HDR Opportunities in Social Science,
Education and Humanities

CAPSTRANS: Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies

CAPSTRANS research effort is organised into five program areas, which each support a number of thematic research agendas:

1) Mobility and Exclusion
Researchers working on this topic explore how migration and other forms of mobility have led to the exclusion of some groups from development processes, and to limited opportunities to participate in political processes. Research projects are currently organised into the following themes:

Labour Migration, Regulation and Work - a group of inter-linked projects examining the development of labour regimes in both colonial and post-colonial societies.

Bordered Exclusions - projects that examine how formulations of identity and citizenship along border zones intersect with gender, ethnicity, class and sexuality in shaping experiences of mobility and exclusion, and moral panics in relationship to refugees and migrants.

Democracy and human rights - projects that explore processes of democratisation, including human rights and women's rights activism.

Sovereignty and the moral legitimacy of state structures - projects that explore the moral basis of popular forms of nationalism and how they articulate and perpetuate racial, ethnic or religious divisions.

2) Globalisation and International Development
This research program examines the impact of globalisation on development at the local, national, and regional levels. Research projects are currently organised into three major themes.

International Agencies and Development NGOs - inter-related projects that provide in-depth case studies of international agencies, regional bodies, international labour regimes, non-government organisations, and international environmental and human rights bodies.

Social Impact Analysis - projects that examine how communities sustain themselves ecologically, culturally and economically, and how individuals and communities maintain, challenge or transform state and transnational forces.

Environmental change and globalisation – projects that examine how communities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific are connected by climate change and resource development and their engagement in political and social actions as part of these changes.

3)Australia in the Asia-Pacific
A series of inter-linked projects that explore Australia's place in the Asia-Pacific region. Researchers in this program examine aspects of pre-colonial and colonial interaction between polities and peoples, as well as the history of Australia's engagement in the region since Federation. These research projects are organised under two themes:

Colonial Encounters - projects that examine Australia's colonial history of engagement in South East Asia (including the presence of indentured labour in the tropical north), and how local Indigenous groups have responded to colonialism and modernity (accepting, rejecting and modifying western cultural practices).

Constructing the Australian Nation - a series of projects that draw on historical records as well as contemporary debates and practices to examine Australia's relations with its nearest neighbours in South East Asia and the Pacific, and the significance of these relations for the construction of the Australian nation. These projects also examine how internal forms of otherness often provoke re-examinations and re-assertions of the values of what it means to be Australian.

4) Culture and Representation
Researchers working in this program examine the impact that globalisation is having on local cultures, the media, art and literature. Their work includes the investigation of international regulatory regimes, human rights discourses, media policy, and national ideologies. This program is divided into four theme areas:

Film, Television and New Media - interlinked projects exploring media policy and regulatory regimes in several Asian countries, and how local groups remake and reuse western technology in their own distinctive ways.

Representing the Other - examines representations of "otherness" through the analysis of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality in literature, and in mainstream and new media.

Representing the Indonesian Nation - projects exploring the representation of the Indonesian nation in popular culture, news media and history texts.

Exploring Languages in Asia - projects that examine language use and linguistics in a range of Asian languages.

5) Globalisation and Education
A new and emerging program that examines the intersection between globalisation and education, including work on transnational education, international markets in education, the internationalisation of vocational education, and language and literacy policy in South East Asia.

Further Information: Contact Dr Tim Scrase ph: 4221 3744 or e-mail: tims@uow.edu.au
Or view: www.capstrans.edu.au