Recent and current research projects

The impact of geographical mobility on intimacy forms the focus of this research, with special attention to changes in how gender operates in the material and emotional organisation of intimacy within current highly rationalized and individualized socio-economic contexts.

The culture of short-termism promoted by globalization puts pressure on people to try to ‘improve’, ‘transform’ and ‘reinvent’ themselves. Driven by desire and fear of such metamorphosis, individuals desperately attempt to “refashion” themselves as more efficient, leaner, inventive and self actualizing than they were previously. Day-in day-out, society in the era of surgical culture is fundamentally shaped by this fear of disposability.

This project attempts to explain a lacuna in sociological theory and research and aims to encourage further sociological and multi disciplinary research and debate on the topic of global warming.

The Magistrates Research Project comprises a unique examination of a court and its judicial officers. The research findings provide concrete and detailed information on the magistrates as professional occupational group, as part of Australian society and as judicial officers. Their everyday work has been examined in terms of the nature of the work, the skills needed to carry it out, their attitudes towards their work and the challenges and stresses it presents.

Max Weber is considered one of the ‘Founding Fathers’ of the discipline of sociology. Yet his work has never been comprehensively applied to Australian society and culture. This research project re-investigates Weber’s sociology from the perspective of the themes, issues and values which have historically shaped Australian society.

Ageing of the population and, by implication, care of that population, are crucial issues facing Australia in the first part of the 21st Century. To assist industry and governments to manage the transition to higher levels of demand for both residential and community aged care it is vital that they have a sound and up to date understanding of the aged care workforce.

This project examines new forms of commemorating national history. Focussing on engagement with foundation moments and important historical events in Western nations it reveals a significant change in the way we think about the nation.

Suicide terrorism is rising globally, whereas incidents of terrorism have been falling worldwide. This ARC funded 5 year study seeks to explain the rising trend in suicide terrorism and to explore whether it is becoming the weapon of choice among terrorist organizations in order to coerce liberal democracies into making political concessions.

The system of maternity care provision in Australia has not yet received any sustained, systematic comparison with other high income, technologically sophisticated Western countries. Yet there are many points of similarity and difference, such as the history and role of midwifery and the mix of private market and publicly funded health care services.