural Inequality and Student Mobility in India” in Alan Williamson (ed), Educational Exchanges and Their Implications -Challenge and Response. Proceedings of the 15th Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society conference, University of Sydney: 135?145.
• 1986: Timothy J Scrase, “The Dilemmas of Educational Reform in India: Problems and Perspectives” in Chakraborty, D. and Jeffrey, R. (eds) What's Happening in India? The Last Ten Years, Bundoora, Victoria: Department of Politics, La Trobe University: 160?172.

Book Reviews:

• 2005: Timothy J. Scrase; Review of: Negotiating Local Knowledge: Power and Identity in Development (edited by Johan Pottier, Alan Bicker, Paul Sillitoe; London: Pluto Press, 2003), The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 6 (3): 274-276.
• 2003: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Suitably Modern: Making Middle Class Culture in a New Consumer Society (Mark Liechty), Contemporary South Asia 12 (3): 430-431.
• 1999: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Education, Development and Underdevelopment (edited by Sureshchandra Shukla and Rekha Kaul), South Asia, XXII (1): 143-145.
• 1998: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Sociology: Australian Connections (edited by Ray Jureidini, Sue Kenny and Marilyn Poole), Journal of Sociology, 34 (1): 103-105.
• 1993: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Purity and Communal Boundaries: Women and Social Change in a Bangladeshi Village (Santi Rozario), The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology, 29 (2): 261-263.
• 1992: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: The Mass Media and Village India: An Indian Study (Paul Hartman, B.R. Patil and Anita Dighe), South Asia, XV (1): 136-137.
• 1990: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Education and Neocolonialism (M.I. Alladin), ANZCIES Newsletter, 7 (2): 6-9.
• 1989: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Social Character of Learning (Krishna Kumar), South Asia, XXI (1): 116-118.
• 1988a: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: Marx and Education in Late Capitalism (R.F. Price), Comparative Education Review, 32 (2): 242-244.
• 1988b: Timothy J Scrase; Review of: The State and Poverty in India (Atul Kohli), Journal of Intercultural Studies, 9 (1): 90-92.

Professional memberships

• APSA (Executive member and Treasurer of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association)
• ASAA (Member, Asian Studies Association of Australia)
• IAIA (Member, International Association for Impact Assessment)
• SASA (President, South Asian Studies Association of Australia)
• TASA (Member, The Australian Sociological Association)

E-mail: tims@uow.edu.au
Phone: (02) 4221 3744