Sociology Research Strengths
The research profile of staff in sociology and social policy makes a significant and innovative contribution to theoretically informed and empirically grounded research around critical social issues, both within Australia and internationally. In particular, the group has strengths in areas including social relations, risk and uncertainty, media and new technologies, migration and post-colonial studies, key dimensions of contemporary social policy, and organizations, as well as a range of sociology and social policy theory and methods.
The research of Millsom Henry-Waring makes significant contributions across a range of areas including critical black studies, gender/women’s studies and post-colonial studies, and the social and political implications of new technologies in a range of areas, including new forms of personal intimacy. Most recently, Millsom is Chief Investigator on a 3 year Australian Research Council Linkage-Project Grant entitled ‘Resettling Visible Migrants & Refugees in Regional and Rural Victoria’.
Jens Zinn is doing research on risk and uncertainty in different perspectives reaching from general societal changes and risk regulation to individual perception of and responses to risk. He has contributed to the debate with theoretical and conceptual work and is actively supporting a better interdisciplinary understanding of risk and uncertainty. His empirical research includes a number of studies on people’s management of risk and uncertainty during the course of their life (e.g. youth transitions into the labour market and certainty constructions in reflexive modernity). A recent project focuses on the biographical management of risk and uncertainty of British veterans (British Academy 2007-08). He is interested in cross-national comparative work and has therefore developed international networks to Asia, Europe and North America (SoRU).
The research of Tim Marjoribanks engages with a range of areas including media, sport, and organisational practice. In these fields, he explores media as a profession, defamation law, representations of race and nation in the media, and organisational practice in sport. He is currently a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Discovery-Project Grant with colleagues from the Law School on ‘The Media and ASEAN Transitions: Defamation Law, Journalism and Public Debate in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore’Paul Smyth is one of Australia’s leading scholars in the area of social policy, leading major research projects and developing policy around partnership solutions to Australia's social problems. His research engages with areas including social policy as investment, local governance and social inclusion, and social policy and development in the Southeast Asia region. Paul is Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council Grant ‘The Implication of Welfare Reform For Single Parent Families in their Transition to Paid Work.’ He is also the General Manager of the Research & Policy Centre at the Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Martina Boese is currently post-doctoral fellow working with Millsom Henry-Waring on the Australian Research Council Linkage-Project Grant ‘Resettling Visible Migrants & Refugees in Regional and Rural Victoria’. Prior to this, Martina worked as a policy researcher at the Brotherhood of St Laurence, and also has undertaken innovative sociological research in Europe into areas including the cultural industries, migrants’ (self-) employment, racism and social in/exclusion.
Social Relations
- Critical Black Studies
- Gender/women's studies
- Post-colonial studies
- Multiculturalism, migration and racism
Organisational Sociology
- Organisational transformation and relations
- Technological innovation
- Corporate social responsibility
- Institutional analysis
Media and New Technologies
- Social and political implications of new technologies
- Media practice, including journalism
- Media content
- Media, law and policy
Social Policy
- Contemporary Australian social policy
- Social policy and development in the Southeast Asian region
- Social inclusion, social exclusion and local governance
- Cultural economy and policy
Sociology of Risk and Uncertainty
- Risk Society
- Risk Regulation
- Risk Communication
- Risk Perception