Authors & editors
ANU Press has collaborated with a diverse range of authors and editors across a wide variety of academic disciplines. Browse the ANU Press collection by author or editor.
Eyewitness to Early Reform in Myanmar »
Authored by: Trevor Wilson
Publication date: March 2016
By 2000, a ruthless military regime had ruled Myanmar for more than a decade, polarising opinion inside and outside Burma/Myanmar — with Western countries locked into non-UN sanctions and Asian countries and the rest of the world locked into unenthusiastic cooperation with Myanmar. While the United Nations and its agencies faced numerous obstacles as they sought to encourage national reconciliation in Myanmar, conditions in Myanmar were slowly starting to change. With a reform faction in charge, the military regime itself after 1999 slowly began experimenting with modest changes, before committing in 2008 to transfer power via a constitutional referendum and national elections, both of which it effectively controlled. This book provides the first eyewitness account of the early reform experiments.
Professional Social Work in Australia »
Authored by: R.J. Lawrence
Publication date: February 2016
This is an unchanged republication of the first historical account of the social work profession in Australia. It traces the development of social work education and professional social work in the larger, more industrialised societies overseas before the same developments began in Australia in the late 1920s, and it notes the part played by overseas influence in the subsequent 30-odd years. The book concentrates on the development of training bodies and their courses, the spread of qualified social workers into various fields of employment in Australia’s expanding health and welfare services, and the growth of professional associations and their programmes. The author assesses the occupational group in terms of accepted attitudes towards the established professions. He concludes with a discussion of major contemporary issues facing the Australian social work profession.
Merici- Ursula Hall Academic Journal: Volume 1, 2015 »
Publication date: February 2016
Merici is the combined works of undergraduate authors at Ursula Hall. Merici contains research and analysis from a range of disciplines and is thoroughly reviewed by ANU academics to ensure the showcasing of the best Ursula Hall has to offer.
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Confronting Fiji Futures »
Edited by: A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi
Publication date: January 2016
Fiji, post-independence, has seen several governments, two military coups and, amidst sweeping social, economic and political changes, the presence of divisive identity politics in its journey towards a united, collective Fiji community.
This republished edition of Confronting Fiji Futures takes in these landmark events and eventualities, and aims at a forward-looking assessment of the realities facing Fiji in the present and the future. It focuses on the period of the coups up to and including the 1999 general elections, when an explicitly multiethnic party won government in a surprise landslide result.
This book is the result of a collaborative research project based at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, in the Netherlands — an institution with a long tradition of collaborative teaching, research and advisory services in the South Pacific region. It aims to present a range of relevant issues from a number of vantage points. It has brought together a strong diversity of authors led by A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, including John Cameron, Ganesh Chand, Martin Doornbos, Yash Ghai, Holger Korth, Sunil Kumar, Biman Prasad, Jacqueline Leckie, Satendra Prasad, Steve Ratuva, Robbie Robertson, Ardeshir Sepehri and William Sutherland.
Experiments in self-determination »
Histories of the outstation movement in Australia
Edited by: Nicolas Peterson, Fred Myers
Publication date: January 2016
Outstations, which dramatically increased in numbers in the 1970s, are small, decentralised and relatively permanent communities of kin established by Aboriginal people on land that has social, cultural or economic significance to them. In 2015 they yet again came under attack, this time as an expensive lifestyle choice that can no longer be supported by state governments. Yet outstations are the original, and most striking, manifestation of remote-area Aboriginal people’s aspirations for self-determination, and of the life projects by which they seek, and have sought, autonomy in deciding the meaning of their life independently of projects promoted by the state and market. They are not simply projects of isolation from outside influences, as they have sometimes been characterised, but attempts by people to take control of the course of their lives. In the sometimes acrimonious debates about outstations, the lived experiences, motivations and histories of existing communities are missing. For this reason, we invited a number of anthropological witnesses to the early period in which outstations gained a purchase in remote Australia to provide accounts of what these communities were like, and what their residents’ aspirations and experiences were. Our hope is that these closer-to-the-ground accounts provide insight into, and understanding of, what Indigenous aspirations were in the establishment and organisation of these communities.
This volume will be a great addition not only to the origins and history of outstations, but in light of the closing of over 100 Aboriginal communities in Western Australia, it should be a required bedtime reading for all politicians across Australia. The contributors do not simply concentrate on the so-called outstations movement of the 1970s, but rather help the reader understand why in the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, Aboriginal people moved away from cattle stations, missions and settlements to reconstruct their moral compass in settings which made more contemporaneous sense, not only to them but often to the whites who were there as well.
—Professor Francoise Dussart, University of Connecticut.
In Defence of Country »
Life Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Servicemen and Women
Authored by: Noah Riseman
Publication date: January 2016
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been protecting country since time immemorial. One way they have continued these traditions in recent times is through service in the Australian military, both overseas and within Australia. In Defence of Country presents a selection of life stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ex-servicemen and women who served in the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force after World War Two. In their own words, participants discuss a range of issues including why they joined up; racial discrimination; the Stolen Generations; leadership; discipline; family; war and peace; education and skills development; community advocacy; and their hopes for the future of Indigenous Australia. Individually and collectively, the life stories in this book highlight the many contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women have made, and continue to make, in defence of country.
For more information on Aboriginal History Inc. please visit aboriginalhistory.org.au.
The New Pacific Diplomacy »
Edited by: Greg Fry, Sandra Tarte
Publication date: December 2015
Since 2009 there has been a fundamental shift in the way that the Pacific Island states engage with regional and world politics. The region has experienced, what Kiribati President Anote Tong has aptly called, a ‘paradigm shift’ in ideas about how Pacific diplomacy should be organised, and on what principles it should operate. Many leaders have called for a heightened Pacific voice in global affairs and a new commitment to establishing Pacific Island control of this diplomatic process. This change in thinking has been expressed in the establishment of new channels and arenas for Pacific diplomacy at the regional and global levels and new ways of connecting the two levels through active use of intermediate diplomatic associations.
The New Pacific Diplomacy brings together a range of analyses and perspectives on these dramatic new developments in Pacific diplomacy at sub-regional, regional and global levels, and in the key sectors of global negotiation for Pacific states – fisheries, climate change, decolonisation, and trade.
Aboriginal History Journal: Volume 39 »
Edited by: Liz Conor
Publication date: December 2015
Volume 39 presents a special section on Aboriginal war service, edited by Allison Cadzow, Kristyn Harman and Noah Riseman. The contributors reappraise narratives and foster new avenues of inquiry, particularly on the impact of war service on families and communities, and explore how the entrance of Aboriginal men into Australian military service disrupted accustomed notions of defence of country. John Maynard extends this service back to the South African Anglo-Boer War. Andrea Gerrard and Kristyn Harman track the aftermath of the First World War for Tasmanian soldiers of Aboriginal descent. Philippa Scarlett challenges the ‘mateship myth’ of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) of the First World War. The denial of repatriation benefits fuelled Aboriginal people’s post-war disenchantment and the political agitation of the 1920s and 1930s, as Jessica Horton shows. She finds it was demand for land exacerbated by the Soldier Settlement Scheme that precipitated the closure of reserves, creating a new ‘home front’ for Gunditjmara veterans resisting ongoing dispossession. Kristyn Harman looks at correspondence between white women and Aboriginal soldiers during the Second World War as overseen by the Aborigines Uplift Society’s national comforts auxiliary.
In the other articles in this volume, Sharon Delmege investigates policy implementation at Allawah Grove Native Settlement (1957–69). Anne O’Brien focuses on provisioning at Ernabella mission, South Australia in 1937. Steven Anderson looks at Indigenous executions in colonial South Australia, where public hangings were reintroduced, but only for Indigenous capital offenders. Greg Blyton casts light on the little-known story of Harry Brown, guide to Ludwig Leichhardt on two expeditions into the interior. Robin Barrington provides a corrective to the colonial visual archive in her examination of public constructions of Yamaji individuals by Daisy Bates and Alexander Morton.
Aboriginal History Inc. is a publishing organisation based in the Australian Centre for Indigenous History, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra.
For more information on Aboriginal History Inc. please visit aboriginalhistory.org.au.
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Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform: Volume 22, Number 1, 2015 »
Edited by: William Coleman
Publication date: December 2015
Agenda is a refereed, ECONLIT-indexed and RePEc-listed journal of the College of Business and Economics, The Australian National University. Launched in 1994, Agenda provides a forum for debate on public policy, mainly (but not exclusively) in Australia and New Zealand. It deals largely with economic issues but gives space to social and legal policy and also to the moral and philosophical foundations and implications of policy.
Subscribe to the Agenda Alerting service if you wish to be advised on forthcoming or new issues.
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Human Ecology Review: Volume 22, Number 1 »
Publication date: December 2015
Human Ecology Review is a semi-annual journal that publishes peer-reviewed interdisciplinary research on all aspects of human–environment interactions (Research in Human Ecology). The journal also publishes essays, discussion papers, dialogue, and commentary on special topics relevant to human ecology (Human Ecology Forum), book reviews (Contemporary Human Ecology), and letters, announcements, and other items of interest (Human Ecology Bulletin). Human Ecology Review also publishes an occasional paper series in the Philosophy of Human Ecology and Social–Environmental Sustainability.
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Burgmann Journal- Research Debate Opinion: Issue 4, 2015 »
Publication date: December 2015
Burgmann Journal is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed publication of collected works of research, debate and opinion from residents and alumni of Burgmann College designed to engage and stimulate the wider community.
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China & ANU »
Diplomats, adventurers, scholars
Authored by: William Sima
Publication date: December 2015
The Pacific War and its aftermath radically transformed Australian perceptions of what was then called the ‘Near North’. Many recognised that in the postwar world Australia’s strategic interests and economic fortunes called for a new understanding of Asia and the Pacific. China loomed large in these calculations.
Based on extensive research and featuring rare archival documents and photographs, China & ANU introduces the diplomats, adventurers and scholars who contributed to Australia’s engagement with China, the ‘Chinese Commonwealth’ and our region from the 1940s-1950s. In particular, this book focusses on the interconnection between Australia’s first diplomat-scholars in China and the founding of Chinese Studies at the newly established Australian National University.
A Mission Divided »
Race, Culture and Colonialism in Fiji’s Methodist Mission
Authored by: Dr Kirstie Close-Barry
Publication date: December 2015
This book provides insight into the long process of decolonisation within the Methodist Overseas Missions of Australasia, a colonial institution that operated in the British colony of Fiji. The mission was a site of work for Europeans, Fijians and Indo-Fijians, but each community operated separately, as the mission was divided along ethnic lines in 1901. This book outlines the colonial concepts of race and culture, as well as antagonism over land and labour, that were used to justify this separation. Recounting the stories told by the mission’s leadership, including missionaries and ministers, to its grassroots membership, this book draws on archival and ethnographic research to reveal the emergence of ethno-nationalisms in Fiji, the legacies of which are still being managed in the post-colonial state today.
Analysing in part the story of her own ancestors, Kirstie Barry develops a fascinating account of the relationship between Christian proselytization and Pacific nationalism, showing how missionaries reinforced racial divisions between Fijian and Indo-Fijian even as they deplored them. Negotiating the intersections between evangelisation, anthropology and colonial governance, this is a book with resonance well beyond its Fijian setting.
– Professor Alan Lester, University of Sussex
This thoroughly researched and finely crafted book unwraps and finely illustrates the interwoven layers of evolving complexity in different interpretations of ideals and debates on race, culture, colonialism and independence that informed the way the Methodist Mission was run in Fiji. It describes the human personalities and practicalities, interconnected at local, regional and global levels, which influenced the shaping of the Mission and the independent Methodist Church in Fiji. It documents the influence of evolving anthropological theories and ecumenical theological understandings of culture on mission practice. The book’s rich sources enhance our understanding of the complex history of ethnic relations in Fiji, helping to explain why ethnic divisive thinking remains a challenge.
– Jacqueline Ryle, University of the South Pacific
A beautifully researched study of the transnational impact of South Asian bodies on nationalisms and church devolution in Fiji, and an important resource for empire studies as a whole.’
– Professor Jane Samson, University of Alberta, Canada
Through a Glass Darkly »
The Social Sciences Look at the Neoliberal University
Edited by: Margaret Thornton
Publication date: November 2015
This collection of essays arose from a workshop held in Canberra in 2013 under the auspices of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia to consider the impact of the encroachment of the market on public universities. While the UK tripled fees in 2013 and determined that the teaching of the social sciences and the humanities would no longer be publicly funded, it was feared that Australia would go further and deregulate fees altogether.
In the best tradition of the social sciences, the contributors have assumed the role of critic and conscience of society to present penetrating analyses of the ramifications of the corporatisation of the university as neoliberalism continues to occupy the ascendant position in the political firmament. The dramatis personae in these analyses are students, academics, managers and political mandarins with the gendered character of corporatisation an important sub-theme.
Journeys into the Rainforest »
Archaeology of Culture Change and Continuity on the Evelyn Tableland, North Queensland
Authored by: Åsa Ferrier
Publication date: November 2015
This monograph presents the results of archaeological research that takes a longitudinal approach to interpreting and understanding Aboriginal–European contact. It focuses on a small but unique area of tropical rainforest in far north Queensland’s Wet Tropics Bioregion, located within the traditional lands of the JirrbalAboriginal people on the Evelyn Tableland. The research integrates a diverse range of data sources: archaeological evidence recovered from Aboriginal open sites occupied in the pre- to post-contact periods, historical documents of early ethnographers, settlers and explorers in the region, supplemented with Aboriginal oral history testimony. Analyses of the archaeological evidence excavated from three open sites facilitated the identification of the trajectories of culture change and continuity that this investigation focused on: Aboriginal rainforest material culture and technology, plant subsistence strategies, and rainforest settlement patterns.
Analyses of the data sets demonstrate that initial use of the rainforest environment on the Evelyn Tableland occurred during the early Holocene period, with successful adaptation and a change towards more permanent Aboriginal use of the rainforest becoming established in the late Holocene period. European arrival and settlement on traditional Aboriginal land resulted in a period of historical upheaval for the Aboriginal rainforest people. Following an initial period of violent interactions and strong Aboriginal resistance from the rainforest, Jirrbal Aboriginal people continued to adapt and transform their traditional culture to accommodate for the many changes forced upon them throughout the post‑contact period.
Forestry and Water Conservation in South Africa »
History, Science and Policy
Authored by: Brett Bennett, Fred Kruger
Publication date: November 2015
This innovative interdisciplinary study focuses on the history, science, and policy of tree planting and water conservation in South Africa. South Africa’s forestry sector has sat—often controversially—at the crossroads of policy and scientific debates regarding water conservation, economic development, and biodiversity protection. Bennett and Kruger show how debates about the hydrological impact of exotic tree planting in South Africa shaped the development of modern scientific ideas and state policies relating to timber plantations, water conservation, invasive species control, and biodiversity management within South Africa as well as elsewhere in the world. Forestry and Water Conservation in South Africa shows how scientific research on the impact of exotic and native vegetation led to the development of a comprehensive national policy for conserving water, producing timber, and protecting indigenous species from invasive alien plants. Policies and laws relating to forests and water began to change in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result of political and administrative changes within South Africa. This book suggests that the country’s contemporary policies towards timber plantations, guided by the National Water Act of 1998, need to be reconsidered in light of the authors’ findings. Bennett and Kruger also call for more interdisciplinary research and greater emphasis on integrated policies and management plans for forestry, invasive alien plants, water conservation, and biodiversity preservation.
Maudu' »
A Way of Union with God
Authored by: Muhammad Adlin Sila
Publication date: November 2015
This volume offers a fascinating case study of the Sayyid community of Cikoang in South Sulawesi – in particular, an examination of the role of the descendants of Sayyid Jalaluddin al-‘Aidid, a Hadhrami merchant-teacher of great authority and charisma who is said to have initially settled in Gowa in the 17th century. It is of particular interest because the migration of Sayydid Jalaluddin occurred well before the major Hadhrami diaspora to Southeast Asia in the mid-19th century. Of particular interest is the way Sayyid Jalaluddin and his descendants became integrated within the Makassar community.
Sayyid Jalaluddin’s legacy to the Cikoang community is the Tarekat Bahr ul-Nur, whose mystic teachings expound the creation of the world from the ‘Nur Muhammad’. A consequence of this teaching is an enormous emphasis on the celebration of Maudu’ (Maulid or the Birth of the Prophet) as expressed in the local assertion: ‘My existence on this earth is for nothing but Maudu’.’ Every year this prompts the Cikoang community to hold one of the most elaborate and colourful Maulid celebrations in Indonesia.
This study was originally submitted as an MA thesis at ANU in 1998, but soon became recognised as an important contribution to Hadhrami studies. Its author, M. Adlin Sila, has since gone on to complete his PhD at ANU, Being Muslim in Bima of Sumbawa, Indonesia: Practice, Politics and Cultural Diversity. This study of Bima and its religious history establishes him as a major researcher on the diverse traditions of Islam in eastern Indonesia.
Shared Destiny »
Publication date: November 2015
Humanity as never before shares a common destiny, whether it be in terms of the resources of the planet, the global environment, economic integration, or the movement of peoples, ideas, cultures. For better or worse humankind is a Community of Shared Destiny 命运共同体.
The People’s Republic of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and its ‘Chairman of Everything’, Xi Jinping, has declared that it shares in the destiny of the countries of the Asia and Pacific region, as well as of nations that are part of an intertwined national self-interest. The Party, according to Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory, is the vanguard of progressive social forces; it cleaves to the concept of shared destiny and its historical role in shaping that destiny. Since its early days nearly a century ago it has emphasised the collective over the individual, the end rather than the means. It addresses majority opinion while guiding and moulding the agenda both for today, and for the future.
Chapter notes are available to view online.
East Asia Forum Quarterly: Volume 7, Number 4, 2015 »
Publication date: November 2015
East Asia Forum Quarterly grew out of East Asia Forum (EAF) online, which has developed a reputation for providing a platform for the best in Asian analysis, research and policy comment on the Asia Pacific region in world affairs. EAFQ aims to provide a further window onto research in the leading research institutes in Asia and to provide expert comment on current developments within the region. The East Asia Forum Quarterly, like East Asia Forum online, is an initiative of the East Asia Forum (EAF) and its host organisation, the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER) in the Crawford School of Economics and Government in the College of Asia & the Pacific at The Australian National University.
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The First Fleet Piano: Volume Two Appendices »
A Musician’s View
Authored by: Geoffrey Lancaster
Publication date: November 2015
During the late eighteenth century, a musical–cultural phenomenon swept the globe. The English square piano—invented in the early 1760s by an entrepreneurial German guitar maker in London—not only became an indispensable part of social life, but also inspired the creation of an expressive and scintillating repertoire. Square pianos reinforced music as life’s counterpoint, and were played by royalty, by musicians of the highest calibre and by aspiring amateurs alike.
On Sunday, 13 May 1787, a square piano departed from Portsmouth on board the Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet, bound for Botany Bay. Who made the First Fleet piano, and when was it made? Who owned it? Who played it, and who listened? What music did the instrument sound out, and within what contexts was its voice heard? What became of the First Fleet piano after its arrival on antipodean soil, and who played a part in the instrument’s subsequent history? Two extant instruments contend for the title ‘First Fleet piano’; which of these made the epic journey to Botany Bay in 1787–88?
The First Fleet Piano: A Musician’s View answers these questions, and provides tantalising glimpses of social and cultural life both in Georgian England and in the early colony at Sydney Cove. The First Fleet piano is placed within the musical and social contexts for which it was created, and narratives of the individuals whose lives have been touched by the instrument are woven together into an account of the First Fleet piano’s conjunction with the forces of history.
View ‘The First Fleet Piano: Volume One’.
The First Fleet Piano: Volume One »
A Musician’s View
Authored by: Geoffrey Lancaster
Publication date: November 2015
During the late eighteenth century, a musical–cultural phenomenon swept the globe. The English square piano—invented in the early 1760s by an entrepreneurial German guitar maker in London—not only became an indispensable part of social life, but also inspired the creation of an expressive and scintillating repertoire. Square pianos reinforced music as life’s counterpoint, and were played by royalty, by musicians of the highest calibre and by aspiring amateurs alike.
On Sunday, 13 May 1787, a square piano departed from Portsmouth on board the Sirius, the flagship of the First Fleet, bound for Botany Bay. Who made the First Fleet piano, and when was it made? Who owned it? Who played it, and who listened? What music did the instrument sound out, and within what contexts was its voice heard? What became of the First Fleet piano after its arrival on antipodean soil, and who played a part in the instrument’s subsequent history? Two extant instruments contend for the title ‘First Fleet piano’; which of these made the epic journey to Botany Bay in 1787–88?
The First Fleet Piano: A Musician’s View answers these questions, and provides tantalising glimpses of social and cultural life both in Georgian England and in the early colony at Sydney Cove. The First Fleet piano is placed within the musical and social contexts for which it was created, and narratives of the individuals whose lives have been touched by the instrument are woven together into an account of the First Fleet piano’s conjunction with the forces of history.
View ‘The First Fleet Piano: Volume Two Appendices’.
craft + design enquiry: issue 7, 2015 »
Landscape, Place and Identity in Craft and Design
Edited by: Kay Lawrence
Publication date: November 2015
craft + design enquiry is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal promoting and disseminating research excellence generated by and about the craft and design sector. craft + design enquiry investigates the contribution that contemporary craft and design makes to society, establishing a dialogue between craft and design practice and cultural, social and environmental concerns. It includes submissions from across the field of craft and design from artists and practitioners, curators, historians, art and cultural theorists, educationalists, museum professionals, philosophers, scientists and others with a stake in the future developments of craft and design.
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They Came to Murramarang »
A History of Murramarang, Kioloa and Bawley Point
Edited by: Sue Feary, Alastair Greig
Authored by: Bruce Hamon
Publication date: October 2015
Bruce Hamon’s They Came to Murramarang, first published in 1994, provides a unique combination of local history and personal recollections from a writer who witnessed the transformation of the Murramarang region from the timber era to modern times. This new edition retains the original character of Bruce’s engaging prose with additional chapters relating to Bruce’s life, the writing of the book, the Indigenous history of the region and the transformation of the area since the book was written. The book has also been enhanced by the insertion of additional photographs.
Cross-sections, The Bruce Hall Academic Journal: Volume XI, 2015 »
Publication date: October 2015
Representing the combined energies of a large group of authors, editors, artists and researchers associated with Bruce Hall at the ANU, Cross-sections collects a range of works (from academic articles and essays to photography, digital art and installation artwork) that represents the disciplinary breadth and artistic vitality of the ANU.
Presenting a challenging and absorbing way for students to hone vital research skills, in the process, Cross-sections nurtures a fruitful environment of collaborative interaction between academics and students.
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Managing Under Austerity, Delivering Under Pressure »
Performance and Productivity in Public Service
Edited by: John Wanna, Hsu-Ann Lee, Sophie Yates
Publication date: October 2015
Contemporary public managers find themselves under pressure on many fronts. Coming off a sustained period of growth in their funding and some complacency about their performance, they now face an environment of ferocious competitiveness abroad and austerity at home. Public managers across Australia and New Zealand are finding themselves wrestling with expenditure reduction, a smaller public sector overall, sustained demands for productivity improvement, and the imperative to think differently about the optimal distribution of responsibilities between states, markets and citizens.
Given ever-shrinking resources, in terms of staffing, budgets and time, how can public managers and public services become more productive, more outcome-driven and more agile? How can we achieve better alignment between ever-growing citizen expectations and the realities of constrained service provision? What can we learn from the best combination of innovation and austerity already being delivered in other countries and sectors, including harnessing the grounded wisdom of frontline service delivery practitioners?
This book focuses on practical ways public managers at home and abroad are dealing with these shared dilemmas. It brings together renowned scholars in the fields of public sector productivity, performance management, ‘frugal innovation’ and budget stringency, with leading international and Australasian practitioners sharing their successes and challenges.