With a shared disciplinary background in psychology, our research focuses on issues of power, ide... more With a shared disciplinary background in psychology, our research focuses on issues of power, identity making, and social relations across differences arising from lines of race, class and gender. In this chapter, we reflect on power, positionality, and processes of knowledge production in our research in and with communities. The 'crisis of representation' in qualitative research has been well rehearsed, as is the push for researchers to account for their role in knowledge production through reflexivity. Yet as Wanda Pillow (2003) warns, there is a danger that self-reflexivity can become a reductionist, comfortable exercise that brings the promise of release from "tension, voyeurism, ethnocentrism - a release from your discomfort with representation through a transcendent clarity" (p. 186). In this chapter, we explore reflexivities of discomfort, which Pillow (2003) described as "a positioning of reflexivity not as clarity, honesty, or humility, but as practice of confounding disruptions" (p. 192). We seek to highlight the messiness of engaged qualitative community based research by focusing on particular moments of disruption, which prompted reflexivity within discomfort. These moments of disruption provide insight into dynamics of power and privilege and the affective component of our work. We first discuss our shared concern with interrogating the circuits of dispossession and privilege (Fine & Ruglis, 2009) in post-colonising Australia. We then describe our approach to placing and 'working through' discomfort.
This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Ca... more This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Capacities of Young People Through Issue-based Campaigns. The report explores key social issues facing young people aged 16 to 25 in Victoria, Australia, and examines how they respond to these issues. This study aims to better understand young people’s experiences of voice, the contexts and conditions in which they can cultivate their voices for social change, and where their voices resonate.
Same-sex friendship can increase an individual’s health, happiness, and sense of social connected... more Same-sex friendship can increase an individual’s health, happiness, and sense of social connectedness. To date, few studies have explored young men’s accounts of their friendships and the communication strategies within close male friendships. The present qualitative study explored the ways in which 7 young, White, heterosexual, working/middle-class men from rural Victoria construct their understanding of their friendships and the discursive strategies used to signify meaning, specifically the role of insults, in close male friendships. Drawing on tools from discursive theory, thematic analysis of the data demonstrated that discursive strategies including insults, silences, and direct interrogation were used to signify closeness, gratefulness, concern, and masculinity and dominance. These discursive strategies are informed by hegemonic representations of masculinity, which the young men negotiate within everyday interactions with close male friends. The findings further support past research that suggests that in the absence of explicit verbal expression of closeness, male friendships can be intimate and psychosocially significant. It is suggested that health promotion in men should focus on informal spaces where men can enjoy each other’s company. By exploring the breadth of communication styles and strategies of men, we are better equipped to understand men’s needs.
Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed ... more Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed as homogenous and bound to a religious identity and the veil. The aim of this thesis was to explore the diverse ways in which Muslim women negotiate their identity in the context of Australian multicultural social relations, informed by current and historical colonial discourses.
This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Ca... more This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Capacities of Young People Through Issue-based Campaigns. The report explores key social issues facing young people aged 16 to 25 in Victoria, Australia, and examines how they respond to these issues. This study aims to better understand young people’s experiences of voice, the contexts and conditions in which they can cultivate their voices for social change, and where their voices resonate.
The 6th International Conference on Community Psychology was held in the city of Durban in South ... more The 6th International Conference on Community Psychology was held in the city of Durban in South Africa in 2016. The conference theme ‘Global Dialogues on Critical Knowledges, Liberation and Community’ reflected the country’s current political struggle for transformation and the connection to issues of social and economic inequality internationally. Guided by storytelling as a methodology, this paper draws on individual reflections of delegates from NAME University to explore the implications of the conference for us individually and collective in terms of teaching, research and action. We organise our collective reflections on our conference experience around two themes: the constraints and challenges of psychology teaching and training, and the value and challenges associated with critical and contextualised approaches to community psychologies. Drawing on these reflections, the implications for teaching, research and practice is discussed as well as the importance of forging spa...
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2017
ABSTRACT Contemporary anti-Islamic discourses in Australia construct Islam as an uncivilised beli... more ABSTRACT Contemporary anti-Islamic discourses in Australia construct Islam as an uncivilised belief system and its Muslim followers as homogenous unassimilable Others. Within these discourses, the diversity among Muslim women has been overshadowed, and they are constructed as a monolithic ‘veiled’ woman. Drawing on 20 conversational interviews with veiled and unveiled Australian Muslim women from various cultural backgrounds, this paper explores the diverse ways in which Muslim women resist and challenge anti-Islamic discourses on Islam, Muslims and Muslim women. Guided by intersectional theories on identity and resistance, our analysis show that the women drew on discursive and performative strategies to contest anti-Islamic representations that homogenise and vilify Muslims and construct Muslim women as veiled and oppressed. The findings also show that the ways in which women contested hegemonic anti-Islamic representations were diverse and informed by intersecting power and social locations, including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. Implications for research on resistance and identity negotiations of minority groups are discussed.
Student attrition in the first year of university is an issue of concern for many universities. M... more Student attrition in the first year of university is an issue of concern for many universities. Many factors influence attrition including academic preparedness and social adjustment difficulties. In this project we sought clarify factors that influence transition from the perspective of students and to implement strategies to address this issue. During first semester 2006, a series of strategies were implemented with the aim of better supporting first year psychology students' adjustment to university. These strategies included ...
Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed ... more Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed as homogenous and bound to a religious identity and the veil. The aim of this thesis was to explore the diverse ways in which Muslim women negotiate their identity in the context of Australian multicultural social relations, informed by current and historical colonial discourses.
With a shared disciplinary background in psychology, our research focuses on issues of power, ide... more With a shared disciplinary background in psychology, our research focuses on issues of power, identity making, and social relations across differences arising from lines of race, class and gender. In this chapter, we reflect on power, positionality, and processes of knowledge production in our research in and with communities. The 'crisis of representation' in qualitative research has been well rehearsed, as is the push for researchers to account for their role in knowledge production through reflexivity. Yet as Wanda Pillow (2003) warns, there is a danger that self-reflexivity can become a reductionist, comfortable exercise that brings the promise of release from "tension, voyeurism, ethnocentrism - a release from your discomfort with representation through a transcendent clarity" (p. 186). In this chapter, we explore reflexivities of discomfort, which Pillow (2003) described as "a positioning of reflexivity not as clarity, honesty, or humility, but as practice of confounding disruptions" (p. 192). We seek to highlight the messiness of engaged qualitative community based research by focusing on particular moments of disruption, which prompted reflexivity within discomfort. These moments of disruption provide insight into dynamics of power and privilege and the affective component of our work. We first discuss our shared concern with interrogating the circuits of dispossession and privilege (Fine & Ruglis, 2009) in post-colonising Australia. We then describe our approach to placing and 'working through' discomfort.
This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Ca... more This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Capacities of Young People Through Issue-based Campaigns. The report explores key social issues facing young people aged 16 to 25 in Victoria, Australia, and examines how they respond to these issues. This study aims to better understand young people’s experiences of voice, the contexts and conditions in which they can cultivate their voices for social change, and where their voices resonate.
Same-sex friendship can increase an individual’s health, happiness, and sense of social connected... more Same-sex friendship can increase an individual’s health, happiness, and sense of social connectedness. To date, few studies have explored young men’s accounts of their friendships and the communication strategies within close male friendships. The present qualitative study explored the ways in which 7 young, White, heterosexual, working/middle-class men from rural Victoria construct their understanding of their friendships and the discursive strategies used to signify meaning, specifically the role of insults, in close male friendships. Drawing on tools from discursive theory, thematic analysis of the data demonstrated that discursive strategies including insults, silences, and direct interrogation were used to signify closeness, gratefulness, concern, and masculinity and dominance. These discursive strategies are informed by hegemonic representations of masculinity, which the young men negotiate within everyday interactions with close male friends. The findings further support past research that suggests that in the absence of explicit verbal expression of closeness, male friendships can be intimate and psychosocially significant. It is suggested that health promotion in men should focus on informal spaces where men can enjoy each other’s company. By exploring the breadth of communication styles and strategies of men, we are better equipped to understand men’s needs.
Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed ... more Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed as homogenous and bound to a religious identity and the veil. The aim of this thesis was to explore the diverse ways in which Muslim women negotiate their identity in the context of Australian multicultural social relations, informed by current and historical colonial discourses.
This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Ca... more This report is the first phase of a two-phase action research project titled Building Activist Capacities of Young People Through Issue-based Campaigns. The report explores key social issues facing young people aged 16 to 25 in Victoria, Australia, and examines how they respond to these issues. This study aims to better understand young people’s experiences of voice, the contexts and conditions in which they can cultivate their voices for social change, and where their voices resonate.
The 6th International Conference on Community Psychology was held in the city of Durban in South ... more The 6th International Conference on Community Psychology was held in the city of Durban in South Africa in 2016. The conference theme ‘Global Dialogues on Critical Knowledges, Liberation and Community’ reflected the country’s current political struggle for transformation and the connection to issues of social and economic inequality internationally. Guided by storytelling as a methodology, this paper draws on individual reflections of delegates from NAME University to explore the implications of the conference for us individually and collective in terms of teaching, research and action. We organise our collective reflections on our conference experience around two themes: the constraints and challenges of psychology teaching and training, and the value and challenges associated with critical and contextualised approaches to community psychologies. Drawing on these reflections, the implications for teaching, research and practice is discussed as well as the importance of forging spa...
International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2017
ABSTRACT Contemporary anti-Islamic discourses in Australia construct Islam as an uncivilised beli... more ABSTRACT Contemporary anti-Islamic discourses in Australia construct Islam as an uncivilised belief system and its Muslim followers as homogenous unassimilable Others. Within these discourses, the diversity among Muslim women has been overshadowed, and they are constructed as a monolithic ‘veiled’ woman. Drawing on 20 conversational interviews with veiled and unveiled Australian Muslim women from various cultural backgrounds, this paper explores the diverse ways in which Muslim women resist and challenge anti-Islamic discourses on Islam, Muslims and Muslim women. Guided by intersectional theories on identity and resistance, our analysis show that the women drew on discursive and performative strategies to contest anti-Islamic representations that homogenise and vilify Muslims and construct Muslim women as veiled and oppressed. The findings also show that the ways in which women contested hegemonic anti-Islamic representations were diverse and informed by intersecting power and social locations, including race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. Implications for research on resistance and identity negotiations of minority groups are discussed.
Student attrition in the first year of university is an issue of concern for many universities. M... more Student attrition in the first year of university is an issue of concern for many universities. Many factors influence attrition including academic preparedness and social adjustment difficulties. In this project we sought clarify factors that influence transition from the perspective of students and to implement strategies to address this issue. During first semester 2006, a series of strategies were implemented with the aim of better supporting first year psychology students' adjustment to university. These strategies included ...
Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed ... more Despite the diversity among Muslim women, in Australia and elsewhere, they have been constructed as homogenous and bound to a religious identity and the veil. The aim of this thesis was to explore the diverse ways in which Muslim women negotiate their identity in the context of Australian multicultural social relations, informed by current and historical colonial discourses.
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