Upcoming Conferences, Workshops and Roundtables

2012

From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific: Rising Powers, Emerging Regions and Transformations in Governance
Friday 21st of September

Law and the Politics of Realising Human Rights in Developing Countries
Wednesday 31st October

Archive

2011

Politics and the Two-Speed Economy: Transformation, Participation and Equality
Friday 2nd December

Event Details

From Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific: Rising Powers, Emerging Regions and Transformations in Governance

Friday 21st of September 2012

Workshop Program

This workshop will bring together leading scholars to discuss and present papers on the implications of the shift in power from the Transatlantic to the Transpacific. As global economic power shifts from West to East, the Indo-Pacific region – the vast geo-strategic and geo-economic realm spanning the western Pacific Ocean to the western Indian Ocean along the eastern coast of Africa – is rapidly eclipsing the once-dominant Asia-Pacific as the centre of trade, investment, rivalry, competition and cooperation. The Indo-Pacific contains close to half the world’s population and draws Australia together with the rising powers of China and India, the dynamic sub-regions of Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia and the resource rich and sometimes volatile Middle East and Africa. Moreover the region provides several of the world’s most important choke-points for global commerce including the Strait of Malacca, through which almost a quarter of world trade passes.

This interdisciplinary workshop seeks to shift academic and policy debate from dominant Asia-Pacific notions of regionalism towards an exploration of the normative and social foundations of a broader Indo-Pacific region. To the extent that dominant global and regional institutions and norms were developed in the shadow of the Cold War, emerging institutions and norms reflect a new constellation of economic and political power influenced by the rise of China and India. At the same time, the rise of China and India should be seen within the context of the emergence of the Indo-Pacific region, as inter-regional trade, security and political concerns increasingly shape their global and regional policy preferences.

The workshop aims to initiate a new and innovative critical research agenda on the implications of the emergence of the Indo-Pacific region and the rise of the Indo-Pacific powers for three areas, in particular: regionalism, critical international political economy and critical geo-politics and geo-economics.

This workshop is presented by the IPGRC in partnership with the Australia-India Institute, University of Melbourne and with the support of the Australian Research Council, the School of Social Sciences, the School of Economics, the Confucius Institute and the Asian Studies Association

Enquiries: Dr Priya Chacko
priya.chacko@adelaide.edu.au

Law and the Politics of Realising Human Rights in Developing Countries

Wednesday 31st October 2012

Workshop Program

In recent years, rights based approaches have become increasingly central to international and national efforts to address a range of civil-political and socio-economic problems in developing countries including poverty, abuse of migrant workers, and gender-based violence. A key element of these approaches has been support for justiciable legal frameworks for human rights such as international treaties, constitutional Bills of Rights, or state laws. Indeed, Irene Khan (2009: 203), the former head of Amnesty International, has argued explicitly that such frameworks are a crucial element in the process of realizing rights: the law, she argues, 'can be a tremendous force for protecting the rights of those living in poverty to challenge and gain power' because it acts 'as a shield against the kinds of harm that cause or perpetuate poverty, and as a weapon for people to increase their freedom.'

But do justiciable legal frameworks for human rights actually promote the realisation of rights? The purpose of this workshop is to explore this issue, focusing on four sets of questions.

1. Do rights-based approaches, particularly as they have been expressed through justiciable legal frameworks, actually constitute an alternative to the neoliberal, predatory and nationalist-populist agendas that prevail in most developing countries? Or have they been harnessed to these agendas in ways that undermine their transformatory potential?

2. When are citizens--particularly from poor, marginalized, and vulnerable communities--able to successfully defend, enforce, and/or expand their rights through engagement with the legal system? Is such engagement a lost cause (as Scheingold suggested in relation to the American civil rights movement)? Or are there particular conditions under which there is a chance of success?

3. Do justiciable legal frameworks for rights facilitate the emergence of social movements and/or enhance their effectiveness in promoting social justice?

4. What are the implications of our analysis in relation to the above questions for policy and strategies aimed at promoting rights realization?

Enquiries: Associate Prof. Andrew Rosser
andrew.rosser@adelaide.edu.au

Politics and the Two-Speed Economy: Transformation, Participation and Equality

Friday 2nd December 2011

Keynote Speaker: Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation

Link to Senator Wong's speech

(Senator Wong's keynote address to be held on the 1st December 2011, at 5.00-6.00pm, in the Flentje Lecture Theatre, Plaza Building Level 2)

This workshop will explore the political dimensions of Australia’s uneven economic development - the so-called two-speed or patchwork economy. With demand from the Indo-Pacific region expected to be the dominant feature of Australia’s economy for years to come, the challenges for those industries and regions left behind have been well canvassed. The way that national and state politics and policy may be transformed as a result has received less attention. Workforce participation and equality will be affected both in the boom areas and in the rest of the country. Federal-state financial relations are already under pressure, with a booming economy yet to bless the Commonwealth budget with the resources necessary to provide the education, skills training and infrastructure that will spread the benefits of the boom. Even those industries with access to regional markets, such as education and tourism are challenged by the strong currency. Meanwhile, all of these developments will affect Australia’s demography and political geography in the medium term.

The workshop will feature key researchers from the University of Adelaide, Flinders University and UniSA, along with participation by members of the South Australian Public Service and NGOs. The workshop has been initiated by the Managing Diversity and Social Inclusion in a Time of Change research cluster (Constellation SA) in conjunction with the Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre, University of Adelaide. The format will be a series of panels with 20-minute presentations.

The workshop is designed to encourage cross- university research collaboration in SA, links with the public service and NGOs and links with key national researchers, with a view to developing  longer term grant application and publication possibilities.

Undergraduate Intern Summary of the Seminar Proceedings:
Politics and the Two-Speed Economy: Transformation, Participation and Equality

Abstracts:
2 Speed Abstracts

Enquiries & RSVP: Dr Wayne Errington
wayne.errington@adelaide.edu.au

Link: Constellation SA
Managing Diversity and Social Inclusion in a Time of Change

Program (at 16 November)