School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses

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    The female body on Instagram: Is fit the new it?
    Reade, Josie ( 2014)
    This thesis examines how the female body is represented on Instagram, an online photo and video sharing mobile phone application. With a specific focus on portrayals of women in images posted to the #fitspiration hashtag, this thesis considers whether representations of the ‘fit’ female body in this space mirror and/or transgress contemporary notions of an ‘ideal’ body as slender, youthful, white and feminine. Based on the results of this research, I argue that representations of the female body on Instagram’s #fitspiration hashtag present ‘fit’ as the new ‘it’ ideal bodily standard for women. By arguing that fit female bodies can be considered as both replicating and extending contemporary notions of an ideal body, this thesis makes a significant and timely contribution to accounts of women’s representations on social media and the field of sociology of the body more broadly.
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    The Millennium Development Goals: a gendered critique within the context of climate change
    Lane, Elyse ( 2014)
    This minor thesis applies a gendered lens to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the context of climate change. This was done in order to examine the degree that the MDGs will be affected by climate change as well as whether the current Development paradigm has in fact contributed to the process of climate change. A wide expanse of literature has been examined, focusing on several case studies. The finding of this thesis was that because the MDGs are designed to operate within the current capitalist system, the structural inequity and polluting methods of production and consumption which contribute to climate change and compound poverty are not questioned. Critiquing this is particularly significant at this moment as the Development sector moves from the era of the MDGs to the era of Sustainable Development.
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    Alliance politics, decision-makers and the formation of military coalitions: Australian, British and Canadian (non) participation in the 2003 Iraq War
    GITTINS, BRENDON ( 2014)
    Much has been written about the 2003 Iraq War. However, there are only a very small number of studies that compare the responses of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK) to this conflict. In order to contribute to our understanding of the Iraq War, this thesis utilises an integrative approach that considers the roles of alliance factors, international law, domestic politics and decision-makers to address my central research question: why did the Canadian government choose not to deploy military forces to the 2003 Iraq War, while the UK and Australia – two states that share many similarities with Canada – both participated? I argue that alliance factors predisposed the Australian and British governments towards participation. Australia was strategically dependent on the United States (US) given its position in a culturally divergent region, and has a history of supporting the US in its various post-Second World War military coalitions. The UK was not dependent on the US for its own security, but rather, depended on the influence that it was perceived to gain both in the US and internationally as a result of its status as a loyal ally. In contrast, I posit that Canada’s secure location and generous security arrangements with the US served to reduce its dependence on the US. This resulted in domestic politics having a greater salience in Canadian decision-making, and inclined the Canadian government toward non-participation in the Iraq War. Although I argue that alliance factors predisposed each government to their eventual course of action regarding the 2003 Iraq War, my integrative approach also demonstrates the important role played by decision-makers. I posit that the ‘leadership styles’ of the Australian, Canadian and British political leaders served to shape the manner in which they each balanced alliance and political incentives. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, was a ‘goal-driven’ leader prepared to sacrifice domestic politics in the name of his overarching alliance and security goals. In contrast, the prime minister of Australia, John Howard, and the prime minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien, were ‘contextually sensitive’ leaders. As a result, Howard sought to advance his primary goal of alliance maintenance, while minimising domestic political damage. Meanwhile, Chrétien focused on maintaining domestic political support, while also seeking to limit the short-term damage to the US-Canada alliance relationship resulting from Canadian non-participation. As policymaking is inherently complex, efforts to develop simple models of foreign policy decision-making fail to accurately describe the dynamics involved. This thesis demonstrates the importance of both alliance and decision-making factors in coalition formation. In doing so, this thesis also demonstrates the utility of an integrative approach to the study of international relations.
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    The challenges of effective police intervention into family violence in immigrant communities in Victoria
    Chiang, Yi Liang Andy ( 2014)
    The difficulties of policing family violence have been the subject of considerable research and attempts at reform in recent years. Those difficulties are compounded when family violence in immigrant communities is considered. Problems of underreporting persist amidst a myriad of obstacles that deter police from intervening effectively, such as language and cultural barriers, fear and distrust of authority figures, and fear of economic and residency status repercussions. Recent family violence reforms in Victoria have adopted a more integrated, ‘joined-up’ approach which repositions police as part of a wider service provision network. This thesis examines the interaction and relationships between police, other welfare service providers and immigrant family violence victims and compares the current approach of Victoria Police and other known police paradigms to better understand how to intervene more effectively in family violence cases in immigrant communities. This thesis argues that despite recent advances and reforms, many difficulties persist when police attempt to engage immigrant victims of family violence, and more work needs to be done to fulfill the potential of recent reforms to provide better outcomes for victims and their families.
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    Tourism, housing and community participation: their nexus in Gawad Kalinga communities of the Philippines
    DELGADO, ROWENA ( 2014)
    This thesis explores the relationship between tourism and housing in the development of poor communities in the Philippines, arguing that tourism can be made more sustainable when a participatory approach to housing delivery is integrated in plans and policies for tourism development. Although the centrality of community participation in the sustainability of tourism has been established in existing research, participatory housing processes were not overtly incorporated as an essential component in tourism. Literature on sustainable tourism lacks an exploration of participatory housing processes in addressing problems that develop from mass tourism such as social displacement and alienation. Utilising social capital as theoretical framework, this thesis investigates how community participation in housing influences their capacity to participate in the sustainability of tourism. To demonstrate the relationship between participatory housing and sustainable tourism with particular focus on poor communities located in tourism regions, a case study on the bayanihan approach to housing provision by the Gawad Kalinga Community Development (GK) organisation in the Philippines was undertaken. Bayanihan, which is a traditional practice of participation motivated by philanthropy and nationalism, has been employed by GK in the simultaneous building of new communities and also the development of tourism. The case study employed four case communities located within the recently developing tourist region of Camarines Sur, Philippines: The GK Character Village, the GK Pona Village, Mambulo Nuevo Village, and the Sierra Homes Village. Based on grounded theory and correlation analysis, the case study shows an uneven transfer of knowledge and practice of bayanihan which resulted in different levels of participation in the convergence of housing and tourism, namely, indifference, assimilation, adoption and integration. Moreover, the central role of the GK organisation in the accumulation of social capital through bayanihan has translated to diverse social and physical outcomes. This thesis shows that examining community participation and its influence in generating social capital provides a platform for understanding the relationship between tourism development and housing provision and provides a basis for divergent social and physical outcomes in communities located in tourism regions. It also highlights that transferring local knowledge of bayanihan, most notably in the implementation of pro-poor tourism strategies needs to consider the following critical factors that are often overlooked: leadership and organisation, multi-sector collaboration, sweat equity, project delivery, community identity, and training and education. Furthermore, the failure to embed participatory housing provision in research, policy and practices of sustainable tourism results in the alienation of resident communities from tourism development, instead of their inclusion.
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    Australian climate policy and diplomacy: the transition years, John Howard to Kevin Rudd
    Parr, Benjamin Luke ( 2014)
    Benjamin Parr examined the climate policy discourses of the government and fossil fuel industry in Australia, and their relationship to climate diplomacy, during the period 2006-2009. The thesis argued that the shared government-industry discourse about protecting Australia’s industrial competitiveness has had a more decisive influence in shaping and legitimating Australian climate policy than the direct lobbying tactics of the fossil fuel industry, aka ‘the greenhouse mafia’; while the different foreign policy traditions of Australia’s major political parties - as alliance-focused versus internationalist - help to explain variation in domestic climate policy and climate diplomacy.
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    The 1969 Conference for Left Action: Marxist theory and practice in Australia's new left
    McVey, Judith ( 2014)
    The 1969 Left Action Conference brought together 800 people of the Old and New Lefts to discuss revolutionary strategies, like “self-management” and “workers’ control” made popular in the French uprising of 1968. The thesis provides a snapshot of a unique period of Australian history. I examine the conference debates to understand theory and practice in 1960s Australia, after tracing the development of a new movement of Marxist radicals. Impatient for revolution, could the new left generation challenge conservative Australia and the Stalinist communist parties? The period 1967-1969 is a window on a radical experience which made a significant contribution to the overhaul of the conservative and repressive ways of 1950s Australia. Marxism revived, alongside a liberatory politics; the key element – anti-Stalinism, anti-domination, anti-manipulation, power and control inspired hope. After the conference new struggles and new debates flourished; an anti-war Moratorium movement united social forces to fight conscription and war and created a new momentum for change. Unfortunately political organisation then fragmented. The thesis draws on the experiences of the time to assess success and failure and the relevance of old and new ideas.
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    Late night comedy and political communication: comparing the Australian and US election campaigns of 2004
    HOWARD, RACHEL ( 2014)
    This PhD investigates why conservative incumbents in Australia (Prime Minister John Howard) and the US (President George W Bush) did not appear on late night comedy programs as part of their 2004 re-election campaigns – despite repeated invitations and appearances by their opponents. Some researchers herald the political rise of late night comedy as an opportunity for democracy – and situate the 2004 US election as an example – but do not recognise that conservatively aligned incumbents stayed out of the genre during this period. By investigating the way that conservative incumbent campaigns managed this form of media during the 2004 elections, this PhD examines the interaction between political strategists and a specific form of media at a key point in time. Appearances by successive incumbents in the period since these elections show that 2004 was a foundational point for the political use of late night comedy. An examination of the reasons behind conservative incumbent absences from this genre during 2004 can help build our understanding of professional political communication in two democracies – one where the political use of late night comedy is advanced (the US) and another where the political use of late night comedy is, at best, sporadic (Australia). Though the Iraq War featured differently in each campaign, the 2004 elections offered both Australian and US citizens an opportunity to change course on the Iraq War by voting for a change of government. These elections presented pivotal democratic events; elections alongside one of the biggest decisions a democratic leader can make – sending troops to war. In order to better understand why conservative incumbent campaigns declined invitations to appear on an emerging political genre, this research employed a mixed methodology as the basis for a comparison between two case studies. The researcher undertook interviews with key strategists in both campaigns to gather insights into media management strategies at the time. These research findings are cross-referenced with publicly available polling data, autobiographies, campaign accounts and a content analysis of key late night comedy episodes. This research finds that – though there are key differences between the Australian and US political, media and war contexts – both conservative incumbent campaigns made the same decision to stay out of late night comedy, for similar reasons. Both campaigns believed an appearance would conflict with their media management strategies for the 2004 elections, which sought to control the message on sensitive issues and leverage incumbency, strength of leadership on Iraq and conservative notions of the status of the office. Both campaigns viewed an out-of-character appearance on a late night comedy program as more of a risk than benefit, and so both leaders confined their election narrative of national security (in Australia) and terrorism and Iraq (in the US) to conduits they were experienced at controlling. The uncontrolled and spontaneous nature of the late night comedy genre that some researchers believe empowers its contribution to political participation is the very reason that conservative incumbent campaigns rejected successive invitations to appear. Conservative incumbent campaigns in the US and Australia both applied the same rationale to decline invitations to appear on late night comedy – even though each operated in different political, media and war-time environments. The evolving political use of this genre, particularly the appearances of incumbents since the 2004 election campaigns, highlights its ongoing relevance to political communication. By considering the 2004 campaigns, this study investigates whether war, incumbency and conservatism were factors that kept Howard and Bush out of late night comedy. It does so by looking at the last time a conservative incumbent successfully campaigned for re-election in these countries, and at a foundational point for the political use of late night comedy.
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    Waiting for the promise of reform and development: the place of bureaucracy in inclusive development: a case study on an inclusive, community driven development measure: National Program for Community Empowerment-Urban (PNPM-Urban) in Surabaya-Indonesia
    ASMOROWATI, SULIKAH ( 2014)
    This thesis explores the relationship between bureaucratic reforms and development in Indonesia. It examines the validity of the reform ideology that is calling for bureaucracy to become more citizen/community focused. In so doing, it presents a case study of the implementation of the National Program for Community Empowerment Urban (PNPM-Urban), a community driven and an inclusive development measure in Surabaya. In relation to bureaucratic reform, an inherent tension arises within bureaucracy between stasis (keeping the traditional characteristic and status quo) and change (reform). Furthermore, since the bureaucratic reform process, which began in the 1990’s, this tension has been exacerbated by the call for the bureaucracy to find an appropriate place for itself relative to the new and evolving context of inclusive, community-driven development. That is, bureaucracy is expected to not only engage with development but to also champion the changes. In this sense, in the implementation of PNPM-Urban in Surabaya, the bureaucracy is called upon to shift its modus operandi as well as its organisational culture, values, mindset and behaviour to become more a facilitator than the implementer or medium of development. The research findings, however, highlight the fact that democratic governance, the framework of bureaucratic reform and the paradigm of inclusiveness also open a contentious space for reconsidering the value attached to local or community development. Too often, democratic governance assumes that all actors, ‘ordinary citizens’ and bureaucrats alike, are to participate. Underlying this, however, is the concern with the key premise of the inclusive development paradigm – that the ‘powerless’ members of community are able to be involved and participate in the overall process. However, this process can also create different kinds of expressions of powerlessness. As the case study illustrates, reforming bureaucracy so that it is decentralised, democratised and participatory, and, above all, citizen/community focused, does not automatically mean that bureaucracy is facilitative, and inclusive, or closer to the people. Moreover, the shift to the new context of inclusive, community-driven development, can lead to a sense of ‘powerlessness’ among bureaucrats that then translates into hesitancy to fully embrace change. In this, I argue that ‘inclusive development’, as referring to the inclusion of all elements or all actors of development, constructs different kinds of exclusions and disempowerments. This became evident in the analysis of the engagement of bureaucracy with the implementation of PNPM-Urban. Thus, there is a need to find a more appropriate place within the broader inclusive development paradigm in which bureaucracy can be included simultaneously as an ‘object’ and ‘subject’, or put in other words, as simultaneously requiring building capacity and empowerment as well as facilitating this among the communities they engage with. This research therefore provides a critique of the boundaries of inclusive development that tends to focus on the inclusiveness of the powerless, without giving due consideration of the range of power and agency among different levels of bureaucracy.
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    Regional trade negotiations and the construction of policy choice in the Pacific Islands Forum (1994-2014)
    MORGAN, WESLEY ( 2014)
    This thesis provides a comprehensive account of the Pacific island states’ engagement with the contemporary global trade regime, over the 20 years following the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Existing political analysis has tended to characterise Pacific island states as relatively powerless actors in the multilateral trading system. Such analysis suggests they have had little choice but to embrace trade liberalisation, to join the WTO and to sign on to WTO-compatible trade agreements. However, these accounts do not explain why Pacific island states in fact proved reluctant to join the WTO, or to sign WTO-compatible free trade agreements with their key trading partners. This thesis contributes to the literature by providing a more considered explanation for the recent trade policy choices of Pacific governments. The thesis draws on contemporary international relations theory to interrogate regional trade policymaking in the Pacific. It employs a constructivist approach that emphasises the role of knowledge in the political process. More specifically, the study uses an ‘epistemic community’ approach, as developed by Haas (1992), to explore how a discrete network of trade experts – a Pacific trade epistemic community – helped island policymakers locate and pursue their interests in multilateral trade talks, and during a series of negotiations for new regional trade agreements. The main body of the thesis constitutes a ‘thick history’ of regional trade policymaking from 1994 to 2014. The three central findings of this thesis are as follows. First: Pacific policymakers proved reluctant to conclude agreements with the European Union, and with Australia and New Zealand, because they did not understand orthodox, reciprocal, free trade agreements to be in their interests. Members of the Pacific trade epistemic community had convinced them unique and additional policy measures would be necessary if such agreements were to provide them any benefits. Second: even while epistemic community arguments undermined the conclusion of regional negotiations, some community proposals were nonetheless adopted in other policy domains. Of most importance in this regard were new labour mobility schemes allowing Pacific islanders to work in Australia and New Zealand. Third and finally: epistemic community arguments successfully refashioned shared understandings of the trade-related challenges faced by Pacific island states. By 2014 epistemic community ideas had become new ‘institutional or social facts’. Policymakers and trade-experts alike drew on them when considering appropriate policy for Pacific island states. The findings of this thesis imply that, with the aid of appropriate technical expertise, Pacific island states in fact have considerable agency relative to global regimes and the core states who champion them. In certain circumstances island countries can influence processes of international cooperation in ways that further their interests. Key findings imply furthermore that technical experts are powerful actors in regional policymaking. Where advisors are able to gain bureaucratic influence, and to disseminate their ideas over time, they are able to frame issues and delimit policy options for Pacific island governments. In short, they are central to the construction of policy choice.