Cultural Sustainability in Rural Communities: Rethinking Australian Country Towns, 2017
There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to ... more There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to the economic and social situation of rurality more broadly. This interest has been particularly prominent in Australia in recent years, spurring the emergence of an interdisciplinary field called 'rural cultural studies'.
This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.
The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way locatio... more The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way location. A country-loving visitor described it as a perfect example of small-town America, a spot that had a ‘sense of unique place’ and a feeling of ‘what makes my town different’ (Store Wars 2001). That was before Wal-Mart came to town. Space and place were reconfigured around the global sign of the world’s largest retail outlet, as Wal-Mart built new roads and reconstructed the face of consumption in Ashland. When Wal-Mart set up shop in Ashland, it squeezed out the flows of capital that used to be directed towards local businesses.
Masculinities and Place bring together an impressive range of high-profile and emerging researche... more Masculinities and Place bring together an impressive range of high-profile and emerging researchers to consolidate and expand new domains of interest in the geographies of men and masculinities. It is structured around key and emerging themes within recently completed and on-going research about the intersections between men, masculinities and place. Building upon broader themes in social and cultural geographies, cultural economy and urban/rural studies, the collection is organised around the key themes of: theorising masculinities and place; intersectionality; home; family; domestic labour; work; and health and well-being.
The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way locatio... more The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way location. A country-loving visitor described it as a perfect example of small-town America, a spot that had a ‘sense of unique place’ and a feeling of ‘what makes my town different’ (Store Wars 2001). That was before Wal-Mart came to town. Space and place were reconfigured around the global sign of the world’s largest retail outlet, as Wal-Mart built new roads and reconstructed the face of consumption in Ashland. When Wal-Mart set up shop in Ashland, it squeezed out the flows of capital that used to be directed towards local businesses.
Abstract Elite universities are often believed to represent education’s gold standard and to prod... more Abstract Elite universities are often believed to represent education’s gold standard and to produce highly educated luminaries who rightfully take their places leading all the institutions that matter in societies across the world. We begin by explaining how this is so. Then we discuss what we call monster methodologies, suggesting why and how we employed them to disrupt the seductive appeal of elite universities. Deploying zombie, werewolf, and vampire metaphors, we identify various ways that elite universities are monstrous and the kinds of student monsters that they produce, honour, harbour, and reject. Exploring the zombie culture of elite universities in the Global North, we highlight how the monstrous dynamics of perfectionism place unhuman demands on many students which lead to them becoming the walking dead. Next, we examine the werewolf identities of elite universities and highlight the ongoing dialectical interchange between their highly reputable public and deeply disreputable private abodes. We also acknowledge the magnificent student monsters who challenge these monstrous institutions. We then turn to the Global South and South African elite universities. Illuminating the ways they are infused with the remains of the monstrous alliance between capitalism, colonialism, and apartheid, we analyse the vampire curriculum that sucks the strength, vigour, and energy from students. And we show how students have sought to become vampire slayers. Overall, we illustrate the merits of deploying monsters to disrupt the allure and expose the injurious practices of elite universities.
The presenter describes her current research giving snapshots into her findings on the pathways o... more The presenter describes her current research giving snapshots into her findings on the pathways of vocational education and training (VET) in schools and the factors which impact on students destinations. She finds patterns in her data, collected from communities around Australia and has developed categories for her student groups - the 'can-do girls', the 'might-do girls' and the 'make-do girls'.
In a globalized world, talent is increasingly mobile, and therefore hospitality emerges as an imp... more In a globalized world, talent is increasingly mobile, and therefore hospitality emerges as an important concept that can be used to consider the ethics involved when a nation-state welcomes privileged foreigners as guests. In this chapter, we seek to engage with the ...
When Russell T. Davies groundbreaking drama Queer as Folk was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 199... more When Russell T. Davies groundbreaking drama Queer as Folk was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1999, it was both hailed and reviled for its realistic depiction of gay lives. The first fictional television programme in which almost all the characters were gay or lesbian, the Manchester-set series followed the adventures of sci-fi fan Vince, his sexually voracious best pal Stuart and new kid of the scene Nathan. Unapologetically ignoring debates about positive images, the series deliberately turned its back on previous angst-ridden depictions of gay life, and featured ribald language and frequent scenes of nudity and sex. In the first critical study of this groundbreaking and controversial series both the British original and the American remake Glyn Davis examines in detail its conception, production, controversial content, marketing and reception. He situates Queer as Folk in relation to the history of gay TV, Channel 4s drama output, New Labour politics, and the mainstreaming of homosexuality in the UK and US in the 1990s Davis also explores concerns addressed in the series, such as queer parenting, workplace homophobia, cruising and teenage sexuality. Acknowledging that Queer as Folk was often wildly entertaining funny, energetic, sexy and seductive Davis devotes space and time to tracing its particular aesthetic and narrative pleasures. Output Type: Book or Monograph Schools and Departments: Research & Enterprise Date: 2 January 2008
Cultural Sustainability in Rural Communities: Rethinking Australian Country Towns, 2017
There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to ... more There has been a recent expansion of interest in cultural approaches to rural communities and to the economic and social situation of rurality more broadly. This interest has been particularly prominent in Australia in recent years, spurring the emergence of an interdisciplinary field called 'rural cultural studies'.
This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.
The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way locatio... more The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way location. A country-loving visitor described it as a perfect example of small-town America, a spot that had a ‘sense of unique place’ and a feeling of ‘what makes my town different’ (Store Wars 2001). That was before Wal-Mart came to town. Space and place were reconfigured around the global sign of the world’s largest retail outlet, as Wal-Mart built new roads and reconstructed the face of consumption in Ashland. When Wal-Mart set up shop in Ashland, it squeezed out the flows of capital that used to be directed towards local businesses.
Masculinities and Place bring together an impressive range of high-profile and emerging researche... more Masculinities and Place bring together an impressive range of high-profile and emerging researchers to consolidate and expand new domains of interest in the geographies of men and masculinities. It is structured around key and emerging themes within recently completed and on-going research about the intersections between men, masculinities and place. Building upon broader themes in social and cultural geographies, cultural economy and urban/rural studies, the collection is organised around the key themes of: theorising masculinities and place; intersectionality; home; family; domestic labour; work; and health and well-being.
The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way locatio... more The small town of Ashland in North America was once a quiet, leafy, green, out of the way location. A country-loving visitor described it as a perfect example of small-town America, a spot that had a ‘sense of unique place’ and a feeling of ‘what makes my town different’ (Store Wars 2001). That was before Wal-Mart came to town. Space and place were reconfigured around the global sign of the world’s largest retail outlet, as Wal-Mart built new roads and reconstructed the face of consumption in Ashland. When Wal-Mart set up shop in Ashland, it squeezed out the flows of capital that used to be directed towards local businesses.
Abstract Elite universities are often believed to represent education’s gold standard and to prod... more Abstract Elite universities are often believed to represent education’s gold standard and to produce highly educated luminaries who rightfully take their places leading all the institutions that matter in societies across the world. We begin by explaining how this is so. Then we discuss what we call monster methodologies, suggesting why and how we employed them to disrupt the seductive appeal of elite universities. Deploying zombie, werewolf, and vampire metaphors, we identify various ways that elite universities are monstrous and the kinds of student monsters that they produce, honour, harbour, and reject. Exploring the zombie culture of elite universities in the Global North, we highlight how the monstrous dynamics of perfectionism place unhuman demands on many students which lead to them becoming the walking dead. Next, we examine the werewolf identities of elite universities and highlight the ongoing dialectical interchange between their highly reputable public and deeply disreputable private abodes. We also acknowledge the magnificent student monsters who challenge these monstrous institutions. We then turn to the Global South and South African elite universities. Illuminating the ways they are infused with the remains of the monstrous alliance between capitalism, colonialism, and apartheid, we analyse the vampire curriculum that sucks the strength, vigour, and energy from students. And we show how students have sought to become vampire slayers. Overall, we illustrate the merits of deploying monsters to disrupt the allure and expose the injurious practices of elite universities.
The presenter describes her current research giving snapshots into her findings on the pathways o... more The presenter describes her current research giving snapshots into her findings on the pathways of vocational education and training (VET) in schools and the factors which impact on students destinations. She finds patterns in her data, collected from communities around Australia and has developed categories for her student groups - the 'can-do girls', the 'might-do girls' and the 'make-do girls'.
In a globalized world, talent is increasingly mobile, and therefore hospitality emerges as an imp... more In a globalized world, talent is increasingly mobile, and therefore hospitality emerges as an important concept that can be used to consider the ethics involved when a nation-state welcomes privileged foreigners as guests. In this chapter, we seek to engage with the ...
When Russell T. Davies groundbreaking drama Queer as Folk was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 199... more When Russell T. Davies groundbreaking drama Queer as Folk was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1999, it was both hailed and reviled for its realistic depiction of gay lives. The first fictional television programme in which almost all the characters were gay or lesbian, the Manchester-set series followed the adventures of sci-fi fan Vince, his sexually voracious best pal Stuart and new kid of the scene Nathan. Unapologetically ignoring debates about positive images, the series deliberately turned its back on previous angst-ridden depictions of gay life, and featured ribald language and frequent scenes of nudity and sex. In the first critical study of this groundbreaking and controversial series both the British original and the American remake Glyn Davis examines in detail its conception, production, controversial content, marketing and reception. He situates Queer as Folk in relation to the history of gay TV, Channel 4s drama output, New Labour politics, and the mainstreaming of homosexuality in the UK and US in the 1990s Davis also explores concerns addressed in the series, such as queer parenting, workplace homophobia, cruising and teenage sexuality. Acknowledging that Queer as Folk was often wildly entertaining funny, energetic, sexy and seductive Davis devotes space and time to tracing its particular aesthetic and narrative pleasures. Output Type: Book or Monograph Schools and Departments: Research & Enterprise Date: 2 January 2008
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This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.
Introduction only uploaded.
This collection is framed by a large interdisciplinary research project that is part of that emergence, particularly focused on what the idea of 'cultural sustainability' might mean for understanding experiences of growth, decline, change and heritage in small Australian country towns. However, it extends beyond the initial parameters of that research, bringing together a range of senior and emerging Australian researchers who offer diverse approaches to rural culture. The essays collected here explore the diverse forms that rural cultural studies might take and how these intersect with other disciplinary approaches, offering a uniquely diverse but also careful account of life in country Australia. Yet, in its emphasis on the simultaneous specificity and cross-cultural recognisability of rural communities, this book also outlines a field of inquiry and a set of critical strategies that are more broadly applicable to thinking about the "rural" in the early twenty-first century.
Introduction only uploaded.