NCSAS Postgraduate Workshop 2000 Abstracts
Institutions in transition: the ESD policy process in Bangladesh
Aslam Alam, School of Social Science and Policy, UNSW
Bangladesh is the largest LLDC in the world. With a huge population of 130 million within an area of 143,000 square kilometre, it is trying hard to achieve sustainable development. Bangladesh is a victim of all sorts of natural disasters. Floods, cyclones, droughts and river bank erosions are major events in every year. It is also a major victim of global warming and climatic change. The recent discovery of arsenic pollution in the groundwater in many parts of Bangladesh has only hightened the environmental concerns. With a fast growing population and rapidly depleting natural resources, Bangladesh faces the challange of ecologically sustainable development. In this context, ESD policy-making is not a dispensable luxury for Bangladesh.
For effective ESD policy-making, environmentalism needs to be instituitionalised at all levels starting from the society to the organisational sub-system. We would like to consider institutionalisation as a process. It shapes up gradually over time and space. The institution of ESD is both the "framework of action" and the "product of action." So it is very important to study the emergence, diffusion and maintenance of the institution of ESD and its impact on the policy process of a nation-state. In this context, the present study deals with the following research questions:
- How environmental policy process coevolves with the social construction of environmental theme in Bangladesh?
- How the evolution of environmental theme affects the organisational field of policy environment in Bangladesh?
- How the degree of institutionalisation affects the policy effectiveness? Taking the new institutionalist perspective, the research program tries to accord both theoretical and empirical treatments to the issue of ESD policy process in developing countries.
Industrial Work, Urban Living and Education: Narratives of Women Garment Workers of Bangladesh
Syeda Sharmin Absar Ph.D. Candidate, Development Administration National Centre for Development Studies Australian National University Canberra, Australia
Abstract Bangladesh presently exports Ready-Made Garment (RMG) to about 30 countries around the world. The RMG sector is a 100 percent export-oriented industry. Women form over 60 per cent of production workers in the Ready-Made Garment (RMG) factories. More women, whether pushed by poverty or pulled by opportunity, are working outside home particularly in the RMG sector. The exodus of women to work in urban areas, leaving homes and families, is a relatively recent development.
Despite the employment opportunities at the garment factories, women workers in Bangladesh are suffering from abject poverty. Most of them earn less than a dollar (US ) a day. The garment industry itself is currently a US$6 billion industry (Rashid and Quddus 2000). However, workers of this multi-billion dollar industry are living hand to mouth, often starving with children and not being able to afford the cost of basic needs. Lack of proper literacy skills is holding them back at work which in turn is contributing to low wages, rare promotions, and other problems related to lack of education and lack of awareness in general. Why do women have to suffer miserable conditions both at home and at work is the question.
This paper will attempt to present that problems of industrial work and urban living are compounded by the mere fact that women are lacking proper level of education. This fact will be presented through the narratives of women garment workers of Bangladesh. The narratives were recorded during a three months long interview-based fieldwork conducted in the squatter settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1999.
Politicising Childbirth: State, Birthing and Bangladesh
Kaosar Afsana PhD Student Edith Cowan University, Western Australia
This paper examines how the state contributes to denigrate the position of women by integrating cosmopolitan obstetrics into indigenous practices. Childbirth has always been seen as a normal phenomenon among rural women in Bangladesh. Recent development in safe motherhood initiative has brought some changes in the notions of childbirth, in which it has no more been seen as a normal phenomenon. In accordance with the 'Health for All Strategy' of WHO, the community based program for safe motherhood began to train up the birth attendants to reach safe delivery services to all rural women, and to educate rural women as to issues of safe childbirth. Such strategies not only marginalise indigenous birth practices being practiced for generations but also marginalise women's knowledge as a birth participant and as a birth attendant. Creating fear about childbirth makes women not only to lose their courage to actively participate in their own birth, but also to be suspicious of the skills of indigenous birth practices. Concurrently, the newly learned knowledge creates dilemmas among rural birth practitioners as to their choice of practices. More importantly, birth practitioners also repudiate trust in their own skills and self-dignity. By situating women as a repository of knowledge this paper addresses as to how to improve birth practices in rural areas of Bangladesh.
Cultural Constructions of Risk and HIV Risk-Behaviours
A.S.M.Aman ullah, Sociology Dept, University of New South Wales
This paper attempts to explore the theoretical and practical fallacies of socialpsychological and communication paradigms and also their KAP models in exploring and changing culturally constructed sexual behaviours of high-risk practising people/communities. Specifically, it tries to reveal that the hypothesised causal link (between beliefs and practices) of those paradigms/models is not universal and thus contestable. Therefore, it may be audacious to rely only on individual's cognitive rationality or linear type of risk-communication to change a predominantly sociocultural phenomenon, like an unsafe sexual act of a sex worker. Alternatively, it argues that the unsafe sexual behaviours of female sex workers (FSWs) and their clients are sociocultural in nature; and thus it is more rational to address the issue in terms of plural rationality and by using a comprehensive functionalist approach (especially through cultural study approach). Sociologists and anthropologists are greatly lacking in proposing such an approach/discourse from the beginning of the HIV pandemic. "With a few notable exceptions, sociologists have not been in the forefront of making sense of the cultural meanings of AIDS or in documenting the social construction of AIDS as a social problem" (Huber and Schneider, 1992: xxiii). In an attempt to fill-up the above gap, at least in post-colonial Bangladesh context, the paper addresses the social and cultural constructions of HIV risk-behaviours from post-functional point of view. The emerging and catastrophic epidemic of the South Asian countries urgently needs this sort of analysis. Now is the time to apply our African lessons to reconstruct the reality of South Asia.
"Recovery" of women in National Identity Politics
Bina d'Costa, Ph.D student, International Relations and Women's Studies Supervisor: Dr. Jan Jindy Pettman
This paper will examine the political uses of History and the ways women's experiences are both erased and appropriated for History and the Nation. It traces the exclusionary effects of keeping women 'out' of the history of post colonial states through an exploration of the tensions between the religious affiliation and national identity in the Indian Subcontinent, and demonstrates how women have borne the brunt of their imperatives and contradictions. The paper focuses on the 1947 Partition of India,and the1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, and the subsequence silencing of rape survivors. Traditional concepts regarding the purity of women and the honour of the family are transformed in the redescription of violence: How did the new nations deal with the 'impurity'of 'their' women? Where do the women situate themselves in the face of enforced silences regarding their experiences?
Once Indian Always Indian: Indian Ethnic Associations in Australia
Sumedha Dhani, Deakin University, Supervisors: Dr. Renate Klein and Dr. Anita Harris
South Asia also exists in Australia! Particularly, Indian relations with Australia in one form or the other have been there since 18th century. It culminated in Australia's New Horizon Program in India in 1996 and both the countries have come much closer since. The story started with immigration and the Indian immigration has produced one of the most successful immigrant communities in Australia. Its roots lie in the colonial rule of the early 18th century and have passed through the 'coolie and 'Hindu' phase of early immigration. Indian immigrants became famous in the sugar cane trade, fruit and banana plantations. Over the last five decades it has been an all together different story. Today's Australian-Indians are well known and respected in the Australian Cyber world and many other prominent fields. They compete with and excel with the Australian national levels of income, education and employment.'An ideal peaceful community' in the words of Dr. James Jupp, the Australian authority on immigration. The Australian population of Indian ancestry population is more than a million people.
To preserve their culture is important to Indians. Their voices were silent and identity unknown during the years of White Australia Policy and till the 1960's. After that and during the enlightening atmosphere of 90's 'cultural multiculturalism', the associations of Indians have thrived. My paper examines some of the ways in which Indians in the diaspora maintain their culture through their voluntary associations. The paper will explore the activities of the Indian associations in the light of the 'disapora space' (Avtar Brah 1996). In particular it focuses on the role of women in the Indian associations. It is based on my empirical research.
Cleaning Mother Ganga: a case study of Varanasi.
Assa Doron, Postgraduate Student, La Trobe University
The pollution in the river Ganges has increased considerably in the past two centuries due to population growth, industrialisation and urbanisation in modern India. Ironically, traditional religious Hindus consider the Ganges pure. Every year multitudes of Hindu worshipers come to the holy city of Varanasi, situated on the banks of the river, for ritual bathing in the sacred water. This paper focuses on the pollution problem in Varanasi. It examines the conflict that emerged as a result of the government attempts to clean up the river, while focusing on the local NGO 's alternative plan. It will explore the methods and activities by which the organisation (NGO) has been promoting environmental awareness on the local, regional and global level. By utilising mass media, participating in international conferences and working with international environmental organisations, the NGO is readily challenging the Government's failed efforts to clean the river. At the same time it is proposing an alternative clean up plan that considers the particular cultural, religious, economic and geographical situation in the city.
The case study of Varanasi serves to illustrate the need for a different kind of development in India. The future challenges for the Modern Indian State may depend on its ability to incorporate alternative visions that take into consideration the various discourses employed on both the local and global level.
Globalisation of Capital and the Production and Distribution of Information and Culture
Scott Fitzgerald, South Asia Research Unit, Curtin University of Technology
The thesis centres on detailed, comparative case study analyses of the increasingly global operations of AOL-Time Warner, Bertelsmann and News Corporation. On the basis of the size and diversity of their operations, these companies are positioned within a concentrating oligopoly of global media corporations. Although globally oriented, each has emerged within different national and regional settings and as such their examination brings into focus the ways in which the global system of capital accumulation, into which the cultural sphere is increasingly being absorbed, is mediated through the specific class relations of nation states. The companies' operations are contextualised within a wider analysis of how the expansion in the production and distribution of communication and information technologies and cultural commodities has been a central aspect of the accentuated development of this global system of capital accumulation since the 1970s.
The study is presently focusing on the case study corporations' activities within India's burgeoning information, communication and entertainment industries, whose development exemplifies the consolidation of culturally and linguistically marked regional media markets within the context of an integrating global media system. Of principal focus is the manner in which News Corporation's control of systems of media distribution and production within India has been both facilitated and impeded by inter-corporate competition, particularly with nascent regional media corporations such as Zee Telefilms, and struggles within the Indian state over the form in which the country's media industries are internationally integrated.
The Purdah Institution
Mrs Riffat Haque. University: New South Wales, Sydney. Dept: Women's Studies.
Research project will be an attempt to examine the Purdah institution,which has deep roots in the Pakistani society through its cultural and religious traditions.Purdah reflects and determines the status of Pakistani women.It reflects in the women lives and society as a whole in the form of sex segregation, seclusion and clothing.In my research I will try to examine the different aspects of Purdah and find out how it permeates in women's status through the sources of political, religious, social, economic, legal and cultural pressures.
The Expansion of Hindu Nationalism: The Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal
Michael Gillan South Asia Research Unit, Curtin University of Technology, Perth. Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. John McGuire
The thesis examines the BJP's attempts to break out of its relative containment within Hindi speaking states of north India and thereby establish a truly 'national' political hegemony, by expanding into states in southern and eastern India. Primarily, the thesis is an examination of this question by means of a close study of the party in the eastern state of West Bengal. This study encompasses: 1. The antecedents and historical trajectory of Hindu nationalist politics in colonial and post-colonial Bengal; 2. The BJP in electoral politics in West Bengal, 1980-1998; 3. The organisational base and mobilising strategies of the Sangh Parivar in West Bengal; 4. Campaign issues, ideology and policy orientations of the BJP within the regional socio-economic context of West Bengal. The thesis attempts to show how the BJP has been able to use 'national' prominence and leverage in projecting and 'normalizing' itself within the political culture of particular regional environments, while, simultaneously, confronting the limitations of its own ideology and organisation in dealing with politics at the level of 'region'.
Field Research Operations: Lessons from a survey of urban and rural communities in Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Hafeez, Ph D Student, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health The Australian National University
No matter how much a researcher prepares, planning cannot anticipate all possible contingencies. The prevailing socio-political conditions may introduce unexpected developments, having a bearing on field research. The researcher must be flexible in terms of both the data to be collected and the execution of particular tasks. In 1998, for my Ph.D. research project, "Gender Differences and Female Health" a survey" (GDFHS) was conducted in rural and urban communities of two districts in Central Pakistani province of Punjab. In total 1,733 interviews, including 45 percent women, were completed. To supplement quantitative data, eight focus group discussions with men and women were organized. Moreover, eleven in-depth interviews with health care-providers were also conducted. Ongoing socio-political conditions in the country coupled with extensive reach of electronic media may rapidly produce research relevant circumstances affecting the operations of data collection significantly. Due to growing insecurity and uncertainty in many poor countries, like Pakistan, people have become sensitive, and readily react to bursts of information. With reference to GDFHS survey, particular television commercials aired during field operations of the survey influenced focus group discussions and general interviewing process. Secondly, the sudden media campaign about the onset of 1998 Population and Housing Census in Pakistan created special situations for the GDFHS team of interviewers and the researcher. In one survey site, there was a desirable and good effect on the survey operations, while in another site, it was damaging.
Ethnicity and Nationalism in Pakistan
Adeel Khan Ph D Student Sociology Program University of Wollongong
Since its creation in 1947 Pakistan has been confronted with the self assertion of one ethnic group or another. Except for the Punjabis, every major ethnic group in Pakistan has actively contested the legitimacy of the administrative structure of the Pakistani state.
This thesis looks at the ethnic movements of Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Baloch and Muhajirs and tries to explicate the role of the highly centralised state structure that has not only been intolerant to any voice of dissent but has also been discriminatory against some of the ethnic groups and regions. The thesis shows how one of the most favourably placed groups, Muhajirs, gradually lost its unjustifiable overepresentation in the power hierarchy and turned from one of the most ardent supporters of the official ideology of Pakistan to become one of the most violent adversaries of the state structure. And how one of the groups, Pakhtuns, which had initially opposed the creation of Pakistan and was regarded the most serious internal threat to the state has emerged as the second most powerful group after Punjabis.
In the theoretical section, the thesis reviews literature on nationalism and takes a critical view of the work of some of the major writers in the field like Ernest Gellner, Benedict Anderson, Partha Chatterjee and Anthony Smith. It is proposed that these writers' theories are not very helpful in explaining the ethnic conflict in Pakistan because of their emphasis on the ideology of nationalism rather than the mechanisms and technologies of power, especially political power and its most massive and violent container, the nation-state.
State of Urban Child Labour in Bangladesh
Serajul Hoque, Dept of Economics, Monash University
The poor economic context of Bangladesh has pushed the children of the poor families to take up economic labour in the informal market. Children are found to engage in labour force for their survival and denied of opportunities for their normal growth and development. It is well established fact that children are always less paid even if they work as much as an adult. In other words, they are exploited. On the whole there is no fixed rate of wages for child labour in the organized or unorganized sectors. In a country where more than a half of the population live below poverty line having insufficient income to meet the minimum nutritional standard and the job opportunities are so poor, the child labour has significant contribution in the form of increasing the family income. Even if we desire we can not abolish child labour over night. The specific objectives of the study: - to investigate the socio-economic background of these children; - to study the factors which compelled them to enter the labour force at tender age; - to know the service conditions and the working conditions of these children; and - to study their life pattern, use of leisure and aspirations etc.
Exact Abstract Title: To be advised shortly
James Mayers, South Asia Research Unit, Curtin University
In the last few years, four main themes appear to dominate the relevant literature devoted to the study of Indian politcs; the emergence of the BJP, economic liberalisation, the so-called 'regionalisation' of Indian politics, and the relative decline of the Congress(I). However, very few of these studies have fully explored the linkages between these 'themes' and thus fall short of providing an adequate analysis of the forces which continue to shape political and economic change in India. By way of a regional perspective, this paper will attempt to show how these forces interrelate and have impacted upon recent political realignments in the state of West Bengal.
The Internationalisation of Disputes over Water: The Case of Bangladesh and India
Joel McGregor Political Science Department University of Western Australia
Conflict over the use of water resources is likely to be an increasingly important issue in the relations between states. While access to scarce water resources is a more common cause of conflict, the continuing dispute between Bangladesh and India over the regulation of water in the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems is as much about flood control and ecological issues as it is about the availability of water. As such, it is a good example of the complex interaction of domestic and international issues affecting the resolution of disputes over water use. This paper examines the nature of the dispute and its implications for regional relations across South Asia as a case study of the internationalization of disputes over the use of water resources.
Political Opportunists or Patriots? The 'interim' ministry in Bombay, 1937
Vrinda Mishra, Dept of History, Monash University
Contemporary historiography is strangely silent on provincial events after the 1937 elections and is entirely wrapped up in the dithering of the Congress over office acceptance and its eventual forming of government where it had won a majority of seats in the elections. This Congress-centric attitude has led to a neglect of non-Congress provincial ministries in provinces such as the Bombay presidency. The period of about three and half months when these ministries formed governments are somehow regarded as insignificant and irrelevant to the main question of the period, which was, would the Congress party accept offices or not? There are defects in this approach not only in that it overlooks an important phase in the transition between dyarchy to provincial autonomy but also because it ignores non-Congress parties and issues in the march towards the independence of the country. In this paper I hope to redeem this lacuna and discuss the interim ministry in the Bombay Presidency. I believe that the success of the ministry went a long way towards enticing the Congress to accept office and and try to work the much - reviled Act of 1935. This in turn provided the party with valuable experiences in governance, which they could draw from in the years to come.
Hare Krishna in Australian Society: views from the inside.
Una Murphy, PhD student,Deakin University's School of Social Inquiry.
I am presently researching Hare Krishna in Australian Society. The research is an exploratory study of the Hare Krishna movement in Australian Society. The main research objectives are to gather information that can contribute to: The elucidation of the identity of the Hare Krishna movement in Australian society. To gather information on the growth and development of the movement since 1970 To gather data that will establish what it 'means' to be a Hare Krishna devotee form an insider's (the devotees') view as well as the changes that occur over time. To identify reasons why people in Australian society join the Hare Krishna movement To research factors that underlie the reasons why people join the Hare Krishna movement. What influences some people stay in the Hare Krishna movement and why other people leave and how relationship with the movement matured over time To understand what Hare Krishna devotees found lacking in their life-style prior to their religious conversion.
Maldivian History - translations and commentaries
Michael O'Shea, Postgraduate Student, University of New England.
Modern Maldives is a dynamic and successful country with an obscure and neglected history. This Islamic atoll nation now has the highest per capita income in South Asia and is investing heavily in education, infrastructure, and communications. The capital island Male is statistically the most crowded place on earth. There is more information at my website: www.maldivesculture.com. The thesis is an attempt to place Maldivian history into regional and global contexts; a very relevant exercise as Maldives becomes an important player in the South Asian economy. The research involves the translation from Dhivehi into English of important Maldivian historical writings, and understanding the traditional historical links between Maldives and other Indian Ocean areas. Maldives' place in British Colonial history is an important aspect of the research, and the links with Arab/Persian navigators are yielding exciting discoveries. Serious history writing in Maldives is actively discouraged, and subject to continual censorship. This research, through it internet delivery, has direct political implications for Maldivian society.
Democracy comes to Rajasthan.
Jill Martin, PhD Student, Department of History, Monash University
When the British officially left the subcontinent on 15 August 1947, political power in India was bequeathed to the Indian National Congress which formed the successor government in the former British India. In the princely states however life went on as normal under the dominion of traditional royal rulers, as the new government of India exerted control over these territories only in the areas of defence, foreign affairs and communications. The government was determined that these states should be fully part of independent India and enjoy the same political, economic and social freedoms as the rest of their countrymen. Accordingly they embarked on a programme of integration and democratisation to achieve this goal. The princely states of Rajputana were among the last to be brought into the fold. What did the Congress government really hope to achieve in the new union of Rajasthan? What were the expectations of the people of the erstwhile princely states which made up the union and the local Congress workers who had worked so hard to bring democracy to them? Were their expectations realised? What sort of democracy were they given?
Workaholism: A Comparative Study of Japan and India
Pranesh Prasad, Phd Candidate, Dept of Economic History, ANU
In the Post World War II era Japan has succeeded in achieving remarkably high growth rates and has become a major industrial power. By comparison, India has underachieved economically, with low growth rates and general poverty. The Japanese economic success has aroused interest from transitional economies such as India, as a model of development. For India to undergo similar economic successes as the Japanese it needs to be understood as to how the Japanese miracle took place and in particular, what is it about the Japanese that allowed them to initiate economic growth. It needs to be examined as to what aspects of the Japanese model can be replicated in India. The thesis attempts to explain the Japanese economic miracle in terms of the Japanese work ethic. The thesis examines whether Indian employees can emulate the Japanese work ethic and would this lead to similar economic successes in India. The thesis attempts to determine factors that affect Japanese work values and compare them with India. The thesis examines how work values are formed in different societies and how they differ. If work values are different in Japan and India, the thesis asks should and could the Indian employees be organized and managed as if they were Japanese employees. If the work values of the Japanese employees are conducive to Japanese economic development, should and could they be transferred to Indian employees? This will answer whether Japan's work values are the most conducive to economic development for India or not.
Community Participation in Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Programs in India
Tasnim Partapuri, Ph.D. (Community Health) Supervisor : Dr. C. Russell
In a large health care project, where there are several levels of functionaries (ranging from funding agencies, the health ministry officials, medical personnel, paramedical staff and grassroots workers) there may be differences in perceptions and perspectives, about the role of each of the stake holders.
Objectives: The objectives of the study were to identify the key interest groups or stake holders in a project, to ascertain their expectations of the project and determine the reason for their priorities, especially in terms of the participation of the target community. Moreover, the study sought to identify areas of consensus and conflict in the differing priorities of the stake holders and to understand how conflicts are negotiated, which group's priorities prevail and who participates in what ways and why. The India Population Project VIII, Calcutta is part of a series of joint efforts by the World Bank, the Indian Government and the Municipal Administration in Calcutta to achieve Reproductive and Child Health for the urban slum areas of greater Calcutta.
Methods: A qualitative case study method (involving depth-interviews, focus-group discussions, observation and analysis of documentary evidence) was used to study this project. Such a design allowed respondents to provide subjective definitions of the phenomenon rather than the predetermined definitions of the researcher. Moreover, the multiple sources of evidence used facilitated the triangulation of the data.
Results: The project aims to improve the health status of mothers and children and reduce fertility among the target population through the delivery of Primary Health Care services by community- based honorary women health workers. Since its inception in late 1995, the project has achieved considerable improvements in the health status of the target community. However, an unequal distribution of power and responsibility between the different stake holders (in this case beneficiaries, health workers, municipal authorities, state and central government and World Bank) and the limited role played by the beneficiaries and health workers in determining the priorities of the project has rendered it vulnerable to misuse by different political parties at the municipal level for the granting of patronage and clientalism. Moreover, the time-bound period of the funding and the imposition of the project on an already stressed and malfunctioning municipal administration system has led to uncertainty about the continuation of the project and the sustainability of its gains once funding, and with it close monitoring and supervision, are withdrawn.
A Comparative Study of Employed and Unemployed Bangladeshi Professionals in Sydney, Australia : An Anthropological Endeavor.
Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman, Postgraduate Research Scholar, University of New South Wales, Sydney. Supervisor: Prof. Ann Daniel
Bangladesh Australia Migration has special features. The majority of Migratory Approvals is in the Skill Category. Most of these people are settled in the urban areas of NSW. They have in mind lots of hopes and aspirations to settle successfully in Australia. But some are still jobless, some have changed their previous occupations, and some are doing odd jobs to survive. So this paper tries to give some light on the employed and unemployed Bangladeshi professionals living in Sydney. And to assert why so many skilled people fail to make successful transition on professional environment and the reason behind to migrate in Australia. Its true the skilled professional finds a good environment to learn and research and the earning may be higher. But the question arises that the skilled people can serve their nation staying abroad or not. And also due to chain Migration the ratio of remittances are low. So the sending country suffers a great loss in both economically and socially. A developing country like Bangladesh, any scientist or any skilled professionals are countries pathway towards development. And any losses gonna create an insatiable condition in the professionals arena. I like to criticize existing theories regarding international migration because the theories regarding international migration flows are largely concerned with more or less voluntarily in response to economic and social conditions. They do not address the many types of movements that results directly from political factors (violence, repression, human rights violations, ethnic tensions) or Environmental factors or religious factors (fundamentalist ideologies, misleading interpretation).
Women's Activism in Pakistan: The absence of lower and lower middle classes voices.
Tahmina Rashid Political Science Melbourne University
Women in Pakistan are considered the guardians of religious standards, cultural norms and values of the society. Their sufferings and deprivation can be studied from various perspectives. Women activism in Pakistan has a complex history, beginning with nationalism, moving into post-independence concerns about the impoverished half of the population, turning its lens onto Islamization of laws in 1980s and their impact on women in Pakistan. Zia regime of the 1980s embarked upon a series of measures designed to undermine women's legal rights, educational and career opportunities as well as the simple rights for freedom of movement and protection from molestation by males. This struggle resulted in the establishment of a strong women's movement. The 1980's have truly been a decade of the women of Pakistan. Powerful women's movement made a dramatic impact on Pakistan's political scene and previous attitude of not offending the social customs took a new turn. Women's activism shifted from upper class drawing room to middle class professionals' place. A number of women's organizations came together in this struggle against dehumanization of women in the name of Islam.
In the 1990s, women activism took a new turn and their movement split into various non-governamental organizations. This socio-political phenomenon is quite different from other parts of the world and the proposed study will look into many factors operating to deprive women of their rights, and the role of women organisations in helping them to regain their lost socio-political and legal existence by giving them an active consciousness to resist oppression.
Women activism is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, yet not much work has been done in this arena. Most of the available research is either a history of women's rights or an apologetic study of a Muslim society. However, recently some Islamic Feminists like Riffat Hassan, Fareeda Shaheed and Khawer Mumtaz have tried to explore the role of the religion as an important socio-cultural factor in these organisations. This proposed research will explore various dimensions of feminism, and the politics within these movements and organizations. I intend to investigate the relationship between class, and gender in Pakistan.
Instead of having liberal, marxist, socialist, radical and other labels of feminism, Pakistani feminism seems to be based on class rather than ideas and issues. The last decades of this century has given rise to a unique women's movement in the rural areas of Pakistan which seems to be more effective being rooted in native culture and is not seen in contradiction with moral standards. It needs to be investigated, whether these organizations are conveying their message to lower and lower middle class women or still their activism is primarily addressing issues relevant to an upper class minority and not related to the large majority living in semi rural and rural areas of Pakistan. I shall also explore, how these organisations are depedentent on foreign donar agencies, and the ongoing politics to compete for this money, and how this is used to raise awareness among women, or just to run these organisations.
Kate Riddel, University of Western Australia, Title to be advised.
In the early 20th century, neo-Malthusians paid attention to the possible security threat posed by rapid population growth. Arguing too many people would force nations to pursue expansionist policies, ultimately ending in war. This idea, that too many people pose a security risk, was adopted by main stream debate and population policies. In the 1980's there was a resurgence of interest in the population security link and the potential security rapid population growth posed, through pressure on, and competition for, scarce resources and a depleted environment. The notion that too many people threaten secuirty is not accepted by all. For some, a large population enhances security. Again, this idea of safety in numbers is not new, but has become particularly pertinent to certain states in the latter half of the twentieth century. Based on this idea, certain states have pursued pro-natalist policies to increase national security. This thesis analyses the internal and external effects of such policies in Pakistan and Iran. Dynamics such as religious influence, geopolitical situation, resources pressure and allocation will be considered.
Comparative Study of National Training Systems
Jagdishwar Singh, Faculty of Education, Deakin University
There has been a growing emphasis in recent years in both developed and developing countries alike to boost national economic competitiveness and productivity. The pressures of globalization and technological changes have contributed in a large way to this situation. A key plank in this drive to boost productivity has been to increase the level of investment in human resources development. My interest is particularly in the area of training within industry and I am trying to do a comparative study of a select number of different training systems. Given the complexity of workplace learning, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary. Rather than simply to look at institutional arrangements, my particular interest is in exploring the underlying assumptions in the approaches taken. A comparison of Western and Asian models will be made.
Jo Tayler MA, Asian Studies, Monash University
My country of particular interest is India. I have travelled in India twice: in 1989 and 1991. I work in educational publishing as an editor and my goal is to publish educational materials on developing countries and development issues. My interests include all the development issues, such as women rights, education, health and reproduction, water, environment, work, and so on. Undertook the MA to gain an overview of the issues and people in India, my first assessment piece is looking at contemporary women activists in India.
An analytical model of international business strategies for markets under trade sanction: the Myanmar case
Vicki Thein, PhD Candidate and Research Associate, Institute for Research into International Competitiveness (IRIC), Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth. Supervisor: Dr Richard Grainger
This study explores why and how foreign companies enter the Myanmar market and develop businesses there, despite an uncertain political situation and serious economic problems that have faced the country since the early 90s. The specific focus of this study is to develop an analytical model of international business development strategies utilized by foreign companies for markets under trade sanction such as Myanmar. It will be the first to critically appraise 1) the reasons why foreign companies enter the Myanmar market, 2) advantages and disadvantages of entry to Myanmar now rather than later (after political situation improves), 3) how foreign consumer goods, despite wide ranging restrictions imposed by both home and host governments, are being imported into the country, officially or unofficially, and how the goods are marketed in Myanmar, 4) how the foreign companies compete with and/or participate in "semi-official" border trade and 5) the multiplicity of ways to manage the two-tier currency system.
As a theoretical context for the inquiry, the existing literature on market entry and marketing strategy will form a broad basis for the thesis. An important academic empirical question that motivated this study is, can the existing literature on market entry and business development strategies explain international consumer good marketing in the Myanmar market?
A qualitative methodology is used in the thesis. The principles of grounded theory developed by Strauss & Corbin (1990) will be used as a methodological approach for the thesis. The data collection process will involve holding semi-structured face-to-face interviews with distributors and marketers of consumer goods, advertising agencies and other facilitators (e.g. market research agencies) operating in Myanmar. The transcripts will be content-analysed using NUD*IST (Non-numerical Unstructured Data* Indexing Searching and Theorizing), a computer software program for qualitative data analysis.
Transnationalism and the Indian diaspora down under
Carmen Voigt-Graf Ph.D. candidate, University of Sydney
The Indian population in Australia is very diverse in terms of migration history, regional origin, cultural and religious background and economic activity. In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the factors that determine how the Indian diaspora works in the global and national contexts. This question will be approached by asking whether and how the Indian diaspora have been affected by recent transformations which are usually described as globalisation processes. Transnational communities have become an important part of the global economic landscape and diasporas as specific forms of these are often regarded as particularly adaptive and successful forms of social organisation. While this question could be approached on a number of levels, I will focus on two areas: migration flows (in terms of regional origin, numbers, diversity and permanency of migration) and economic activities (in terms of economic sector, employment status and involvement in transnational activities). I will suggest that while certain characteristics of the Indian transnational community are best explained by global forces, many others are not. For example in terms of the economic success, a comparison of three groups of Indians in Australia, namely Punjabis, Kannadigas and Indo-Fijians traces their different success in Australia back to their pre-migration situation and the position of their home region in the world economy.
Globalisation at the Middle The Migratory "Computer People" from South India to Australia
Biao Xiang D.Phil. (PhD) Candidate Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology University of Oxford UK
Two types of globalisation processes have been seen in the recent remarkable development of the Information Technology (IT) industry in South India. The globalisation "from above (outside)" (e.g. by way of multinational corporations) brings Indian IT industry into the world system, yet renders the industry excessively export-oriented and not highly relevant to indigenous social development as a whole. It is further suggested that the outflow of Indian IT professionals is to a considerable extent responsible for this lack of relevance. This outflow, however, brings about strong transnational networks between overseas IT professionals and India. This globalisation "from below", which is based on more "organic", community-style connections, is seen to be highly encouraging by the Indian government and some western observers. Arising from this scenario is a crucial question for the developing world in the global era: how far can the cultural dynamism in the transnational networks "from below" help change the established unequal international political economy relation "from above"?
Focused on Hindu Information Technology (IT ) professionals from South India to Australia, this research suggests that economic globalisation creates "ethnic transnational middle classes." Ethnic transnational middle classes are not middle classes from ethnic background who have transnational connections, but are those professionals who are constructing agents of globalisation through globalising their labour power (professional skills or management activities). They are pushing globalisation, yet are tightly anchored to their ethnicity. They utilise ethnicity to pursue and protect their collective interest in the process of globalisation.
As a result, the thesis shows that the migratory Indian computer people are creating their world-wide "transnational space." This space accommodates globalisation. "Globalisation at the middle" indicates that globalisation is not a human-agentless process, but may happen through these ethnic "spaces".