https://hdl.handle.net/2123/22632 2026-06-13T16:36:01Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/18949.7 Claims Submitted to the Multilateral Development Bank Accountability Mechanisms – 1994-2025 Park, Susan The dataset represents a summary depiction of grievance cases brought to the Accountability Mechanisms (AMs) of the seven Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) from 1994 to 2024. These are: the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/International Development Association) and the International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (together comprising the World Bank Group) . Version 7 of the database is notable for the addition of the Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank. The Accountability Mechanisms were created to enable people adversely or potentially adversely affected by a project or program financed by the MDBs to take their concerns to the Banks for recourse. The Accountability Mechanisms generally do not stop the project or provide material reparations. They seek to stop or prevent harm and mitigate the negative aspects of a development project. The objective of the database is to be able to garner a quick qualitative snapshot of any given case, as well as to be able to aggregate quantitative data for each AM as a whole and to identify trends over time. Each of the grievance mechanisms has a specific name, which may have changed over time. It may also be comprised of more than one office with separate functions (i.e. consulting with affected people versus a compliance investigation). Most of the Accountability Mechanisms now have separate functions, with the consultation process also called problem solving. The compliance phase is to investigate whether the MDBs have complied with their environmental and social policies and whether this has led to harm. The Accountability Mechanisms are detailed below. Version 7 of the database is also notable for aligning the World Bank with the format of the other Accountability Mechanisms. The dataset includes cases received by the AMs from the beginning of each mechanism until 19th of September 2025. The last update for cases is 19th September 2025. 2025-12-02T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32359 Discourses delaying decarbonisation: A policy analysis of Australian Net Zero policies using Environmental Political Thought and Post Keynesian Economics Lee, Aimee As the new government of Australia, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) proclaimed its goal to divert Australia away from climate inaction fostered by the Liberal National Party (LNP), by legislating the Net Zero target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 43% below 2005 levels by 2030. The most prominent part of the Net Zero policy initiative is the Safeguard Mechanism (SM) which allows corporations to ‘cancel out’ emissions by purchasing carbon credits. Although ALP positions itself as climate conscious, the SM is consistently contested as an ineffective climate policy in the media and by non-governmental actors. This thesis investigates whether Australia can meet the Net Zero target with the SM as its primary climate policy. An effective climate policy is more than a tool to reduce emissions, but one that intends to decarbonise Australia, meaning disrupting carbon lock-in and removing fossil fuels from the energy and economic systems. Through the lenses of Environmental Political Thought and Post Keynesian Economics, it examines whether the liberal democratic structure and neoliberal policy framework is suitable to devise climate policies. It finds that the SM is a product of the entrenchment of fossil fuels corporations within Australia’s political and economic structures, subduing any discourse surrounding climate action. 2024-03-14T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32341 Interests and Values in India-Australia Strategic Nexus: Comparative Insights and Sustainable Pathways for Long-Term Collaboration Paruthi, Ashrika This thesis provides a thorough understanding of the interests-values interplay utilised by India and Australia’s to enable their meta-narrative identity utilisation for revitalisation of strategic relations. It simultaneously illustrates the gaps in collaborative endeavours that need to be filled for ensuring the long-term sustainability of India-Australia strategic relations. By employing the strategic partnership framework developed by Wilkins (2008), it compares the India-Australia strategic partnership’s trajectory, with India-Russia and Australia-Japan strategic partnerships (their strongest strategic partnerships) along three phases, i.e., inception, implementation, evaluation. Theories of classical realism and constructivism have been integrated within inception and evaluation phases for scrutinising each partnership’s interests-values interplay. Findings reveal that India and Australia need to move beyond the pursuit of trade-related economic goals, and instead work towards bolstering security, people-to-people linkages. This would allow them to build mutual understanding, trust, and in turn sustain their strategic partnership by helping them in navigating through each other’s priorities, sensitivities. 2024-03-11T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32281 The Conservatism of Australian Foreign Policy: Australia, China, the United States, and the Hegemonic Crisis Gregory, William This thesis analyses the impact of historical and structural forces on the Australia-China relationship since 2011. After a steady period of deepening ties since the 1970s, largely driven by economic complementarities, Australia-China relations have markedly declined in recent years. Applying a neo-Marxist study of the historical development of Australia-China relations and the underlying structures that shape world order, the thesis finds that Australia’s relations with the United States and the changing dynamics of Indo-Pacific power distribution are the key factors guiding the formulation of Australian foreign policy regarding China. Australia’s historic position within a strategic and economic system guaranteed by a foreign hegemonic power has established a ‘sub-imperial’ norm in its foreign policy, which has granted these hegemonic powers significant influence over the formulation of Australian foreign policy. Australia’s deteriorating relationship with China is a direct response to the new demands of the United States to oppose China’s rise, and so preserve American hegemony in Asia. 2024-02-28T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32217 Perils of Promise: The Operation and Evolution of Justifications of Power in Ancient China from the Neolithic Period to the Zhou Dynasty Liang, Victor Ruifeng In contemporary China, post-1979, ‘performance legitimacy’ is used to support one-party rule, emphasising effective governance and successful societal outcomes. While many believe the concept is modern, it is rather deeply rooted in Chinese history, traceable to the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) and its adoption of the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ idea. Prior, during the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and the Neolithic Period (c. 7000–1700 BCE), legitimacy was instead anchored in family bonds and spiritual beliefs. This transition in modes of legitimation, while initially playing a stabilising role, presented a vulnerability: later rules faced difficulties in consistently delivering outcomes, leading to legitimacy deficits which collapsed the regime. This study analyses the operation and evolution of traditional and performance legitimacy in China’s Neolithic Period to the Zhou Dynasty, underscoring the risks of changing a regime’s mode of legitimation and the impacts of instability as a likely consequence of leveraging performance legitimacy. 2024-02-15T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32110 Australia's National Electricity Market: Bidding rules, market power and wholesale electricity prices Chester, Lynne Wholesale prices for the generation of electricity markedly increased in 2022 and 2023. These costs, the most significant component of the final electricity price paid by consumers, were estimated, by the Australian Energy Regulator, to be 30-40% of a typical residential bill in 2022-2023 and 50-60% in 2023-2024. This substantive rise has been driven by increases in wholesale charges of up to 68% in 2023-2024 and follow increases of up to nearly 50% the previous financial year. These wholesale price increases have been driven by: • Generation companies exercising market power through the supply bidding and rebidding rules governing Australia’s National Electricity Market, and • Generation companies negotiating contracts in the parallel markets for financial contracts which inform the prices these companies bid to supply generation capacity. The Australian Energy Market Commission, and affirmed by the Australian Energy Regulator, interprets the National Electricity Law—that underpins the market’s bidding and rebidding rules—as permitting the transient (temporary) exercise of market power not sustained market power over a period of time. These two regulators, which administer the National Electricity Rules (NER) and review the performance of the National Electricity Market (NEM) respectively, are not transparent about their definitions of ‘transient’, ‘sustained’, or ‘period of time’. Market power is market power, transient or sustained. The exercise of market power, over any period, produces outcomes contrary to a competitive market which is supposed to yield the lowest possible prices for consumers. The NEM was purportedly designed to be a competitive market. It is a market, however, with high concentrations of generation capacity across all its regions which make it fertile ground for uncompetitive behaviour. The vulnerability of the NEM to market power, and its persistence since the NEM commenced in December 1998, has been recognised by regulators, market participants and all Australian governments. Changes have been made to the NEM’s supply bidding and rebidding rules and new forms of market performance monitoring have been implemented. Yet these have not prevented the record increases in wholesale electricity prices during recent years. Bidding behaviour to supply generation capacity, in conjunction with the speculative behaviour of generation companies in the financial contract markets about future electricity prices in the NEM, present exemplary evidence of ongoing price gouging and unfair pricing practices. 2024-01-19T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32109 The Impacts and Consequences for Low-income Australian Households of Rising Energy Prices Chester, Lynne There is limited understanding of the impacts and consequences for low-income households of the substantive increases in household energy prices since mid-2007. The average increase in Australian household electricity prices from 2007 to 2013 was nearly 83% with the highest experienced by NSW households (108%) and the lowest average increase for those living in the ACT (71%). This study provides a substantive evidence base of the lived experiences of low-income households as a result of rapidly rising household energy bills. The study comprised: an online survey completed by 372 respondents across Australia during the period 1 February to 30 November 2012; and, focus groups and interviews conducted with 130 participants in the capital city and a regional centre of the four most populous States during October and November 2012. There has been anecdotal reporting by the media, welfare agencies, community organisations and charities of the deleterious effects of rising energy prices. The findings of this study indicate the nature of these damaging effects is widespread and systemic. The well-being, health and lifestyle of low-income Australian households are suffering from the cumulative effects of ever-increasing electricity bills over a sustained period of many years which has compounded the circumstances of these vulnerable households. Never or rarely leaving home, using only one room, shorter (or occasionally, no) showers, watching less television, going to bed fully clothed (or early) to avoid the use of heating, families using a common sleeping room when cold, rarely having friends or extended family at home to avoid using cooking appliances and/or the room temperature being uncomfortable – these are some of the ‘strategies’ that low-income households have adopted to ‘manage’ their energy use as they endeavour to control the size of bills. These actions are far more extreme than the commonly promulgated measures to improve household energy efficiency. As a result of cutting expenditure on essentials such as food and reallocating expenditure on other items to be able to pay energy bills, and making relatively severe changes in household practices to reduce the size of energy bills, these households are suffering physical discomfort, reduced physical and mental well-being, loneliness and social isolation, strains within household relationships, and distress about the social and emotional well-being of children. The awareness of energy efficiency measures is strong and nearly all households have tried to reduce their energy use in response to rising energy bills. Barriers to further reductions in energy consumption are no financial capacity to afford energy saving appliances or household repairs/improvements (which is most problematic for renters), the need for health-related use of heating and cooling and life support equipment, and the presence of children. Households are loathe to cut heating or cooling too much in case it affects the health of children or exacerbates existing health vulnerabilities. The dominant policy measure to assist low-income households with energy bills are rebates, concessions and temporary financial assistance provided by State and Territory governments, generally as an absolute amount (lump sum) rather than a proportion of a household energy bill as is the case only in Victoria. More subtly, this assistance shifts the problem to one of poor financial management and individual (lack of) responsibility. At least 2.3 million low-income households are regularly receiving some form of State Government concession or rebate on their electricity bill. Yet all States record a higher proportion of residential consumers being disconnected for non-payment of bills in 2011-12 compared to 2007-08 which strongly signals the increasing ineffectiveness of these measures. Access to assistance measures requires self-identification and hence the need for information. Yet many eligible households are ignorant of programs because they do not have internet access where information is most commonly provided, mobile phone costs and call waiting times prohibit them making contact with an energy supplier, or communication difficulties are experienced when contact is made which leads to frustration and an unwillingness by the household to spend further time trying to engage with their energy company. Payment plans and hardship policies are further types of assistance for households experiencing energy hardship. Under the new, and partially implemented, National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) energy retailers are required to implement customer hardship programs which are generally framed around payment arrangements for energy bills owing, ongoing use and the avoidance of disconnection. Households who have used such plans to date generally consider the payments were unaffordable, being set too high and not reflecting their capacity to pay. Overall, the study’s findings pose a number of critical issues for government and policymakers. There is strong evidence of the inability of low-income households to become more energy efficient. Effort to reduce household energy use is widespread but has been highly concentrated on low-cost practices like the installation of low-energy light bulbs. The barriers to reducing energy consumption mean the scope for further – and substantive – improvements in the energy efficiency of these households are highly constrained. More minor changes to household energy behaviour will not result in sufficiently significant changes being reflected in lower energy bills and will undoubtedly aggravate already diminished levels of health and well-being. There is a problematic relationship between low-income households and energy retailers. This relationship is framed by companies providing customer information on websites, the use of 1300 or 1800 numbers for customers to make telephone contact, and the customer experience encountered when discussing payment difficulties or a payment plan. Nearly 1.5 million low-income households do not have home internet access. From 1 January 2015 calls from mobile phones to an 1800 number will be free. In the meantime, call costs pose a significant barrier to contact and information. The new NECF requires a more proactive approach by energy retailers to assist those likely to experience energy hardship although the success of this approach is as yet unknown. A further critical policy issue is the purpose of energy bill assistance. Current assistance, the monetary value of which varies considerably across Australia, is reactive. Assistance is directed at the bill which is the end-point of household energy use. Thus this assistance does not help low- income households manage their energy use to achieve the maximum possible energy efficiency level for their circumstances. Measures for widespread, long-term improvements to the energy efficiency of housing occupied by low-income households are also non-existent. Energy efficiency measures are limited in scale and focus on household behavioural practices to reduce energy use. The effectiveness of current energy bill assistance would appear questionable given, for example, the increasing rate of residential electricity disconnections and the findings of this study. But to understand the ‘effectiveness’ of current measures will require a systematic evaluation drawing on data which should be held by all Australian Governments even if not publicly released at this time. Nevertheless, such an evaluation would only deal with current reactive measures and not provide preventative or remedial policies; preventative in the sense that low-households are ‘prevented’ from falling into energy hardship and remedial in the sense that households are ‘removed’. Energy hardship is caused by a conjunction of factors – low income, energy prices, the condition of housing, and the capacity to adopt different household practices to manage energy use given its size, composition and needs. Given the current extent of energy hardship, as evidenced by this study, there is a high need for reactive policies – and undoubtedly an improved level of assistance - to continue until preventative and remedial policies are implemented and successively operated for some years. Thus the threshold question for policymakers is whether there is the political will to directly address and eliminate energy hardship or whether the only form of assistance will remain reactive, fragmented and increasingly ineffective. 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/32000 The (Co) Production of Difference in the Care of Patients With Cancer From Migrant Backgrounds Broom, Alex; Parker, R; Raymond, Stephanie; Kirby, Emma; Lewis, Sophie; Kokanovic, Renata; Adams, Jonathon; de Souza, Paul; Woodland, Lisa; Wyld, D; Lwin, Z; Eng-Siew, Koh An extensive body of scholarship focuses on cultural diversity in health care, and this has resulted in a plethora of strategies to “manage” cultural difference. This work has often been patient-oriented (i.e., focused on the differences of the person being cared for), rather than relational in character. In this study, we aimed to explore how the difference was relational and coproduced in the accounts of cancer care professionals and patients with cancer who were from migrant backgrounds. Drawing on eight focus groups with 57 cancer care professionals and one-on-one interviews with 43 cancer patients from migrant backgrounds, we explore social relations, including intrusion and feelings of discomfort, moral logics of rights and obligation, and the practice of defaulting to difference. We argue, on the basis of these accounts, for the importance of approaching difference as relational and that this could lead to a more reflexive means for overcoming “differences” in therapeutic settings. 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31997 Hopeful dying? The meanings and practice of hope in palliative care family meetings Kirby, Emma; Broom, Alex; MacArtney, J; Lewis, Sophie; Good, P Hope can carry considerable allure for people facing imminent mortality and for those who care for them. Yet, how hope is variously and relationally (re)produced within end-of-life care settings, remains under-researched. In this study, we aimed to better understand hope as it circulates within palliative care, drawing on video recorded family meetings and pre- and post-meeting qualitative interviews, within two hospitals in Queensland, Australia. Our findings highlight family meetings as an important site for articulations of hope and hopefulness. The results illustrate how hope is recalibrated within the transition to and through palliative care, the tensions between hope and futility, and the work of hope in discussions of goals and expectations. Through our analysis we argue that hopefulness within family meetings, and in palliative care more broadly, is collectively produced and opens up discourses of hope to the lived experience of terminality. Attending to the nuances of hope, including moving beyond the determinative (hope for more life/hope for a quick death), can elucidate the possibilities and problems of the collective negotiation of hope at the end of life, including how hope can be drawn on to express support and solidarity. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/31996 Navigating and making choices about healthcare: The role of place Lewis, Sophie; Willis, Karen; Collyer, Fran In this paper, we examine the intersections between place and healthcare choice, drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of distinction and social space, and engaging with data from interviews with 78 Australians living in varied geographic locations. We find the status of an area is used to judge the quality of its healthcare services. Areas with high status are assumed to have better quality health services than areas of disadvantage. Where people live shapes the choices they make and their judgements about the status of a place. Moreover, having less choice is not necessarily problematic. Participants in regional and remote areas with less choice tend to report positive experiences with healthcare providers. Place can constrain people's ability to make good healthcare choices, yet participants have differing capacities to mobilise resources to overcome the constraints of place. 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29068 Comparative moral economies of crisis Manning, Benjamin; Browne, Craig At times of crisis, existing institutional arrangements of societies are thrown into question. Crises that occur in multiple societies simultaneously present rare opportunities for comparative empirical analysis. Social theory can reveal the framing conditions of the responses to crises and the sources of variations between them. This paper compares the immediate responses of the Australian, UK and US governments to the global COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to financing lockdowns, and points out significant differences between the three approaches. Drawing on Polanyi’s method of institutional analysis, we compare the responses of these same national groups to an earlier crisis, the Japanese prisoner of war camps during the Second World War, to show similar patterns of integration recurring eight decades apart. This analysis shows that aspects of moral economies that are not usually apparent can become pronounced during crises, and points to the importance of enduring social imaginaries. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29047 A law unto themselves: on the relatively autonomous operation of protest policing during the COVID-19 pandemic Martin, Greg A central argument of this article is that the exercise of police power in respect of protests is relatively autonomous of judicial pronouncements affirming or upholding rights of free speech and peaceful public assembly. Using mostly Australian examples, but also drawing on UK material and some American references, the article shows how protests have gone ahead regardless of prohibitions on mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. In New South Wales, courts have sometimes allowed protests to proceed when public health experts have assessed the risk to community transmission of coronavirus to be sufficiently low. Notwithstanding that, as they did prior to the pandemic, police have moved to prevent protests and repress protestors. Accordingly, the article takes issue with the ‘negotiated management’ model of protest policing, which perpetuates a fiction of police-protestor cooperation. Indeed, protest policing has often been conflictual and heavy-handed, even militaristic, which, paradoxically, has sometimes led to potential breaches of COVID-19-safe protocols. The article concludes by highlighting analogies between the COVID-19 crisis and the ‘war on terror’ following 9/11, including the role played by courts in attempting to limit the concentration of executive power, government overreach, and intensification of police powers under a paradigm of security. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/29022 The role of health systems for health security: a scoping review revealing the need for improved conceptual and practical linkages Brown, Garrett Wallace; Bridge, Gemma; Martini, Jessica; Um, Jimyong; Williams, Owain D.; Choupe, Luc Bertrand Tsachoua; Rhodes, Natalie; Ho, Zheng Jie Marc; Chungong, Stella; Kandel, Nirmal BackgroundPractical links between health systems and health security are historically prevalent, but the conceptual links between these fields remain under explored, with little on health system strengthening. The need to address this gap gains relevance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as it demonstrated a crucial relationship between health system capacities and effective health security response. Acknowledging the importance of developing stronger and more resilient health systems globally for health emergency preparedness, the WHO developed a Health Systems for Health Security framework that aims to promote a common understanding of what health systems for health security entails whilst identifying key capacities required.Methods/ resultsTo further explore and analyse the conceptual and practical links between health systems and health security within the peer reviewed literature, a rapid scoping review was carried out to provide an overview of the type, extent and quantity of research available. Studies were included if they had been peer-reviewed and were published in English (seven databases 2000 to 2020). 343 articles were identified, of those 204 discussed health systems and health security (high and medium relevance), 101 discussed just health systems and 47 discussed only health security (low relevance). Within the high and medium relevance articles, several concepts emerged, including the prioritization of health security over health systems, the tendency to treat health security as exceptionalism focusing on acute health emergencies, and a conceptualisation of security as ‘state security’ not ‘human security’ or population health.ConclusionExamples of literature exploring links between health systems and health security are provided. We also present recommendations for further research, offering several investments and/or programmes that could reliably lead to maximal gains from both a health system and a health security perspective, and why these should be explored further. This paper could help researchers and funders when deciding upon the scope, nature and design of future research in this area. Additionally, the paper legitimises the necessity of the Health Systems for Health Security framework, with the findings of this paper providing useful insights and evidentiary examples for effective implementation of the framework. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28434 Transportation in a Net Zero World: Transitioning Towards Low Carbon Public Transport Logan, Kathryn G.; Hastings, Astley; Nelson, John D. This book discusses the importance of transitioning from conventionally fuelled, electric and hydrogen personal vehicles towards low carbon electric and hydrogen public transport. It presents international comparisons and case studies of countries who have successfully and unsuccessfully implemented policies to reduce their emissions from land-based transport. It discusses and provides policy recommendations to meet a net zero transport world by exploring potential issues, including infrastructure changes and electricity generation mix which may prevent targets being met successfully. The book also demonstrates how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced individual transport choices and what will need to be done to ensure travel remains sustainable going forward. Aligned with an active area of academic and civil discourse on the topic of sustainable transportation systems, Transportation in a Net Zero World will be of interest to researchers, policy makers, and graduate students alike, in the fields of environmental science and transport studies. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28312 The child everyone has inside: anthropology and the labor theory of value Angosto-Ferrández , Luis F. This paper revisits the debate on the relevance of the labor theory of value for the anthropological task. It argues that the labor theory of value can creatively inform and reformulate in critical ways a variety of social issues addressed through anthropological lenses. The argument is sustained by two main exercises: first, a critical overview of the foundations of the labor theory of value outlines the reasons why it opened new grounds for anthropological and, more generally, for social-scientific enquiries. Second, a discussion of the key points of friction between scholarship that attempts to develop an "anthropological" theory of value as an end in itself and anthropological scholarship that resorts to the (labor) theory of value to critically inform research. 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27812 News and Education Policy in Hong Kong Liao, Han This thesis examines the press coverage of educational issues and the making of education policy in post-transition Hong Kong. Education is of great importance to Hong Kong. After the handover of sovereignty from Britain to China in 1997, Hong Kong’s new government introduced a thorough educational reform. As educational issues had a high priority on the new government’s agenda, media coverage of these issues increased dramatically. In addition, there was much speculation about how Hong Kong’s media would develop after the reversion to Chinese rule. A case study of news coverage of education issues in contemporary Hong Kong holds great interest not only for studying news and education policy but also because of the insights it gives into Hong Kong’s press and politics. The present study draws on the newsmaking and agenda-building literatures to develop an analytical framework that guides the research. By employing content analysis, and supplementing it with interview data from journalists and educators, the thesis examines the press coverage of four educational issues. The four issues were the compulsory mother-tongue teaching in secondary schools, a proposed language benchmark test for teachers, sex discrimination in the Secondary School Places Allocation System, and cuts to university funding between 2001 and 2004. In total, the content analysis included 1,385 items from four newspapers on these four issues. The research found, firstly, that the press is more interested in primary and secondary education than in tertiary education issues; secondly, that the news coverage of educational issues concentrated on conflicts, and while these could occur at all stages of the policy process, they were most frequently in the later parts; thirdly, that journalists’ judgement of the newsworthiness of individual events and news source activities strongly influenced the press coverage of education issues; and fourthly, that education coverage is dominated by few powerful news sources but the domination did not necessarily secure the sources positive coverage. So press coverage tended to reflect when policy development generated conflicts and public events, and reflected the publicity strategies of the strongest and best organised groups. 2022-03-23T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27749 Our Home Girt By Sea: Rethinking Australian Strategic Policy in the Indo-Pacific Ristevski, Alexandar Aron Since Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia has depended on the leading power within the region to underwrite its security and prosperity – with primacy initially enjoyed by the United Kingdom, and then following the events of World War Two, the United States of America. While having benefitted immensely from this regional order, the geostrategic environment that Australia now finds itself in is rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly hostile amidst the emergence of great power competition between Beijing and Washington. This intensifying grand strategic rivalry coincides with the shifting balance of power which has been facilitated by China’s monumental rise and America’s relative decline. Subsequently, it is the first time in our history that we may not be able to depend upon ‘a great and powerful friend’ to safeguard our national interests. This uncertain future has sparked debates in political, academic, and strategic communities, many of which are riddled with premature assumptions and wishful predictions, related to the Sino-American contest for supremacy and the seemingly limited options available for Australia. A ‘gap’ in the literature, then, is examining the concrete ways that Canberra can take advantage of the situation and maximise its own power within the Indo-Pacific. However, in contrast to the prevailing tendencies of previous research, this thesis does not focus on whether Australia can help the United States maintain its dominant position and successfully prevent China from assuming regional primacy, but rather, how it can strengthen itself irrespective of what regional order may come. To that end, employing a fundamentally neorealist perspective, and combining both offensive and defensive strands, I explore the ways that Australian strategic policy within the Indo-Pacific can be recalibrated to not only navigate through the rapidly evolving and increasingly hostile geostrategic environment, but also, simultaneously contribute to a more potent, resolute, and capable Commonwealth of Australia. 2022-03-17T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27379 Rewriting our agri-culture: a discursive analysis on agroecology within Australia de Castro, Zoe The way in which society organises agriculture affects every aspect of our lives: our approach to the land and its organisms, the building of civilisations, economic inequality, gender relations, human health and our relationship with the land’s original custodians. Yet humanity has organised itself around an industrialised global food system which erodes democracy, perpetuates injustices, undermines human health and is environmentally fatal. Recognising this, farmers, activists and scholars have been calling for a transition to agroecological food systems for centuries. It is a paradigm which holistically addresses the agri-culture of our food systems; not just the sustainability of agroecosystems, but the socio-political structures that design them. This work joins the movement of literature calling for epistemic justice in the institutionalisation of agroecology in food governance. It endeavours to provide a more in-depth understanding of the discourses of sustainable agriculture that operate within Australia. It contributes to the paucity of literature covering agroecology’s nascent development within the country. A poststructuralist discourse analysis (PSDA) analyses the discursive formations of sustainable agriculture operated by the state and civil society actors involved in the debate. It will examine if there are any spaces of “dislocation” through which the paradigm of agroecology can emerge in mainstream discourse. Ultimately, it will reveal how the historic institutionalisation of productivist discourses by dominant groups has resulted in an epistemic community which remains unfavourable to a just transition towards agroecological food systems by 2100. 2022-01-31T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27372 “Curious Passivity”: Underbalancing Behaviour In The United States’ Foreign Policy Response To Covid-19 Knight, Sarah In 2020, the United States experienced a multifaceted threat environment. Not only was the United States one of the states worst impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also engaged in the ongoing Sino-American competition over the global distribution of power. The United States was therefore simultaneously faced with a traditional and a non-traditional security threat. However, the United States’ response to COVID-19 during a power challenge did not trigger the significant mobilisation of state resources that theories expect. This research addresses the puzzle of why the United States did not appropriately respond to the multifaceted threat environment in 2020. To answer this question, this study applies underbalancing theory and adopts a process tracing methodology to empirically examine three of the United States’ foreign policy decisions made in 2020; the decisions to restrict PPE exports, withdraw from WHO, and not participate in COVAX. The adverse political environment in the United States in 2020 impeded foreign policy decision-making, which led to underbalancing behaviour. This research scrutinises the recent and puzzling phenomenon of American policymaking in the last year of the Trump administration, the response to COVID-19 during a period of global power transition, and confirms that neoclassical realist theories of power can be usefully applied to the contemporary, multifaceted threat environment. It also affirms theories of protracted American decline in global influence, which is a trend that transcends the Trump administration. 2022-01-28T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27371 Altruism or Orientalism? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Australian representations of RAMSI Peters, Georgia The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was Australian-led and largely Australian-funded, taking place over a 14-year window from 24 July 2003 to 30 June 2017. A mere few months beforehand, former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer argued that the deployment of Australian troops to the Solomon Islands would be unjustifiable to Australian taxpayers and likely resented in the region. This thesis seeks to investigate how RAMSI became ‘thinkable’ as a policy option through an examination of the representations of Australia and Solomon Islands in Australian political discourse during the mission’s early years (2003-2007). Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was used to analyse archival material produced primarily by DFAT and AusAID as well as newspaper articles produced by The Australian from 2003-2007. While Australian foreign aid is often portrayed as altruistic, this thesis finds that the parallel representations of Solomon Islands as a ‘failing state’ harkens back to the inherently racialised paradigm of development and is a reiteration of the colonial discourses of the past. 2022-01-28T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27370 A Roadmap to Nowhere? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Australia’s ‘Technology-Led’ Emissions Reduction Strategy Stephenson, Nicholas In response to mounting international pressure, the Australian Federal Government has recently announced a ‘Technology Investment Roadmap’ as its national climate strategy. This new policy seeks to enable the deployment of emerging “low emissions technologies” to spearhead the decarbonisation of Australia’s economy. Nevertheless, policies which promise future technical solutions to intractable global problems risk delaying effective action by obscuring the scope for other non-technical changes. Drawing primarily on the approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) developed by Fairclough, this research project aims to examine how dominant representations of technology in Australia’s ‘technology-led’ emissions reduction strategy are discursively constructed, and to what extent they influence the policy’s mitigation potential. The analysis identified three dominant socio-technical storylines within the examined texts, each linked by their optimistic representations of low emissions technologies. These storylines were constructed from a set of technological discourses which, when situated in a wider social context, were found to reproduce Australia’s political (and emissions) status quo. Since these dominant representations of technology are incompatible with the systemic changes required for substantial emissions reductions, this research project concludes that the Technology Investment Roadmap delays, rather than enhances, meaningful climate action in Australia. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27369 “Beyond Politics”? A Post-political Discourse Analysis of Extinction Rebellion van Vliet, Luc Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a social movement committed to non-violent civil disobedience to persuade governments to act on climate change. As part of this aim, it approaches climate change as a non-partisan and unifying issue. At the same time, environmental political theorists have identified climate change as a distinct site of post-politics. They problematise the widespread understanding of climate change as a catastrophic force of ‘nature’ that must be managed to protect humanity. This discursive representation de-emphasises the systemic drivers of climate change to justify addressing the issue within the existing parameters of the prevailing political order that perpetuates it. In this context, this thesis aims to analyse XR from a post-political perspective. It argues that the group’s apolitical framing of climate change reflects dominant climate discourse, which undermines the movement’s political effectiveness. Drawing on Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, the thesis conducted a discourse analysis of XR’s framing of climate change, focusing on its implications for the group’s argument for political change. The analysis revealed two primary ways that XR reproduces dominant post-political climate discourse, as well as an emphasis on a moral, rather than explicitly political, justification for political action. Together, these findings illuminate how XR’s representation of climate change is post-political, limiting the group’s capacity to build a diverse social movement that embraces the conflict inherent to political demands for a better social and environmental future. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27368 ‘Illegal Aliens’, ‘Anchor Babies’, And ‘Mooches’: How does securitising discourse validate the sterilisation of migrant women in the US? Scott, Caitlin In 2020, Dawn Hooten, a licensed practical nurse employed at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, filed a complaint alleging that inmates were subjected to concerningly high rates of hysterectomies, often without informed consent. However, the coerced and forced sterilisations of women is not a new phenomenon but a pervasive tradition that has disproportionately affected women from minority backgrounds. The continuation of this phenomenon in the US for over fifty years suggests a discursive environment where this practice is, to some extent, legitimised. Consequently, my research question asks how securitising discourse in the US legitimises involuntary sterilisation of migrant women. More specifically, I seek to analyse how conservative U.S. media legitimises the involuntary sterilisation of minority women through its engagement with discriminatory and racialised security narratives. Through post-structural discourse analysis, what I found was three dominant narratives that broadly underpin how conservative U.S. media validates the involuntary sterilisation of migrant women; that migrant women are threats to U.S. national security, racial security and economic security. Each of these themes, with their own interesting sub narratives, assist in securitising migrant women and their reproductive rights and in turn, validate the involuntary sterilisation of these individuals. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27367 A Requiem for a Norm: The Decay of the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine in a Multipolar International System Freudenstein, Isabel The Responsibility to Protect doctrine was designed in response to the rising concern for human security of the late 1990s. While initially, the norm was considered a significant adjustment to international behaviour, following the Libya intervention in 2011, this perception has been challenged. As such, this thesis interrogates its current role as a reflection of the changing nature of the international system, intensifying the decay of its principles in responding to mass atrocity. This thesis establishes that the rising multipolarity of the international system has led to the contestation of the Responsibility to Protect. Through a comparative study of the UN Security Council discourse of Myanmar and Yemen, this thesis examines the traditional life-cycle of a norm to interrogate its internalisation. It challenges literature that suggests that R2P is a dead norm. Instead, this thesis suggests that contestation of the norm is not merely in its implementation, but also its validity. In doing so, this thesis establishes that the rising multipolarity of the international system presents an opportunity for re-negotiation of the norm. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27366 Soldiers of Fortune: A qualitative study into the effects of military provider, Private Military Companies on the domestic sovereignty of fragile African nations Blackford, Grace The global security environment is rapidly changing and dynamic, presenting an interesting challenge to nation states. This has created an industry for private security in which lower capacity states can increase their force, skills, and expertise on the combat front to effectively defeat an enemy. However, this industry presents a new challenge to the sovereignty of nations as it takes the military, which was previously a state-controlled institution and has opened it up to private influence. This thesis looks to explore whether Private Military Companies that provide direct military combat have a measurable negative impact upon the domestic sovereignty of an already fragile African state. To do this, the thesis first defines domestic sovereignty and the measurable aspects that will be analysed in each of the three case studies. These measurable aspects will be elite fragmentation, the ability to generate revenue from state assets, and territorial control. The three case studies analysed are Sierra Leone, Angola, and Nigeria. The thesis finds that when a nation hires with higher levels of elite fragmentation hires a Private Military Company then measurable negative effects on the nation’s ability to practice domestic sovereignty will occur. Further, the thesis discovers that when a nation with lower levels of elite fragmentation hires a Private Military Company there will be a neutral effect on the nation’s ability to practice domestic sovereignty. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27365 Unearthing the Foundations of Exploitation: The Varieties of Capitalism and Forced Labour Barrera, Sofia Isabel R. This thesis sought to answer how different forms of capitalism address unfree labour conditions through an analysis of a crucial case, Nestlé S.A. The thesis employed the use of the Varieties of Capitalism theory to explore the forms of capitalism utilised in the global economy, a liberal market economy (LME) and Switzerland, a coordinated liberal market economy (CLME), the two systems Nestlé S.A. is embedded in. A computer-assisted content analysis with a discursive analytic framework was then used to identify which of the two systems Nestlé S.A. used more in its structure and rhetoric, and finally determined its prioritisation of LME traits within the Swiss CLME system. This prioritisation is found in the firm’s attempts to address forced labour, as its efforts are hindered by vague definitions of the problem and identifying farmer productivity as the core cause of forced labour in global supply chains. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27363 The “Unpredictability Doctrine” vs. “The Steady State:” Indo-Pacific Diplomacy under the Trump Presidency Nason, Alice President Trump’s “America First” foreign policy doctrine contravened the foundational principles of the American-led international order. However, the extent to which his unconventional preferences transformed the character of American commitment to its partners is disputed. This thesis proposes that an implementation gap exists between presidential rhetoric and the policies implemented by the pluralistic foreign policy organisation. Accordingly, this thesis poses two overarching questions. First, does grand strategy take precedence over presidential doctrine in foreign policy decision-making? Second, if so, is the foreign policy detail capable of diverging from the visions of an anti-establishment president to ensure its implementation? This thesis unifies competing theoretical perspectives on the inherently contradictory concepts of ‘grand strategy’ and ‘presidential doctrine,’ and examines their influence on political appointees’ diplomatic travel. At the core of this thesis is a comparative, empirical analysis of 779 diplomatic trips, complemented by a content analysis of 115 addresses delivered by Obama and Trump administration appointees in the Indo-Pacific. 2022-01-27T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27327 Practicing what we teach: Experiential learning in higher education that cuts both ways Valiente-Riedl, Elisabeth; Anderson, Leticia; Banki, Susan As innovative pedagogies such as experiential learning unsettle traditional assumptions about tertiary teaching, a deeper understanding of how teachers experience such shifts is required. Whilst the literature emphasizes that effective experiential learning should entail transformative educational experiences for students, less attention is paid to the implications for educators. Through a collaborative autoethnographic approach, this research explores the experience of three tertiary educators delivering experiential learning in human rights education and highlights their process of transformative learning, which produced changes in their professional identities. Drawing on scholarship of experiential and transformative learning, we argue that the delivery of experiential learning initiates a process of critical self-reflection that can prompt educator transformation into not only facilitator, as commonly depicted in the literature, but also co-learner. As such, a deep shift in educator identities may also occur, adding a layer of transformation in experiential learning that remains neglected in the literature. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/27028 Entanglements of affect, space, and evidence in pandemic healthcare: An analysis of Australian healthcare workers’ experiences of COVID-19 Williams Veazey, Leah; Broom, Alex; Kenny, Katherine; Degeling, Chris; Hor, Suyin; Broom, Jennifer; Wyer, Mary; Burns, Penelope; Gilbert, Gwendolyn L The COVID-19 pandemic continues to highlight both global interconnectedness and schisms across place, context and peoples. While countries such as Australia have securitised their borders in response to the global spread of disease, flows of information and collective affect continue to permeate these boundaries. Drawing on interviews with Australian healthcare workers, we examine how their experiences of the pandemic are shaped by affect and evidence 'traveling' across time and space. Our analysis points to the limitations of global health crisis responses that focus solely on material risk and spatial separation. Institutional responses must, we suggest, also consider the affective and discursive dimensions of health-related risk environments. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26584 Book Review: 'Refuge Beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers' by David Scott Fitzgerald Banki, Susan Review of Refuge Beyond Reach, by David Scott FitzGerald 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26568 Exploring collective health security in a new age of pandemics. A review of Sara E. Davies’ Containing Contagion. Seewald, Kate 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26567 COVID-19: A Crisis of Borders Boucher, Anna; Hooijer, Gerda; King, Desmond; Napier, Isabelle; Stears, Marc ABSTRACT The public health crisis of COVID-19 has compounded preexisting crises of democratic stability and effective governance, spurring debate about the ability of developed democracies to respond effectively to emergencies confronting their citizens. These crises, much discussed in recent political science, are joined by a further crisis which complicates and reinforces them: A migration crisis. Widespread travel and immigration restrictions instigated the largest and fastest decline in global human mobility in modern history, and COVID-19 may fundamentally change immigration over the longer term. The migration crisis heightens three crucial and preexisting concerns within immigration policy: the role of visa design; the status of undocumented migrants and other migrants without recourse to public funds; and the interaction of immigration and the labor market policy. It could reinforce a rising tide of nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment, protectionist sentiment within labor-market policy debates, and a K-shaped recovery in migration patterns. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26566 International students struggling in the private rental sector in Australia prior to and during the pandemic Morris, Alan; Wilson, Shaun; Mitchell, Emma; Ramia, Gaby; Hastings, Catherine 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26538 Interrogating the World Bank's role in global health knowledge production, governance, and finance Tichenor, Marlee; Winters, Janelle; Storeng, Katerini T.; Bump, Jesse; Gaudillière, Jean-Paul; Gorsky, Martin; Hellowell, Mark; Kadama, Patrick; Kenny, Katherine; Shawar, Yusra Ribhi; Songane, Francisco; Walker, Alexis; Whitacre, Ryan; Asthana, Sumegha; Fernandes, Genevie; Stein, Felix; Sridhar, Devi BACKGROUND: In the nearly half century since it began lending for population projects, the World Bank has become one of the largest financiers of global health projects and programs, a powerful voice in shaping health agendas in global governance spaces, and a mass producer of evidentiary knowledge for its preferred global health interventions. How can social scientists interrogate the role of the World Bank in shaping 'global health' in the current era? MAIN BODY: As a group of historians, social scientists, and public health officials with experience studying the effects of the institution's investment in health, we identify three challenges to this research. First, a future research agenda requires recognizing that the Bank is not a monolith, but rather has distinct inter-organizational groups that have shaped investment and discourse in complicated, and sometimes contradictory, ways. Second, we must consider how its influence on health policy and investment has changed significantly over time. Third, we must analyze its modes of engagement with other institutions within the global health landscape, and with the private sector. The unique relationships between Bank entities and countries that shape health policy, and the Bank's position as a center of research, permit it to have a formative influence on health economics as applied to international development. Addressing these challenges, we propose a future research agenda for the Bank's influence on global health through three overlapping objects of and domains for study: knowledge-based (shaping health policy knowledge), governance-based (shaping health governance), and finance-based (shaping health financing). We provide a review of case studies in each of these categories to inform this research agenda. CONCLUSIONS: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, and as state and non-state actors work to build more inclusive and robust health systems around the world, it is more important than ever to consider how to best document and analyze the impacts of Bank's financial and technical investments in the Global South. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26526 Emotional and financial health during COVID_19: The role of housework, employment and childcare in Australia and the United States Ruppanner, Leah; Tan, Xiao; Carson, Andrea; Ratcliff, Shaun During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world witnessed major economic, school, and daycare closures. We sampled respondents in Australia and the US during the height of the first restrictions to understand how the first quarantine structured their emotional strain and financial worry (825 Australians and 835 Americans aged between 18 and 65; May 2-3, 2020; source YouGov). We apply structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the emotional well-being impacts of COVID-19 are not only gendered but also vary between childless people and parents. Specifically, we show that compared to Australians, Americans were more impacted by changes in their financial circumstances. Further, while the financial worry and emotional strain impacts were similar between childless people and parents in Australia, significant differences existed between the two groups in the United States. In particular, we identify American mothers as the most disadvantaged group-feeling the most anxious and financially worried about both employment and domestic changes under COVID-19. Policy wise, we argue that COVID-19 is exacerbating gender inequality in emotional health. To slow down this trend, more adequate mental health supports are needed, particularly for mothers. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/26144 Dramaturgy and crisis management: A third act Ball, Sarah; McConnell, Allan; Stark, Alastair Dramaturgical perspectives have been used successfully in the past by crisis management researchers. However, previous contributions have been limited because they have been actor-centered, which has meant that they have tended to ignore the critical role that an audience can play in the drama of a crisis. This article therefore presents a “third act” in which dramaturgical perspectives are used to deliver an actor-and-audience centered analysis of crisis management. This third act is built around the dramaturgical concept of “characterization,” which we introduce to assess how an audience receives the symbolic outputs and discourses that are produced by crisis actors. After this theorizing, we present an analytical model, which will allow future researchers to analyze the interplay between actor, audience, and legitimacy when examining crisis. We conclude by illustrating the model's analytical capacity via an examination of the role of leaders and experts during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25697 Decolonising Fire: Recognition justice and Aboriginal fire knowledge in the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire news narrative Plange, Naa Adubi Lamle Australia’s 2019-2020 summer bushfires brought to light two key conversations during its news coverage: the need for better forms of bushfire management, and most importantly, the revival of Aboriginal cultural burning practices. The Australian landscape was formed through fire, and for more than 60,000 years, Aboriginal people across the continent have developed knowledge of the land through generations of custodianship and culture. Despite the ecological and scientific value of Aboriginal place-specific knowledge that has developed alongside the changes of this continent's vast ecosystems, the establishment of the settler-colonial system has deemed this knowledge invalid and unscientific. Drawing on the concepts of decolonisation, misrecognition, epistemic violence, Aboriginal academic literature, and recognition as a component of justice especially, this thesis challenges covert themes of settler-colonialism present in the bushfire news narrative, and will showcase why recognition justice must underscore discussions and initiatives concerning cultural burning. Through a thematic content analysis of news articles published prior, during, and after the bushfires, the findings of this study will highlight how Aboriginal people and their knowledge are still undermined in the media, and on a macrocosmic level, Australia as a colonial institution. 2021-07-15T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25554 The Alberta Effect and Canadian Climate Policy MacNeil, Robert This paper aims to develop the concept of an ‘Alberta effect’ as a type of antonym to the ‘California effect’ in the literature on environmental policy in federal states. The paper argues that Canada’s efforts to achieve an effective national climate strategy over the past 25 years have, to a large extent, been hampered by an Alberta effect, where a relatively small jurisdiction has not only used a permissive federalist architecture to grind federal action to a halt, but has also completely overwhelmed emissions reductions made elsewhere in the federation. The article explores the nature of this effect and the conditions which have allowed it to occur, and provides some preliminary insight into how Ottawa might hope to manage this situation and work towards decarbonising the Canadian economy going forward. 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25339 Life, death, and the living dead in the time of COVID-19 Der Derian, J.; Gara, P. Is COVID-19 our first global zombie event? The question leads to others that fall outside the decorum of official discourse, possibly because the answers reach beyond the pale of the state. Unable to understand the nature of the threat, national leaders failed early and caught on late to the need for a globally coordinated response. Coupled with a deep resistance by states to the alienation of any degree of sovereignty to international institutions, the prospect of a global solution to the zombie question remains elusive. This essay offers an interpandemic response to the novel coronavirus that cuts across borders and against the grain. The first is transnational, to identify from the parallax view of Sydney and Los Angeles emergent risks that defy single-state fixes. The second is transhistorical, to counter efforts by China and the United States to subsume a human security crisis into the narrative of an eternal Cold War. The third is transmedial, to acquire new political and cultural perspectives on the pandemic through the zombie cinematic genre, including our documentary film, Project Z: The Final Global Event. A zombie inquiry can help us understand how COVID-19 is both disease and potential cure of late and rising empires. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25052 What Does South Korea Think of the China-US COVID Blame Game? Raswant, Arpit; Kim, Jiye Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a “G-0” international system has surfaced. Countries like South Korea are pressed to consider pandemic management at a time when there are growing signs of a lack of cooperation between the two great powers, China and the Uny a general absence of global leadership and accountability – i.e., the “G-0” international order. Amid ongoing frited States, accompanied biction between China and the U.S. over pandemic-related issues, two leading discourses appear in South Korea. At first, most Korean analysts see the blame game over the virus’ origin as primarily related to China and the United States’ respective domestic issues. Then, the finger-pointing is linked to the underlying hegemonic competition between China and the United States. In addition to these two dominant views, there is an ongoing debate that about what is going on behind the scenes in this war of words. The local discourses observed in South Korea resonate in other countries with similar conditions and concerns about the G-0 international system’s potential outcomes: no multipolar, bipolar, or unipolar order of accountability. The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first and most likely not the last exogenous shock to move the world in that direction. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25044 South Korea and America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy: Yes, But Not Quite Kim, Jiye; Wilkins, Thomas In a call with South Korean President Jae-In Moon on 11 November 2020, the United States President-elect Joe Biden emphasised that South Korea represented the “lynchpin of the security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.” It is too soon to comment on any possible variations that will appear in American policy towards Asia yet. But it seems likely that the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” – as detailed in the Department of Defense’s 2019 Indo-Pacific Strategy Report (IPSR) and State Department’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) document – enjoys bipartisan support and will thus remain the centerpiece of US engagement with the region. This is also currently the consensus view among the Korean media and expert community. Like many ASEAN member states, South Korea has sought to avoid “choosing sides” between China and the United States. It has adopted an uneasy equidistance between the two great powers and their respective Indo-Pacific Strategy and Belt and Road Initiative power plays. 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25029 Finding the Common Ground with South Korea Kim, Jiye This chapter contributes to the literature in two ways: understanding the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative from a Chinese perspective and analyzing China’s diplomacy with its neighboring countries. As a part of the Northeast Asian region, South Korea is geographically away from the primary geographical focus of OBOR, Central Asia. However, South Korea’s geopolitical significance still provides relevance to the OBOR initiative. This chapter consists of the following sections. Firstly, the understanding of OBOR from China’s perspective, the nature and goal of OBOR will be discussed. Secondly, China’s effort to engage South Korea in OBOR will follow. 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/25027 China’s 4 Principles in the South China Sea Dispute Kim, Jiye China’s principles regarding the South China Sea (SCS) dispute are erratic, yet becoming clearer as the regional status quo is threatened by littoral actors, led by China itself. Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested four principles to guide the SCS dispute during a recent visit to Australia, in preparation for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit in November this year. First, he said that the dispute over the sovereignty of some reefs in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands is a leftover problem of history. He said historical facts should come first in handling the dispute. Second, he requested that other countries respect international laws, specifically referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Third, he said that direct dialogue and consultation between the countries involved should be respected. Last, he said that the efforts China and ASEAN have made to maintain peace and stability should be respected. He also limited the roles of the countries outside the region to “constructive” ones. China argues through the Four Respects that, firstly, the country does not set aside international law and abides by it as a legal signatory to UNCLOS, and secondly, it provides the littoral states with the opportunity to negotiate the waters around the Spratly Islands as well as their adjacent waters, over which China has demarcated its sovereignty. China has held to its “indisputable sovereignty” since the 1980s; however, the principle of “indisputable sovereignty” has been segmented and specified by the recent Four Respects. 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24827 "Learning alone-a with Corona": two challenges and four principles of tertiary teaching Banki, Susan Rachel Purpose The author offers two challenges and four principles to teaching in the tertiary sector during this pandemic. While others may focus on the challenge of technical delivery, the author notes the challenges of systemic student disengagement. The author attempts to correct for this in four ways. She argues that the challenges she identifies and the principles that can be deployed in response are applicable across a range of teaching contexts and can be adapted for a post-COVID-19 era. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on the author's phenomenological experience teaching in the context of COVID-19 and draws as well on the sociological literature of higher education teaching. Findings Four principles emerged from a year of successful teaching during COVID-19. First, the author embraces a pedagogy of care, which reflects a genuine concern for student well-being. Second, the author utilizes a variety of technological approaches to keep students engaged. Third, she retains a flexible approach to teaching. Fourth, she considers carefully the extent to which COVID-19 is included, and excluded, from topical discussions. On this point she argues that COVID-19 should neither be the center point of any material, nor should it be ignored completely. Originality/value Shocks to the tertiary education system will continue to recur, as will instances of systemic student disengagement. Effective correctives to such disengagement, drawn from both education theory and empirical experience, will continue to be of value. 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24652 Sino-Cambodia 2010 - 2018: To what extent has the Chinese Government contributed to the decline of multiparty democracy in Cambodia? Goldrick, Emma Cambodia has become an integral component of China’s strategic objectives throughout Southeast Asia. China’s intention to expand the Belt and Road Initiative through Southeast Asia is contingent on its ability to maintain healthy cooperation with the Hun Sen administration in Cambodia. Through the patron-client dynamic of Sino-Cambodian relations, China has secured rights to vital deep-water ports, hydroelectric dams, vital BRI infrastructure and access to the South China Sea. In recent years, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s, Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), has received international criticism and sanctions from traditional aid-aid-donors for infringing on democratic rights. As a result of this, the CPP has become asymmetrically dependent on Chinese economic patronage. This thesis seeks to determine the extent to which the Chinese Government has contributed to the decline of multiparty democracy in Cambodia between 2010 and 2018. To achieve this, the paper conducts a process tracing analysis to determine causation between Chinese patronage and the breakdown of democracy in Cambodia. In doing so, this thesis uses the theoretical framework of patron-client to understand the actions of China and Cambodia alike. The core findings of this study demonstrate the party-to-party relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the CPP, and how this contributes to Cambodia’s ideological convergence. It further establishes the way in which China’s objectives in Cambodia have become mutually reinforcing. The final finding of this thesis demonstrates how Prime Minister Hun Sen’s internal legitimacy is dependent on Chinese economic patronage. Through the research findings of this study, this thesis also contributes to broader literature regarding the application of patron-client theory to China and Southeast Asia. 2021-03-15T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24646 Playing to Constraints: How Domestic Politics Determines the International Policies of North Korea Newland, Amy This thesis refocuses considerations of North Korea to its internal politics, which lack attention as they are commonly perceived as inconsequential, or simply made ad hoc by the reigning supreme leader. Domestic politics however does play the key role in North Korea’s decision making, baring explanation as to why North Korea can give concessions under certain circumstances, or why North Korea otherwise continues to act in a way which provokes further external pressure. Throughout the leadership of the three Kims, the external constraints on North Korea have remained much the same. North Korea finds itself largely without allies outside of China, facing perceived strong and aggressive aversities, a widening material gap between itself and its adversaries and a balance of power that strongly favours the US-South Korean alliance. Yet, North Korean approaches to foreign policies have significantly changed over the years. It is these changes which require a consideration of how internal politics influences change in North Korea and what this means for international engagement. 2021-03-11T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24645 Criminalising Disinformation: On Anti-Fake News Legislation in Southeast Asia Trinder, Billie In 2016 it was revealed that the Brexit referendum and US presidential election were both targeted by sophisticated online disinformation campaigns, and in the years since states around the world have scrambled to respond to this new threat. Many have chosen to criminalise the creation and dissemination of fake news a crime despite warnings from international organisations and experts that these ‘fake news laws’ will restrict speech and stifle dissent. Southeast Asian states in particular have broadly chosen to take this controversial approach. This thesis seeks to answer why this is. I take an analytic narrative approach to this question, using a combination of Tsebelis’ veto player theorem and elements of historical institutionalism to interrogate two case studies: the Philippines and Singapore. Comparison of the cases reveals that institutional configuration and the extent to which avenues for dissent exist in each political environment are critical to the success of proposed anti-disinformation legislation. The study also underscores the potential impacts of such legislation, where restrictions on free speech increase the likelihood of similarly restrictive legislation passing in the future, creating a dynamic of increasing returns. 2021-03-11T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24619 The Fallen Sage: Emperor Huizong’s Dilemma and the Wise Ruler Doctrine Tao, Max Junbo This dissertation is an interdisciplinary study of the reign of Emperor Huizong (1100-1126), whose rule proved so paradoxical: after building a new stage of the Northern Song dynasty that resulted in two decades of prosperity, his empire collapsed within a few years. The dissertation examines the strengths and weaknesses of the three leading explanations of the failure of Huizong’s rule, and it shows why they cannot adequately account for the collapse of the empire. The root cause of Huizong’s downfall was not that he was an undisciplined ruler, or that he was the victim of military misjudgements, or that he badly handled tensions between his own Daoist beliefs and a Confucian bureaucracy, as has been claimed. The dissertation asserts that Huizong instead had a legitimation problem. It shows that in his struggle for political power Huizong mainly relied upon the doctrine of the Wise Ruler. This doctrine is analysed in some detail, in order to develop the main thesis. It is argued that Huizong’s attachment to the Wise Ruler doctrine trapped him within a dilemma: questing for unrestrained political power and at the same time claiming authority as a sage-like ruler. This contradiction eventually triggered his downfall. The dissertation shows that the Wise Ruler doctrine stipulated that (a) the emperor’s power and authority should be tightly integrated; (b) that there had to be a subtle balance between the emperor and the other forces in the ruling group; and (c) the ruling group was entitled to comprehensive dominance over the common people. In practice, the dissertation argues, the consolidation of Huizong’s political power destroyed the balance in the ruling group and exacerbated tensions with the disadvantaged common people. The tensions between the emperor’s power and authority sowed the seeds of the Northern Song empire’s destruction. The dissertation argues that the case of Huizong is of great relevance for future research on pre-modern and modern Chinese political leadership, political system and political culture, and that the issue of power and authority is a perennial challenge for all rulers. 2021-03-08T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24618 Gender-Based Violence Crimes in Conflict: A Discourse Analysis of International Justice Mechanisms Carney, Charlotte Since the 1990s, international justice mechanisms have implemented numerous procedural adjustments in order to achieve a degree of inclusivity for gender-based violence crimes. Irrespective of these changes, justice for gender-based violence crimes in conflict continues to be limited despite the widespread nature of this crime. I note this pattern in three key international courts: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. My discourse analysis of fifteen cases from these three courts examines how the courts engage with gender-based violence. Their engagement reveals that gender and race power structures inherently function within international gender-based violence justice, delineating the possibilities for gendered and racialized crimes. I find that gender inclusivity provisions continue to be ineffective due to these structures and theorise that for the successful future of gender-based violence justice, structural change is necessary. My paper initially exposes these structures and then discusses their implications, providing a final analytical summary that details the necessary changes within international justice for gender-based violence survivors to experience effective judicial processes. 2021-03-08T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/2123/23503 RETHINKING NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ENERGY USING RÉGULATION THEORY Chester, Lynne Energy is treated by Neoclassical Economics as an abstract adjunct to the capitalist economy in the form of inter alia an intermediate production input, a market, a commodity, or the source of production externalities such as air and water pollution. The energy policy prescriptions of Neoclassical Economics, underpinned by econometric and other mathematical techniques, are framed around price, supply and demand, and the deregulation of markets. This paper posits an alternative analytical framework to understanding energy, and its relation to the environment and the capitalist economy. Drawing on French Régulation Theory—informed by Marxian and Institutional Economics—institutions are the focus of inquiry, and the analysis of energy is situated within the context of its use by capitalism, the processes of economic change and the impact of its use on the environment. This approach illuminates the co-constitutive nature of energy, the environment and the accumulation process as capitalism has become increasingly dependent on non-renewable fossil fuels actively supported by nation-states and supra-national institutions. A critical difference between Régulation Theory and Neoclassical Economics, and thus the respective methodologies, is the social ontology underpinning each framework. The worldview of Neoclassical Economics, presupposed by its formalistic methods, is one of a closed economic system in which event regularities occur, events have casual sequence, there are no exogenous influences and thus no social context. The social ontology of Régulation Theory is of the capitalist economy as an open system, structured by conflictual social relations and the process of capital accumulation, and subject to endogenous and exogenous influences. It is posited that this ontological view of social reality leads to a more realistic analysis of energy’s interrelationships with the real economy and the environment compared to the abstract analysis of Neoclassical Economics. 2020-10-01T00:00:00Z