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Jacqui Dibden

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Senior Research Fellow, Sustainability, Environment and Society

"The research aims to generate insights into the impact of national and regional social and economic changes upon communities and individuals at the local level, and to contribute to rural, farm and environmental policy development."

Fields of interest:

  • social change in rural Indonesia and Australia
  • social impacts of rural restructuring
  • regulation and governance of agriculture and natural resources
  • sustainability of farming, rural areas and country towns
  • environmental management on farms
  • ecosystem services and land stewardship
  • social movements
  • regulation and conflicts surrounding agricultural biotechnology
  • land-use change and environmental history

Research focus:

My research forms part of a broader suite of research activities under the auspices of the Monash Regional Australia Project (MRAP). This project was first established in 1999 to contribute to an understanding of a widely perceived ‘crisis’ in the bush. The research aims to generate insights into the impact of national and regional social and economic changes upon communities and individuals at the local level, and to contribute to rural, farm and environmental policy development.

Major current research topics are:

  1. Regulation and Governance of Agricultural Biotechnology: GMOs in Australia and the United Kingdom (with Professor Chris Cocklin, James Cook University, and Professor David Gibbs, Universityof Hull, UK).

    This ARC Discovery Project (2008-2010) is concerned with the development, social contestation, growth and regulation of the biotechnology sector, specifically genetically modified organisms in the form of seeds, crops, animals and foods. The research is examining the interplay between the suggested benefits of adopting and encouraging the new technology and the negative aspects that may arise. It will also analyse the attempts that have been made through regulation and governance to mediate the debates and manage the associated risks. The project aims to increase public understanding of the changes occurring in rural and regional areas and to make a contribution to the development of State and Federal government policies which more effectively address the needs of rural communities. As part of this research, I have been interviewing people with interests in the regulation of GM crops, as well as people living and working in rural areas where these crops are already grown or are likely to be grown in future. We are seeking to understand their views, experiences and knowledge of the changes occurring in their region or within their industry sector.

  2. From Productivism to Multifunctionality? Agri-environmental Governance in Australia and the United Kingdom (with Professor Chris Cocklin, and Professor Geoff Wilson, University of Plymouth, UK).

    This research is concerned with the policy debate surrounding the governance of farming and natural resource management – in particular with the problem of how to combine competitive agriculture with the need to move towards more sustainable land management and viable rural communities. The research has contributed to an understanding of the concept of 'multifunctionality', which has policy implications for agriculture, trade and international relations. ‘Multifunctionality’ – the notion that farming provides multiple benefits – originated in Europe and has been viewed with suspicion by Australian governments as a stratagem to permit continued subsidisation of agriculture. A dilemma for Australian governments is how to reconcile their long-standing opposition to farm subsidies with the need to help farmers deal with environmental problems. In recent years, there have been signs of a shift by governments at both state and federal levels towards a recognition that farmers cannot be expected to undertake ‘public good’ environmental work without public support. (This project received ARC Discovery Project funding in 2005-07.)

  3. Sustainable farming in Australia: Market instruments for improved land management (with Dr Vaughan Higgins, HUMCASS, Monash - Gippsland).
    Australian farmers are under increasing pressure to adopt improved land management practices at a time when farm viability is threatened by climate change and volatile global markets.

    Sustainable farming has become a national priority. As climate change and global economic pressures increase the problems facing rural areas, Australian governments have attempted to combine more sustainable land management with a competitive agricultural sector. Several policy instruments using market incentives have been proposed to manage the competing demands of farm viability and environmental sustainability. Research conducted thus far has examined the adoption of environmental management systems in the beef and dairy industries, and the use of ‘auction systems’ providing incentives to farmers to (for example) preserve habitats, manage areas of native vegetation and plant trees to prevent salinity.

Previous research has covered the following topics:

  • social impacts of rural restructuring
  • dairy industry restructuring in Australia,funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in 2001-03
  • an ARC-Academy of Social Sciences Special Project on sustainability of rural towns (2002)
  • governance of rural areas, natural resources and agriculture
  • the regulation and management of groundwater in a dairying area
  • environmental management systems in farming
  • transnational communities in Victoria (Monash Small Grant, 2004) and
  • environmental partnerships (Monash Faculty of Arts Research Initiative grant, 2004).

Student research:

I have supervised and advised honours, masters and doctoral students conducting research on the following topics:

  • Groundwater management in rural Victoria
  • Multifunctional agriculture in France
  • Environmental non-government organisation (NGO) partnerships with business
  • The discourse and practice of agricultural biotechnology development
  • Landholders’ perspectives on revegetation and biodiversity on farmland

Selected publications:

Books

  • Cocklin, C. and Dibden, J. (eds. 2005) Sustainabilityand Change in Rural Australia, Sydney: University of New South WalesPress.
  • Dibden,J., Fletcher, M. and Cocklin, C. (2001) All Change! Gippsland Perspectiveson Regional Australiain Transition. Melbourne: Monash Regional Australia Project, Monash University.

Bookchapters

  • Cocklin, C. and Dibden,J. (2005). Conclusion. In C. Cocklin and J. Dibden (eds.), Sustainabilityand Change in Rural Australia, Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, pp.247-252.
  • Cocklin, C. and Dibden,J. (2002b) Deregulating the Australian dairy industry. In P. Holland and F.Stephenson and A. Wearing (eds.), 2001, Geography – A Spatial Odyssey, pp. 356-362. Proceedings of the Joint Institute of AustralianGeographers/New Zealand Geographical SocietyConference 2001. Hamilton NZ: New Zealand Geographical Society.
  • Cocklin, C., Dibden,J. and Mautner, N. (2005). Land stewardship and the provision of eco-services.In A. Mather (ed.), Land Use and RuralSustainability, Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen, pp. 27-32.
  • Dibden, J. and Cheshire,L. (2005). Community Development. In C. Cocklin and J. Dibden (eds.), Sustainabilityand Change in Rural Australia, Sydney: University of New SouthWales Press, pp. 212-229.
  • Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2007). Contesting competition: Governance andfarmer resistance in Australia.In L. Cheshire, V. Higgins and G. Lawrence (eds.) Rural Governance:International Perspectives, Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 175-190.
  • Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2005). Introduction. In C. Cocklin and J.Dibden (eds.), Sustainability and Change in Rural Australia, Sydney: University of New SouthWales Press, pp. 1-18.
  • Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2005). Sustainability and agri-environmentalgovernance. In V. Higgins and G. Lawrence (eds.), Agricultural Governance:Globalization and the New Politics of Regulation, London: Routledge, pp. 136-152.
  • Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2003) ‘Tarra’, Victoria. In C. Cocklin and M. Alston (eds.), Community Sustainability in Rural Australia: A Question of Capital? pp.170-201.Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University.
  • Higgins, V., Dibden,J. & Cocklin, C. (2007). Market-oriented initiatives for agri-environmentalgovernance: Environmental Management Systems in Australia.,In D. Maye, L.Holloway and M.Kneafsey (eds.), Alternative Food Geographies: Representation and Practice,Oxford:Elsevier, pp. 223-238.

Journalarticles

  • Cocklin, C. and Dibden, J. (2002).Taking stock: farmers’ reflections on the deregulation of Australian dairying, AustralianGeographer, 33(1): 29-42.
  • Cocklin, C., Dibden,J. and Gibbs, D. (2008). Competitiveness versus ‘clean and green’?The regulation and governance of GMOs in Australia and the UK, Geoforum, 39(1):161-173.
  • Cocklin, C., Dibden, J. & Mautner, N. (2006). ‘From marketto multifunctionality: New approaches to sustainable land management in Australia’, Geographical Journal, 172(3): 197-205.
  • Cocklin, C.,Mautner, N. and Dibden, J. (2007). Public policy, private landholders: Perspectives on policymechanisms for sustainable land management, Journal of EnvironmentalManagement, 85(4): 986-998.
  • Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2009).‘Multifunctionality’: Trade protectionism or a new way forward? Environmentand Planning A, 41(1): 163- 182.
  • Dibden, J., Mautner, N. and Cocklin, C. (2005) Land stewardship: unearthing theperspectives of land managers, AustralasianJournal of Environmental Management, 12(4): 190-201.
  • Dibden, J., Potter, C.and Cocklin, C. (2009). Contesting the neoliberal project for agriculture:Productivist and multifunctional trajectories in the European Union and Australia, Journal of Rural Studies, 25(3): 299-308.
  • Gibbs, D., Cocklin,C., Dibden, J. (2008). Genetically modifiedorganisms (GMOs) and the future of rural spaces, Geoforum, 39(1): 145-147.
  • Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2008).Building alternative agri-food networks: Certification, embeddedness and agri-environmentalgovernance, Journal of Rural Studies, 24(1): 15-27.
  • Higgins, V., Dibden,J. and Cocklin, C. (2008). Neoliberalism and natural resource management:Agri-environmental standards and the governing of farming practices, Geoforum, 39(5): 1776–1785.
  • Missingham,B., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2006). A multicultural countryside?Ethnic minorities in rural Australia, Rural Society, 16 (2): 131-149.

Previous Employment

  • Social Research Consultant, Adelaide
  • Rural Project Officer, Carers’ Association of SA
  • Community Development Officer, Adelaide and Atherton, Far NorthQueensland
  • Principal Consultant, Social Sciences Research Training Centre, Ujung Pandang, Indonesia
  • Teaching Fellow / Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith University, Brisbane
  • Tutor, Department of Anthropology, University of Adelaide
  • Editorial Assistant to Minerva, a journal of higher education and science policy, London.

Education

  • Ph.D., University of London (United Kingdom)
  • M.A., University of London (United Kingdom)
  • B.A. Hons, University of Adelaide (Australia)

Contact Details

  • Phone: +61 3 9905 2162
  • Fax: +61 3 9905 2948
  • Email: Jacqui.Dibden@arts.monash.edu.au
  • Room S107,
    Menzies building (Building.11)
    School of Geography and Environmental Science,
    Monash University
    Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria
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