School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemA Critique of Differentiated Citizenship( 2023-01)This thesis is a critique of ‘liberal’ theories of culturally differentiated citizenship, with primary focus on Will Kymlicka’s philosophy. The main proposition of differentiated citizenship is that, for reasons of (distributive) justice, liberal states ought to give special rights to cultural minorities in addition to the universal, culture-blind, rights that all citizens have. The special cultural rights are essential for the members of ethnonational minority cultures to be able to exercise autonomy, for those communities to viably flourish, and for polyethnic, immigrant minorities to smoothly integrate into the liberal-democratic social contract. The classic liberal system of culture-blind universal rights and citizenship denies them these possibilities because the basic institutional structure of such a liberal society is, in reality, culturally majoritarian and minority exclusive; it cannot address substantive interests and needs of cultural minorities. In this thesis, these claims of autonomy, wellbeing and integration are each posited as hypothesis and empirically tested—for the first time against large-N, longitudinal data—in the real liberal world where such special rights have been granted. The evidence suggests that none of these claims can be undisputedly upheld. Deeper analysis points to faulty assumptions in the theories being the likely cause of the empirical failures. For example, while the argument for the autonomy rests on the assumption that ‘societal culture’ is the source of all the meaningful ‘options’ of the good life, it overlooks the role that ‘preferences,’ the agent’s dispositions to options, play in the actual making of choice and the culture’s role, if any, in the shaping of those dispositions. Similarly, the wellbeing of the Native ethnocultural minorities is assumed to automatically follow from the ‘external protections’—from ‘outbid’ (on resources) and ‘outvote’ (on policies) disadvantages which the classically liberal economic and political institutions supposedly cause them—that the special cultural right to self-government provide them, with little thought given to the structure and diversity of institutions which, economic theory tells us, are factors more critical to the achievement of robust wellbeing than bare ownership of resources and policy. Similarly, the assumption that multicultural rights, simplicter, enable shared civic identity of ‘mutual concern, accommodation, or sacrifice’ is problematic because it conflates independent dimensions of political life. Rights establish/adjudicate the moral status of members in a moral community, while ‘mutual concern, accommodation, or sacrifice’ represent actions subject to moral responsibility adjudication by, or within, the moral community; neither dimension, straightforwardly, entails the other. On the positive side, this thesis proposes and defends a principle, the baseline principle (BP), of effective distributive justice: a liberal state ought to ensure equal probability of securing the acceptable baseline of wellbeing for all citizens. The baseline principle can be (prescriptively) fleshed out as the equal capabilities principle (ECC): all citizens should have equal sum of basic capabilities needed to satisfy the BP in a market economy. (The ECC should also, hopefully, reduce the autonomy deficit in the culture group). The ECC does require some state paternalism, but, arguably, only of a degree that would be acceptable to all rational and reasonable persons. And, shared civic identity in the multicultural context, this thesis argues, has better chance of emerging, inductively, from ‘identity of political experience’ rather than deductively from dissimilarity of political rights.
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ItemGenesis and Development of the Concept of Rights in Iran before the Constitutional Revolution (1815-1906)( 2023-04)In this dissertation, I have studied the history of subjective rights in Iran during the Qajar era. I have shown that the concept of subjective right (right as to have a right) emerged during this period as opposed to objective right (right as to be right). The genesis and development of subjective rights can be observed in the political and legal literature of Iran since the reign of Fath Ali Shah. I have presented a meta-theory for analyzing the concept of rights by providing a concise history of its semantical development and explaining the transition from objective to subjective rights. I have also examined theories on the foundations and justifications of rights and used the Hohfeldian framework to analyze various conceptions of rights in travel literature, enlightenment literature, and dream literature of the Qajar era. To explore the manifestations of the concept of rights in travel literature, I have examined the travelogues of Abu al-Hasan Khan Ilchi, Mirza Salih Shirazi, Rizza Quli Mirza, Mirza Fattah Garmarudi, Haj Sayyah Mahallati, and Mirza Muhammad Husayn Farahani. These travelogues were written by Iranian statesmen, students, and tourists who visited the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, and Europe during the early and mid-Qajar era. I have used the meta-theoretical framework of rights to analyze the representations of the concept of rights in their travel accounts. To study the contributions of the Qajar intellectuals in the development of the concept of rights, I have consulted the complete oeuvre of Mirza Malkum Khan, Mirza Yusuf Khan Mustashar al-Duwlih, Mirza Fath Ali Akhundzadih, Mirza Aqa Khan Kirmani, Abbas Afandi, Abdulrahim Talibuf, and Ziyn al-Abidin Maraghih-i. Lastly, I have considered the question of rights in dream narratives of the Qajar era by examining The Book from Invisible (1860), One Word (1874), Sleep and Awakening (1884), The Travel Diary of Ebrahim Beg Vol. 1 (1897), The Paths of Virtuous (1905), The Celestial Consultative Assembly (1906), and The Travel Diary of Ebrahim Beg Vol. 3 (1909).
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Item“A Great and Beautiful Force”: The Making of Political Identities Among Women Activists on the Far Left in Australia, mid-1930s to early 1950s( 2023)This thesis examines the political identities of women activitists in the Communist Party of Australia and affiliated organisations from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, focusing on the interventions of World War II. It suggests that political interactions between women within and beyond the far-left, women developed political identities shaped by gender and feminist issues, along with class. It explores their positioning in the domestic sphere, their political organisations, and the workplace, as spaces which were key to shaping female political identities, complicating suggestions that the time period of study, and the Communist Party throughout the 20th century, were lacking in women-focused activism. It utilises varied sources from the period, drawing on the Women's Sections of left-wing newspapers, feminist and Communist materials, and the novels of Communist women authors Katharine Susannah Prichard and Jean Devanny as sites of cultural framings of gender.
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ItemEconomic growth, liberalism, and the good: A contemporary eudaimonistic evaluation( 2023-06)The majority of states worldwide pursue economic growth as a policy objective, and this tends to be justified in liberal and welfarist terms. However, the legitimacy of this pursuit is rarely debated and appears to be largely taken for granted. This thesis thus seeks to evaluate the legitimacy of the pursuit of economic growth as a policy objective in affluent countries, with a particular focus on well-being. Part 1 establishes the grounds for a normative evaluation of the pursuit of economic growth in affluent countries. Chapter 1 focuses on methodology. It argues that the economy is a proper target for a normative evaluation, and that the methodologies of social critique and political economy are appropriate to this evaluation. Chapter 2 explores the historical roots and the ideological features of the commitment to economic growth. This understanding of the commitment to economic growth in ideological terms contributes an explanation for the fact that it is rarely questioned. Chapter 3 investigates the relationship between economic growth and consumerism, and shows that individuals in consumerist societies are structurally constrained to engage in the consumerist lifestyle of working and spending, which challenges the association between economic growth and freedom, and raises questions regarding welfare. Part 2 elaborates and defends a contemporary theory of welfare eudaimonism which will form the basis for an evaluation of the pursuit of economic growth. Chapter 4 draws on a psychological theory called self-determination theory, and sketches a theory of welfare eudaimonism called self-determination eudaimonism. Central to this theory is the idea that human beings flourish when they engage in activities which fulfil their basic psychological needs. Chapter 5 defends the plausibility of a deflationary teleological explanation of prudential well-being in terms of self-fulfilment. Chapter 6 elaborates on self-determination eudaimonism and shows how it can be understood in terms of normative motivation. Chapter 7 discusses the development of normative motivation and its relationship with practical rationality. Finally, Part 3 evaluates the pursuit of economic growth as a policy objective in affluent countries in light of the framework developed in Part 2. Chapter 8 argues that the consumerist lifestyle entailed by the pursuit of economic growth undermines well-being, such that the pursuit of economic growth is illegitimate as a welfarist policy. In addition, since individuals in consumerist societies are structurally constrained to engage in this lifestyle, the underlying structure can be deemed unjust. Lastly, the pursuit of economic growth as a policy objective seriously limits the freedom to live as one sees fit and amounts to the imposition of a particular conception of the good, which is inconsistent with liberal principles. Part 3 ends with a brief discussion of what the good life may look like in the post-growth society.
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ItemThe Paper Negatives of Reverend George Wilson Bridges: A Preliminary Investigation into their History, Materials and Techniques( 2023-03)The Reverend George Wilson Bridges (1788-1863) was an English clergyman, writer and early photographer who lived in and travelled extensively through Jamaica, Canada, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. He played a significant part within a group of nineteenth-century British photographers, learning the paper negative and salted paper print processes from their inventor, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) and other associates during the mid-1840s. Bridges created his photographs during his travels around the Mediterranean and the Middle East between 1846-52, and published some of these upon his return to England. His production of images was reasonably prolific, however, for numerous reasons his photographic work appeared to not gain much attention during his lifetime and these days are considered relatively obscure and an adjunct to the work of his mentors. This research explores the life and work of this fascinating character through the lens of fourteen paper negatives attributed to Bridges that are held in the collections of Museums Victoria (MV). The focus is to begin understanding and identifying of the scope of photographic works created by this relatively unexamined photographer, and then more specifically, the photographic materials and techniques he used to create his paper negatives. The results of this research are intended to inform future methods of care for the works in the MV Collection, and more broadly, to advance the collective understanding of Bridges’ overall photographic oeuvre and begin filling a significant gap in scholarly knowledge of this area. This investigation begins with a review of the historic literature written about Bridges’ life and photographic career, comparing secondary accounts against the historic primary sources they are derived from, and exploring what photographic works are generally believed to have been created by him. In particular, numerous letters written by Bridges in which he explains his working methods, materials, and various issues he had with resulting images are interrogated. This discussion draws upon the significant number of secondary and primary resources that describe Talbot’s methods of producing paper negatives and salted paper prints, in which Bridges’ practice was based. The second part of the thesis documents and collates results gained from visually examining a range of paper negatives attributed to Bridges. It begins by reviewing how other conservation professionals have conducted similar studies of nineteenth-century paper negatives and salted paper prints in the past and details the visual examination and documentation methods that were developed and utilised in this study. Two sets of results are then presented and discussed. The first set of results is derived from the visual examination of 44 paper negatives attributed to Bridges in three other collecting institutions, and the second is from visual examination of 14 such works in the MV collection. Following this, a final third section details the overall results obtained from all four collections. Results are discussed in the light of the earlier review of historic literature about Bridges and observable trends are drawn out to create a sketch of the characteristic elements of his paper negatives. Discussion of the results from the MV collection in particular, focusses on where those works fit into the broader context of his oeuvre, and how the results of these investigations may influence the future care of this collection. The study finishes by listing numerous recommendations for further study on the topic.
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ItemThe Language of Archaeological Investigations( 2022-08)The thesis explores whether methods based upon analogical reasoning can be used to interpret culture if there are difficulties of translating other culture’s beliefs. The kind of cultural interpretation that I will discuss is that which pertains to social, artistic and religious activities. The thesis also explores the differences between quantitative and qualitative forms of reasoning, as well as inductive an deductive approaches, and how these are used in certain forms of archaeological interpretation. It is shown that scientific analyses of culture can make errors of translation, and it is also shown that humanistic and qualitative analyses of culture make many errors of reasoning that may be usually put forth against scientistic analyses of culture. How much biology and culture influence statistical trends is also discussed, and it is argued that trends may give support to certain forms of analogical reasoning that an archaeologist might use for the interpretation of culture. I also critique the idea of biological universals as being meaningful for cultural analysis. It is also argued that cognitive and biological factors exist below the level of cultural and religious activities; hence, a biological basis for statistical trends might not give much content to certain forms of comparative cross-cultural analysis. Thus, one might defend a qualitative approach to interpretation, but I argue that qualitative approaches make errors that can be paradoxically regarded as scientistic. The relevance of philosophical and linguistic theories by Kant, Kripke and Carnap is defended for archaeological research to explore interpretative errors in both quantitative and qualitative reasoning. The thesis argues against the dualism between the qualitative and quantitative, and attempts to argue for a pluralist methodology where positivism and relativism may be unified.
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ItemRitual Architecture, Material Culture and Practice of the Philistines( 2023-03)This thesis focuses on the recognition of cult and ritual in the Late Bronze Age to Iron Age (1175-586 BCE) Levant. It is concerned with the identification and elucidation of ritual architecture, material culture and practices based on the existing archaeological record and series of indicators that allow for reasonable inference that a site had ritual capacities. The aim of this study is to employ the synthesis and interpretation of data and apply comparative analysis to create an encompassing study that better represents the archaeological phenomenon of the Philistines. The ritual architecture, material culture and practice of the Philistines and their surrounding world are complex and multilayered. The following is a comprehensive catalogue of ritual-related architecture, material culture and (where appropriate) practices of sites in the Southern Levant, interpreted in the social and cultural framework of the LBA to Iron Age. The analyses of ritual-related architecture, material culture, practice and ideology require a detailed study of societal intricacies, architectural components and a defined typological framework. Ritual structures offer an alternate means of understanding the built environment and provide an insight into human-place-object interaction. Whilst the Philistines have been studied by archaeologists over the past four decades, there is a distinct gap in publication and knowledge when it comes to Philistine ritual and religious architecture, material culture and practice. This task can be especially difficult in regions of continuous settlement and destruction, particularly when large ritual and/or cultic centres stand out in the archaeological record in comparison to smaller, more nuanced, areas of ritual importance. Many debates which revolve around the Philistines concern aspects such as migration, the location of their cultural homeland, chronology and religious beliefs. A portion of excavation data coming from wider Philistia has not been re-assessed in the light of new theoretical approaches and the general developments in the field of archaeology and anthropology. It is my goal to reconstruct such data where possible and apply these new viewpoints, namely interpretive archaeology, to present an alternative to positivism in the field. The primary goal is to ‘even out’ the over-saturation of single-site publication through the collation and interpretation of all excavated sites in one corpus. Whilst writing my honours thesis, I noted the abundance of handpicked comparative studies and an overall lack of overarching studies pertaining to Philistine architecture and material culture. Consequently, there is no far-reaching study that discusses Philistine ritual architecture, material culture and its systematic characterisation in a way that presents all known data, relevant research and theoretical approaches. It is evident that a certain amount of scholarship on this topic suffers from the lack of wider comparative approaches and a failure of identification of ritual architecture and artefacts; a downfall that many facets of the discipline of archaeology experience. Therefore, this thesis will attempt to construct a comprehensive and summative history of ritual and cult in the Southern Levant with a focus on the Philistines and their world, moving away from the previously restrictive frameworks to produce a far-reaching piece of research which has not yet been generated within the field. A study such as this is not particularly new in the field of Bronze and Iron Age archaeology. Webb’s published PhD thesis entitled Ritual Architecture, Iconography and Practice in the Late Cypriot Bronze Age addresses the topic of specific ritual phenomena in a precise and succinct manner, creating an indispensable handbook to all who study the archaeology of ritual. Furthermore, the theses of Nakhai (Archaeology and religions of Canaan and Israel), Gilmour (The Archaeology of Cult in the Southern Levant in the Early Iron Age) and Elkowicz (Tempel und Kultplatze der Philister und der Volker des Ostjordanlandes. Eine Untersuchung zur Bau- und zur Kultgeschichte wahrend der Eisenzeit I-II) presented studies of similar design which helped bring this current study to fruition. Whilst this thesis heavily critiques previous interpretations and studies put forward by excavators, this research was only possible due to their unbroken hard work and dedication to the field of archaeology. This thesis owes great debt to the excellent predecessors who laid the framework for this study. It is my hope that the following analysis only highlights their success and commitment. Chapter 1 is a review of literary and archaeological sources that consists of an overview and summary of previous literature in the field with analysis and reference of biblical, historical and academic sources, including chronological issues and a review of excavation. Chapter 2 explores and defines the archaeology of ritual and cult within the framework of the LBA and Iron Ages, drawing on important previous studies which paved the way for new approaches. This chapter also considers cult identifiers and the difference between public, domestic and private ritual architecture and material finds. This section will also deal with specific definitions in relation to the cultic and ritual architecture of the geographical region. Chapter 3, 4 and 5 provide a compendium of Philistine ritual architecture and finds from the Early Iron through to the Iron II. Sites and buildings have been categorised into Reliably Identified Sites, Less Reliably Identified and Misidentified sites. These are accompanied by top plans, block plans, reconstructions and three-dimensional models (where available) in-text and in the body of the thesis. Sites are divided into architecture, material finds and discussion sections. Chapter 6 discusses Philistine religion, deities and epigraphic evidence, providing a summary of previous studies and new developments and understanding of Philistine ritual with an in-depth analysis and up-to-date table of Philistine altars and their comparisons with the wider Mediterranean. These discussions employ comparative analysis along with interpretive analysis to further understand what may have taken place within these cult and ritual-related areas. The study concludes with an overview of the findings and the future of Philistine archaeology of ritual and cult through the suggestion of a new cultic and ritual research agenda.
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ItemSame-sex marriage in Australia and the transformation of an institution, c. 1930-2017( 2023-05)This thesis explores the history of same-sex marriage in Australia between 1930 and the introduction of marriage equality in 2017. It examines the performance of religious and non-religious same-sex commitment ceremonies and weddings, and advocacy for relationship recognition. This thesis draws on a diverse range of archival sources to argue that there was a prominent and sustained interest in same-sex marriage in Australia and internationally since the emergence of modern lesbian and gay politics in the 1970s. It can be traced even earlier, with same-sex weddings forming an important part of pre-liberation Australian camp cultures. This interest in same-sex marriage was dispersed and haphazard, forwarded by same-sex couples, lesbian and gay Christians and other figures in public sexual politics. Yet it forms an important part of the history of sexual and social change in the twentieth century. The history of relationship recognition reform and activism in Australia was unique but was also shaped by global trends and flows of people and information. Ritual and ceremony played an important role in the development of new sexual identities and the conceptualisation of same-sex relationships, furthering the social acceptance of homosexuality in Australia. This thesis represents one of the first considerations of same-sex marriage as a historical phenomenon in Australia and historicises recent debates over marriage equality. The complicated and contested history of same-sex marriage prior to legalisation reveals much about how sexual politics has evolved in Australia, and how the institution of marriage itself has transformed over the twentieth century.
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePreserving plastics in paper-based collections( 2022-10)Plastics, referring to semi- or fully-synthetic mouldable polymeric materials, are now found in a wide range of cultural heritage materials. Ongoing research focused on plastics in museum collections show that the chemical stability of certain plastics are short-lived. These unstable plastics may additionally produce acidic products during deterioration, causing damage to neighbouring collections. Existing case studies of the rapid degradation of plastic materials associated with book and paper collections suggest the need for conservation attention to manage deterioration in libraries and archives. However, the types and condition of plastics in paper-based collections are not documented. Additionally, there are currently no targeted preservation strategies available. This dissertation aims to gain an understanding of plastics in paper-based collections in order to make informed preservation recommendations. Interdisciplinary methods were employed in a four-stage progressive investigation: 1. Firstly, a literature review of relevant preservation practices situates the research within the plastics conservation field. A classification of plastics in paper-based collections is proposed. Existing preservation methods addressing each material subtype are summarised, revealing a gap in the literature on plastics associated with paper materials: bindings, organisers and protectors. 2. Next, an industry survey of professionals working in Australian archives was used to assess the need for preservation strategies. Results show that plastics are pervasive in Australian archives, found in at least 90% of responding institutions. Furthermore, plastics associated with paper in archives are reported in poor condition by more than half of respondents. Respondents rated highly the need for storage strategies and standardised guidelines, supporting a need for preservation solutions. 3. To understand plastics in paper-based collections, the object types, condition, and preservation strategies were determined though collection surveys of post-1950s paper-based collections at the South Australian Museum Archive in Adelaide, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation in Melbourne. Using ATR-FTIR, 11 common polymers were identified, and ten binding structures were described. Observed deterioration was classified under four contributing causes. Based on observations, preservation recommendations were proposed addressing each of the four deterioration categories. 4. Lastly, a proposed storage strategy for plasticised poly(vinyl chloride) book covers was tested using artificial ageing. Three common sheet materials used in paper conservation were compared as possible interleaving materials. Although interleaving was observed to benefit the reduction of ink offset, other types of damage were accelerated by all three materials. This stage demonstrates the specific testing needs of a composite material combination. Findings contribute to a deeper understanding of effective preservation approaches for plastics in paper-based collections. Overall, results show the need for storage guidelines, specific testing of composite materials, and interdisciplinary collaboration to improve preservation approaches. This thesis is centred on practical industry outcomes and is amongst the first to specifically consider the overlap between plastics conservation and paper-based collections. Knowledge gaps addressed include material types, deterioration patterns, and suitable preservation methods. Although the thesis is focused on Australian collections, resulting recommendations are broadly relevant to paper-based collections, benefiting the preservation of information and culture for present and future generations.
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ItemA Question of Trust: Secrecy and Intelligence Accountability in Cold War Australia( 2023-07)Intelligence oversight and transparency have traditionally been conceptualised as a zero-sum equation in which decreases in secrecy were believed to come at the cost of intelligence agency efficacy. This thesis challenges that view. While a certain level of secrecy is protective, this thesis will demonstrate that excessive secrecy and a lack of accountability surrounding intelligence services is ultimately destructive. Using the role, functions and public perceptions of ASIO in Cold War Australia as a case study, I will establish that secrecy negatively affected intelligence efficacy in this period in Australia in multiple ways. With little to no guidance or oversight from Government, ASIO’s products became increasingly irrelevant to policymakers, and both Government and opposition members would lose sight of ASIO’s capabilities, limitations and value to Australian society. With no external guidance and no requirement to be accountable for its actions, secrecy allowed ASIO staff to break the boundaries of their legal remit and become involved in overtly political and partisan affairs. Significantly, secrecy also contributed to reduced trust in intelligence agencies and their staff. ASIO was deeply embedded within the community it served and significantly affected by the attitudes, beliefs and actions of the broader public. When intelligence agencies such as ASIO lose the trust of those they are supposed to protect, the morale of existing staff plummets, the recruitment of quality staff is made more difficult, influence with government and opposition is weakened and government spending on intelligence is threatened. The very legitimacy of intelligence agencies as a necessary element of democratic government can – and did – come in question, and with it, the future of the organisations themselves. Secrecy did not ensure intelligence efficiency in Cold War Australia: by destroying trust in the agency and its legitimacy in the eyes of the Australian public, it eroded it.