Seminars and Conferences
Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room
Level 1, Sidney Myer Asia Centre
University of Melbourne Parkville Campus
This is a free event.
This interdisciplinary forum will discuss the pressing issues facing the future of the WTO. It is being organised by postgraduate students from a number of universities.
Please see the forum website for more information.
Thursday 15th February 2007:
Paul An-Hao Huang (PhD Completion Seminar)
'The Maritime Strategy of China in the Asia-Pacific Region: Origins, Development and Impact'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Abstract: Today, with the rise of China's maritime power, China Threat at sea is becoming the main variable of maritime security in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the development of Chinese naval behaviour has become a significant and noteworthy issue in the area of Asia-Pacific security.
Because of the expansion of PRC maritime strategy and the rising strength of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), China's maritime behaviour has caused many insecurity situations in this region; examples are the competition of oceanic resources, the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) and the sovereignty of territorial waters.
My research is focusing on the growth of China's maritime power and the maritime security of the Asia-Pacific, by analysing the PRC maritime strategic behaviour since 1949. In this research a major question should be addressed: What is the underlying strategic development of China's maritime strategy under the power structure of the Asia-Pacific?
This research includes three parts. The first part will explore the origins of PRC maritime strategy. The second part will analyse three steps of the development of China's maritime strategy: from a coastal defence to an active offshore defence, and towards developing a blue-water strategy, and examine the build-up of PLAN: from a brown-water navy to a blue-water navy. The third part will attempt to analyse the impact of China's maritime strategy on the security of the Asia-Pacific.
As to my opinion, only by analysing these three parts of China's maritime strategy can we realize the ambition of China's maritime strategy and the implication of regional maritime security.
New time - Tuesday 13th February 2007:
Jonathan Symons (PhD Completion Seminar)
'International legitimacy: contesting the domestic analogy'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Abstract: Why do states comply with international norms? Explanations for state
compliance based on Weberian legitimacy theory are now resurgent within
constructivist international relations theory. Yet they generally pay scant
attention to (1) persistent problems surrounding the explanatory utility of
'legitimacy' or (2) differences between domestic and international systems
that might confound this domestic analogy. Drawing on contemporary research
in social psychology and related disciplines, this thesis reconceptualises
sociological legitimacy as a mixture of social influence and norm
internalisation and systematically analyses the implications of legitimacy theory
for global governance.
Thursday 7 December:
Bernice Bovenkerk (Completion seminar)
'The Biotechnology Debate: Democracy in the face of intractable disagreement'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Abstract: The debate about animal and plant biotechnology has been (and continues to be) very contentious and provides a paradigmatic case of intractable disagreement in pluralistic societies that raises the very real prospect of serious conflict and possibly violence. This thesis explores how governments in democratic societies could stop the escalation of such conflict by addressing the disagreements while at the same time making regulative decisions that do not estrange the different sides of the debate. Deliberative democracy appears to carry more potental than any other social schoice system for enhancing mutual understanding, or at least ensuring that disagreement is 'reasonable' and manageable.This thesis not only critically examines the theoretical potential of deliberative democracy to deal with intractable disagreement under ideal circumstances but also its practical application in real-world contexts through a comparative analysis of deliberative microcosms (committees and consensus conferences) in the biotechnology field in Australia and the Netherlands. The central question of this thesis is: to what extent can public deliberation deal with intractable disagreement?
Thursday 16 November:
Dr Kevin McDonald
5th Annual TR Ashworth Lecture in Sociology
'Global Terror, Catastrophic Violence: Implications for Australia and Asia'
Read an extract of the lecture in The Australian newspaper.
Download the full lecture in Word format
View photos of the event
Dr Kevin McDonald is Senior Lecturer in
Sociology at the University of Melbourne.
He is the author of Global Movements:
Action and Culture (Blackwell, 2006) and
is currently writing Terrorism: Shifting
Paradigms to be published by Palgrave.
Abstract: Today terror is mutating from state-centred action involving
graduated organized violence, to the personalised
catastrophic violence of a new form of global movement.
This lecture asks how sociology can help us understand
this mutation, and considers the implications for Australia
and the wider Asia region.
Thursday 2 November:
Associate Professor Norrin Ripsman
'A Political Theory of Economic Statecraft'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Norrin M. Ripsman (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania) is an Associate
Professor in the Political Science Department at Concordia University in
Montreal, Canada. He is the author of Peacemaking by Democracies: The
Effect of State Autonomy on the Post-World-War Settlements (University
Park: Penn State University Press, 2002) and a co-editor (with Jean-Marc
F. Blanchard and Edward D. Mansfield) of Power and the Purse: Economic
Statecraft, Interdependence, and International Conflict (London: Frank
Cass, 2000).
Abstract: When can economic sanctions and incentives achieve important political
objectives? Why do they often fail? Jean-Marc F. Blanchard (San
Francisco State University) and I propose a political theory of economic
statecraft, arguing that the success of economic statecraft does not
depend on the magnitude of its economic effect. Instead, it succeeds when
the economic pain or gain they engender translates into political costs or
opportunities. We argue that the political effects of economic signals
will depend on a variety of international and domestic political factors,
the most important of which is the target state¹s level of stateness. We
illustrate our argument with case studies of Western economic incentives
to Hungary and Romania after the Cold War, Indian sanctions against Nepal
in the late 1980s, and international sanctions against South Africa in the
1980s.
Tuesday 24 October:
"Diplomatic Conclusions" Series of Lectures
Her Excellency Helen Liddell, the Ambassador of Great Britain
'Energy Security and Climate Security: two sides of the same coin'
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Lecture Theatre D
Old Arts Building
Thursday 19 October:
Dr Millsom Henry-Waring
'Shades of Black: Understanding the Polyvocal Subjectivities of Black
British Women.'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Millsom Henry-Waring joined the Department in February 2003 from Monash and
La Trobe Universities in Melbourne. Her PhD - Moving Beyond Otherness:
(Re)vealing, Re)centring and (Re)inscribing the Polyvocal Subjectivities of
African Caribbean Women across the United Kingdom was completed at Monash
University in 2002. This unique study explores in the context of a critical
and distinctive Black feminist anti-colonial framework how African Caribbean
women individually and collectively internalise, but also resist
constructions and representations of ourselves as Other.
Tuesday 17 October:
Feminist Forum
Maryse Helbert (Phd in progress Political Science)
'Oil wars and women's lives: a Radical feminist analysis of oil-driven international conflicts'
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
9.00am - 5.30pm
Gryphon Gallery
1888 Building
Tuesday 10 October:
Simon Obendorf
'Sexing up the International'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 512
John Medley Building
Thursday 5 October:
"Diplomatic Conclusions" Series of Lectures
His Excellency Bruno Julien, Ambassador of the EU
'Relations between the EU and Australia'
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Venue TBA
Thursday 14 September:
Professor Anthony Mughan
'What's to Fear from Immigrants: Deriving an Assimilationist threat Scale.'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 512
John Medley Building
Tony Mughan is Professor of Political Science and Director of International
Stusdies at Ohio State University. Previously, he was Senior Research Fellow
in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National
University and Lecturer in Politics at the University of Cardiff in Wales.
A current research interest is the effects of globalization on public
opinion and mass political behaviour in the world's established demcoracies.
Abstract: We argue that the cultural threat that is stressed in recent studies of
anti-immigrant sentiment is properly conceived as "assimilationist threat,"
a resentful perception that immigrants are failing to adopt the cultural
norms and lifestyle of their new homeland. We identify the form that this
sense of threat takes in the minds of Americans through the analysis of four
focus groups, two in Columbus, Ohio and two in Los Angeles, California. We
then use the insights from these group discussions to develop and test a
battery of survey qiuestions tapping three dimensions of immigrant
commitment, language, productivity and citizenship. The product is a
summary assimilationist threat scale that can be used by other researchers
seeking to understand the causes and consequences anti-immigrant sentiment.
*** Postponed until further notice ***
Michael Crozier
'Rethinking political communication as recursive governance'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Dr Michael Crozier is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political
Science. He is currently conducting an ARC Large-Grant funded research
project exploring political communication and culture in Australia and
internationally, and this paper draws on this wider research project.
Tuesday 12 September:
Feminist Forum
Sazz Eaton (Phd in progress Political Science)
'Labouring for the Enemy: Is Childbirth a Radical Feminist Issue?'
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Thursday 7 September:
Associate Professor Robyn Eckersley
'A green public sphere in the WTO?'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Robyn Eckersley's research interests include global politics, environmental
politics and political theory (particularly theories of justice and
democracy). She is on the editorial boards of Environmental Politics; Global
Chnage, Peace & Security; Global Environmental Politics; New Political
Economy; Organisation and Environment; and Philosophy and Geography.
Wednesday 30 August:
"Diplomatic Conclusions" Series of Lectures
His Excellency Pedro Villagra-Delgado, the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic
'A Look at Argentine Foreign Policy'
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Hercus Theatre
Physics Building
Thursday 24 August:
Lisa Ford
'Settler Dreams: Sovereignty and the practice of jurisdiction'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Tuesday 22 August:
Feminist Forum
Caroline Spencer (PhD in progress Asia Institute/Political Science)
'Japan's "sex toilet": Japanese business promotion and development of prostitution tourism in South Korea in the early 1970s'
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Tuesday 22 August:
Hume N. Johnson (PhD Candidate, School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology & Public Policy, University of Waikato)
'"Quasheba" - The "Warrior Gene" in Jamaican Popular Protest'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Hume Nicola Johnson is a doctoral candidate in the School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology and Public Policy at the University of Waikato. Her dissertation is entitled 'When citizen politics become "uncivil": between popular protest, civil society and governance in Jamaica'. Other research interests include Peace and Conflict, Crime and Policing, Media and Politics, Women and Politics as well as Sport and Society studies. Hume obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Communications and a Master of Science Degree in Government at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica. She has an enviable background in the electronic media having worked as both a television and radio broadcaster in Jamaica as well as within the fields of public relations (within the reggae music industry) and political science, serving on the Prime Minister's Youth Advisory Committee as well as on election campaigns. She is uniquely placed to discourse on civilian politics in Jamaica.
Thursday 17 August:
Associate Professor Sheila Jeffreys
'Keeping women down and out: the strip club boom and the reinforcement
of male dominance'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Sheila Jeffreys' most recent book, Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural
Practices in the West (2005), covers western beauty practices as makeup,
high heel shoes, cosmetic surgery, as well as pornochic, misogyny in fashion
and transfemininity. Other major publications include Unpacking Queer
Politics: a lesbian feminist perspective, UK: Polity, 2003 and The Idea of
Prostitution (1997) on the international sex industry.
Friday 11 August:
"Diplomatic Conclusions" Series of Lectures
His Excellency Naftali Tamir, Ambassador of Israel
'The Middle East - A Region in Turmoil'
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Room GM 15
Law Building
Thursday 10 August:
Moya Lloyd
'Who counts? Understanding the relation between normative
violence and the production of livable bodies'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Thursday 3 August
Simon Obendorf
PhD Completion Seminar
'Sexing up the International'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Friday 28 July:
Melbourne Graduate Forum on Southeast Asia Studies
The Asia Institute and School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology of the University of Melbourne invite postgraduate students researching Southeast Asia to attend the Melbourne Graduate Forum on Southeast Asia Studies. This one day workshop will be held on level 3, Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne.
For enquiries please contact:
Mr Alistair D. B. Cook,
Melbourne Graduate Forum on Southeast Asia Studies,
Asia Institute and School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology,
University of Melbourne,
Victoria 3010.
Email: acook@unimelb.edu.au
Telephone: +61 (0)3 8344 0997
Friday 28 July:
"Diplomatic Conclusions" Series of Lectures
His Excellency Tammam Sulaiman, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to Australia
'A Syrian Perspective on the Middle East'
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Lecture Theatre C
Old Arts Building
Thursday 27 July:
Leslie Cannold
'How to Write an Opinion Piece that Will Get Published'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Leslie Cannold is a bioethicist, researcher, writer, commentator and
Fellow at the Philosophy Department at the University of Melbourne, and
the Centre for Gender and Medicine at Monash University. She is author of
The Abortion Myth and What, No Baby? Her opinions and book reviews appear
regularly in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. She has also published
her opinions in the Herald Sun, Courier Mail, The Australian and Radio
National. In 2005, Leslie was selected as one of Australia's top 20 public
intellectuals.
5-7 July 2006
The purpose of this conference is to bring together the growing community of international studies scholars in the Oceanic region (Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific).
Click here for the OCIS website
Thursday 18 May:
Jui-shan Chang
Familism and Modernity amongst Young Chinese: an Exploration into Multiple Modernities
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Dr Jui-shan Chang is Senior Lecturer in the Sociology Program at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on social trends and issues from a comparative perspective - historically, cross-culturally, cross-nationally and globally, in particular in the areas of the life course, manhood/womanhood, marriage, family and sexuality in diverse cultures.
Thursday 11 May:
Mark Considine, Jenny Lewis and Damon Alexander.
'Network governance: the connected worlds of politicians and bureaucrats'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Professor Mark Considine, Dr Jenny Lewis and Damon Alexander are in the School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology at the University of Melbourne. Mark Considine's research areas include governance studies, comparative social policy, employment services, public sector reform, local development, and organisational sociology. He is the Director of the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne. His most recent book, Making Public Policy: Institutions, Actors, Strategies, was published by Polity Press in 2005. Jenny Lewis has published widely on governance, health policy, networks and professions. Her most recent publications include a book entitled: Health policy and politics: networks, ideas and power. Damon Alexander is completing a PhD while working with Professor Considine and Dr Lewis on this research project.
Thursday 4 May:
Derek McDougall
Intervening in the "Near Abroad": Comparing Australia's Role in East Timor
and the Southwest Pacific'
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Room 519
John Medley Building
Derek McDougall is Associate Professor in the School of Political Science, Criminology & Sociology at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the international politics of the Asia-Pacific, with particular reference to peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention, security regionalism, regional security issues and Australia's role.
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