Asian Studies at UNE: Dismantling Inequalities, and Possibilities for Decolonising Disciplines

The Asia-Pacific region accounts for one-third of the world’s population, over 60 percent of the world’s economy, and nearly half of global trade, rich in diversity and culture. We are living in the ‘Asian Century’ and Australia’s future is inextricably linked to events and trends occurring in the Asia Pacific. It is important therefore that the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences incorporates an understanding of the importance of Australia’s regional and international context and provides students and researchers with an enabling environment to deepen their knowledge about how change and transformation in the Asia Pacific impacts Australian society. We have a shared future, and increasingly so, and understanding the processes and dynamics of these changes and transformations are crucial for how Australians imagine and understand the everyday lives of their neighbours and how Australia as a middle power engages with the Asia Pacific region.

The School of HASS has the opportunity to investigate and engage with the region, improving understanding of Asian cultures and languages and building stronger and deeper people-to-people links. There is also an increasing call within the academy, humanitarian and development fields for decolonising methodologies, and decolonising disciplines, in order to enhance these understandings and relationships. By drawing on new frameworks, new ecologies, and new research, we can also pluralise our university practice and depart from the siloed model of traditional academia which risks obscuring and ignoring diverse cultures and societies both in Asia but also within Australia’s regions.

In early July, four members of the UNE Asia Pacific Research Network presented at the 25^th Biennial Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference held at Curtin University in Perth. This international event explored the theme of Asia Futures: Studies of, in and with Asia, with a specific focus on the Asian region and Asian Studies as the site of future possibilities, challenges, and interconnections. Participants were encouraged to examine and reflect on the vast potentials and uncertainties that lie ahead and engage with the complexities of the ever-evolving Asian region and its profound impact on the world. Participants were encouraged to reflect on their topics in the context of the field of Asian Studies, considering in particular how area studies approaches can intersect with other academic disciplines in addressing the pressing issues of the day, such as the rising tide of authoritarianism, flows of popular culture, gender and sexuality, or climate change and inequality.

The inter-disciplinary panel: Dismantling Inequalities: Listening to the Subaltern brought together inter-disciplinary perspectives on this theme with presentations ranging from Myanmar to Japan to Indonesia across politics, peace building, music and history.

Dr Johanna Garnett – Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Peace Studies discussed her latest analysis of grass-roots state-building in Rakhine State, Myanmar in a post-coup and conflict context. Johanna has been working with local Myanmar youth for over a decade and this work is becoming increasingly important in light of serious environmental and human insecurity issues in the region.

Dr Gwyn McClelland – Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies wondered whether heritage may be too dark in the case of the Hidden Christian World Heritage sites of Japan. He has been interviewing local descendants of this group and considering the long inheritances of generational trauma, and memorial and heritage practices that assist in dismantling long-held inequalities.

Dr Paul Smith – Associate Professor in Music proposed that the aesthetic flow of operatic texts be flipped. Instead of operas coming from Europe to Asia, Asian opera singers and opera singers in Asia rewrite vocal narratives and reveal new operatic meanings originating in diverse Asian contexts.

Dr Indra Saefullah – Lecturer in Digital Humanities (Indonesian Focus) discussed the recent developments of right-wing underground music and musicians in contemporary Indonesia. Musicians associated with right-wing underground music were part of the ‘Islamic underground movement,’ which emerged following the Indonesian political reform (post-1998). This movement gained popularity for a brief period but then declined due to the suppression of Islamist movements by the government in recent years.

Whilst at the conference Dr Gwyn McClelland launched his book edited with Dr Hannah Gould of the University of Melbourne, and entitled: Aromas of Asia: Exchanges, Histories, Threats.

The panel also presented in the HASS Seminar Series on Thursday 18th July an overview of their presentations at the conference, together with reflections on Asia Studies at UNE, opening up the room to a discussion on the potential of inter-disciplinary decolonisation for understanding the region, especially in listening to the subaltern and the marginalised – enabling space for new voices and lenses. We acknowledged that there is space for collaboration in this area with inter and multi-disciplinary approaches and new possibilities for understanding and engaging with the Asia-Pacific region.

Dr Johanna Garnett
Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Peace Studies