Elissa Sutherland
"The focus of my research is on how migration, gender issues and work intertwine."
Education
- B.A. (Hons) 1995 University of Tasmania
- LLB . 1997 University of Tasmania
- Ph.D. Economic Geography 2003 University of Newcastle
Research and Teaching Focus
I do economic-cultural geography and my research and teaching focus on the following themes:
- Migration and work
- Women and work
- The social relations of economy
- Globalising and restructuring processes
- Urban labour and housing markets
- Alternative governance and ethics mechanisms
- Social perceptions of sustainable policies and practices
Research
1. Migration, gender and work
The current major focus of my research is on how migration, gender issues and work intertwine. Following from the PhD research, I continue to focus on migrant women's entrepreneurial attitudes, perspectives and livelihood strategies for home-based work in the clothing industry. Further research is mapping the support for home-based working women in Indonesia as well as in the Australian context. I place these case studies within the context of a shift toward ethical labelling and socially responsible investment as well as on the pressures of trade liberalisation on regional and global clothing markets.
Another project that I am currently undertaking with Dr Susanna Scarparo from the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash, is to examine Intergenerational Storytelling about Italian Proxy Marriage Migration to Australia. A proxy marriage occurs when one party at the marriage ceremony is represented by a substitute known as a proxy. About 24,000 Italian-Australians married and migrated to Australia by these means and their story is largely undocumented. This project contributes to the growing research attention given to migration as a gendered process and specifically to case studies of gendered migration through marriage. This research also highlights how proxy marriage migration strengthened links between people in specific Italian regions and particular suburban contexts in Australia.
2. Social perceptions of sustainable policies and practices
Other research directions I am taking include preliminary work on:
- Social perceptions of changing water governance toward more sustainable practices
- Understanding the emerging 'natural' cosmetics supply-chain
- Sustainable housing for International Students in urban and regional Australia
My Teaching:
- GES1050 The Global Challenge
- GES2750 Economic Spaces, Industrial Landscapes
- GES3750/GES4750 Sharing Prosperity: geographies of work, regional development and economy
- GES3520 Social Spaces, Urban Justice
Publications:
- 2007, 'Rethinking industrial home-based work: constraints and possibilities for livelihood strategies of migrant women in Sydney, Australia' Gender, Place and Culture (submitted).
- 2007 , 'An epidemic of community, union and government induced reform? Mapping a "tipping point" for ethical governance of home-based work in NSW, Australia', in D. Buttigeig (Ed), Community and unionism: Opportunities for Renewal , Heidelberg Press, Melbourne,(forthcoming).
- 2007, 'Postcolonial Geographies in Australia forum: analysing the asylum seeker debate' Geographical Research(forthcoming).
- 2004, 'In-the-field politics: Multiple voices of outworkers and researcher', Australian Geographer, Vol. 35, Iss. 2, pp. 161-168.
- 2004 , 'Getting Inside the Heads of our Audience: Creating Inclusive Public Debate' Australian Geographical Studies, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 406-410.
- 2000 , 'Challenges of Cross-cultural Research: Methods and Processes', Inter-Cultural Studies Conference Proceedings, University of Newcastle Australia, (with C. Tandy).
- 1999 , 'Informal Regulation of the Informal Sector: The Home-based Worker Code of Practice (Othered again?)', in Proceedings of The Institute of Australian Geographers Conference 1998, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle.
Consultancy reports
- 2000, Sutherland, E and Asian Women at Work Inc. Chinese Outworker Responses to the NSW Department of Industrial Relations Outwork Strategy , A report formulated from focus groups discussions between Chinese outworkers and NSW DIR representatives, available from the NSW DIR.
- 2000 , Sutherland, E and Australian National Committee on Refugee Women, Vietnamese Outworker Responses to the NSW Department of Industrial Relations Outwork Strategy , A report formulated from focus groups discussions between Vietnamese outworkers and NSW DIR representatives, available from the NSW DIR.
- 2000 , Sutherland, E and Cambodian Australian Welfare Council of NSW, Cambodian/Khmer Outworker Responses to the NSW Department of Industrial Relations Outwork Strategy , A report formulated from focus groups discussions between Cambodian/Khmer outworkers and NSW DIR representatives, available from the NSW DIR.
- 1999, O'Neill P, Sutherland E, Green R and Rowe D, A World-Class Vision for change in the Textiles, Clothing & Footwear Industries Employment Studies Centre, University of Newcastle: Newcastle.
Conference presentations
- 2006, 'Married by proxy: Gendered migration, transitional belonging and transnational regionality.' Presented in a Transnationalism session, International Geographical Union Conference and joint meeting of the Institute of Australian Geographers and the New Zealand Geographical Society,'Regional Responses to Global Changes: A view from the Antipodes' 3-7 July, Brisbane, Australia.
- 2005, 'Boundaries of governance: ethical clothing initiatives in Australia', presented in a Geographies of Responsibility Session, The Association of American Geographers Conference, April 5-9, Denver Colorado, USA .
- 2004, 'An ethnography of outworking' Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, April, Glenelg, Adelaide, Australia.
- 2004, 'Don Watson's Death Sentence: A feminist retort', Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, Glenelg, Adelaide, April.
- 2003, 'Doing Cultural geography: dialogism and research practices' The Cultural Geography Studies Group Conference, September Melbourne University, Australia.
- 2003, Discussant for a session about feminist insights for economic geography at the Summer Institute in Economic Geography, July, University of Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
- 2001, 'Governing the ungovernable? Dialogue and legislation and the NSW Outwork Strategy and Ethical Clothing Trades Act' , A Joint Symposium of the Economic Geography Study Group of the Institute of Australian Geographers and Work and Organisational Studies Discipline, University of Sydney: Towards an Enlivened Political Economy of Work: Industrial Relations Meets Geography, 13-14th November, The Women's College, The University of Sydney, Australia.
- 2001, 'Processes of othering in the regulation of clothing outwork' in an Economic Geography research Group (EGRG) Royal Geographical Society and Institute of British Geographers RGS-IBG Annual Conference, 2-5th January, University of Plymouth, UK.
- 2001, 'Interviewing Chinese women clothing outworkers: alternative narratives or mesmerising hegemonic tales?' in a session entitled 'Geographies of Gender: Explorations into Current Postgraduate Research' (Women and Geography Study Group WGSG) Royal Geographical Society and Institute of British Geographers RGS-IBG Annual Conference, 2-5th January, University of Plymouth, UK.
- 2001, 'Places and progressions of empowerment: Chinese women clothing outworkers meet the regulation makers' in a session entitled 'Women at the Edge: Border Crossings, Risk and Resistance' (Women and Geography Study Group WGSG) Royal Geographical Society and Institute of British Geographers RGS-IBG Annual Conference, 2-5th January, University of Plymouth, UK .
- 2000, 'The chameleon state: policy and strategies for governing home-based outwork in the Australian Clothing Industry' Global Conference on Economic Geography, 5-9th December, The National University of Singapore, Singapore.
- 1999, 'Challenges of Cross-Cultural Research: Methods and Processes', Inter-Cultural Studies Conference October 25-26th, University of Newcastle, Australia.
- 1999, 'Interviewing NESB Women: Translations and Variations', Inter-Cultural Studies Conference October 25-26th, University of Newcastle, Australia.
- 1999, 'Creating new spaces for the voices of home-based outworkers', Institute of Australian Geographers' 1999 Conference: Geography at the Millenium, 27th Sept - 1 October, University of Sydney, Australia.
- 1999, 'Producing/presenting and performing knowledges: Documentaries of outwork and alternative representations in the grotesque and carnivalesque in 'Goodness Gracious Me', at the Celluloid Geographies Economic Geography and Gender and Geography Joint Study Group Meeting, 18-19th February, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
- 1999, 'Resisting the monologic text: creating new spaces for the voices of home-based outworkers', at the Southern Regional Conference of the International Geographical Union Commission on Gender, 8-11 February, Department of Geography University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
- 1998, 'Informal Regulation of the Informal Sector: The Home-based Worker Code of Practice (Othered again?)', Institute of Australian Geographers Conference, 29th June - 3rd July, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Australia.
- 1998, 'The Home-based Worker Code of Practice (Othered again?)' Social Justice/ Social Judgement Conference: Questions of Value and Contemporary Australian Society, April 25-26th, Blacktown Campus, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Address
- Room No: S123, Menzies Building
- Telephone Number: +61 3 990 52913
- fax Number: +61 3 990 58171
- Elissa.Sutherland@arts.monash.edu.au