Research Projects
Philanthropy for the Colony: On the use of big giving to entrench the white settler state and defend ‘Western Civilisation’
Philanthropy plays a crucial and often undervalued role in Australian society, but has an uneasy history of domination and control. At its best, philanthropy can foster social inclusion, empower the disenfranchised, and provide ‘risk capital’ for exploratory initiatives that the state is unwilling…
Far-Right Diasporas in the Global South: Mapping Indian Hindu Nationalism in Southeast Asia
The transnational Indian Hindu nationalist movement is history’s largest far-right organisational network and has repeatedly been implicated in mass violence against minorities. This network operates in thirty-eight countries where it lobbies, fundraises, and organises for the Indian far-right. To…
Performing Resistance: A Study of Literary and Theatrical interventions into Australia’s Refugee Crisis
This project explores the role of literature and performance as vehicles for activism in the context of Australia’s ongoing refugee crisis. Prompted by Kurdish-Afghan refugee Behrouz Boochani’s novel ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ (2018), written via SMS during his six years as an asylum seeker…
Eco-fascism: Conceptualising far-right extremist response to climate change
Far-right actors have emerged as a growing social crisis, capitalising on popular global concern about the environment while advocating authoritarian climate solutions. Often referred to as ‘eco-fascist’ are extreme population control measures advocated by right-wing activists and…
Digital citizenship and ethical journalistic representations of online hostility directed at women and girls
This project asks: ‘What might ethical journalistic representations of online hostility directed at women and girls look like and how might such representations protect the digital citizenship of these groups?’ This project will undertake semi-structured interviews with Australian journalists and…
Engaging multicultural communities in antiracist advocacy during global crisis events: Lessons from COVID-19 in Australia
During global crisis events, social media plays a crucial role the sharing of information and supports. This is especially salient for ethnically and religiously diverse communities, who are routinely targeted by racist disinformation campaigns during periods of social and economic upheaval. We…
Rebel Sistah Cypher: Hip-hop as embodied practice for social change
This project collaboratively investigates how women in Khayelitsha, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, are using hip-hop to address issues of racism, sexism, economic oppression and the lasting effects of colonialism and apartheid. Since 2015 the activist hip-hop crew, Soundz of the…