Initiation into a dialysis-dependent life: an examination of rites of passage

Martin-McDonald et al explore the conceptual and empirical application of the rites of passage model in contemporary health care for those who are dialysis dependent. The findings illustrate the three stages of rites of passage, separation. liminality, and reincorporation. A commentary and response are provided.

E-democracy: media-liminal space in the era of age compression

In this chapter, the authors will look at the ideas of e-government and e-governance and practical examples of how new media are being used to enhance decision-making in democratic societies. The authors argue that the learning environments that have emerged from interactive entertainment and other contexts signal a change in the nature and role of liminality-the transition to citizen and civic engagement-in modern society.

Hyphenated Australia : putting intercultural identity on the conceptual map

Interculturality and intercultural identity is a local effect of the global movement and mixing of people, and those of intercultural identities constitute the fastest growing sector of the Australian population. In an age of globalisation and diversification, what does identity mean for those situated in-between governing notions of racial/ethnic formations, and how is intercultural identity experienced? For those informed by (at least) two cultures, what does multiculturalism, ethnicity and 'Australianness' mean, and where are these individuals positioned in relation to these structures? These questions have critical implications for the Australian nation. Within Australian discourses, interculturality and intercultural identity, in particular, has historically been excluded, rendered invisible. This dissertation is, therefore, one of facilitating visibility. Using the hyphens as a conceptual tool, I argue that in this age of accelerating globalisation the hyphens both makes visible and is made visible by interculturality. The hyphens is that grey and fluid site of intersection between structures of identity and is characterised by liminality - contestation, uncertainty, fundamentally ambivalence. Experiences of liminality, however, dissolve in any given time, opening up new terrain for creativity. Some of these emerging and creative forms of identity, as instigated by interculturality, are explored. Based on interviews with 20 daughters (and their mothers) from intercultural unions, this dissertation places intercultural identity on the Australian conceptual map and analyses the unique position occupied by those with an intercultural identity in their relationship with governing discursive formations of race/ethnicity, embodiment, nation and culture. In essence, the dissertation is concerned with examining the ways in which discursive identity structures intersect with subjective experience, and with the ways in which those with an intercultural identity negotiate those structures and their social relations. This examination raises the fundamental question: is the modernist notion of the material realities of individual lives reconcilable with the poststructural notion of identity as always located in discourse. This modernist/postmodernist tension permeates the dissertation.

The risky business of doctoral management

Universities are under no less pressure to adopt risk management strategies than other public and private organisations. The risk management of doctoral education is a particularly important issue given that a doctorate is the highest academic qualification a university offers and stakes are high in terms of assuring its quality. However, intense risk management can interfere with the intellectual and pedagogical work which are essentially part of doctoral education. This paper seeks to understand how the culture of risk meets the culture of doctoral education and with what effect. The authors draw on sociological understandings of risk in the work of Anthony Giddens (2002) and Ulrich Beck (1992), the anthropological focus on liminality in the work of Mary Douglas (1990), and the psychological theorising of human error in the work of James Reason (1990). The paper concludes that risk consciousness brings its own risks—in particular, the potential transformation of a culture based on intellect into a culture based on compliance.

Liminal project progressions

Video piece as a result of collaboration between Tonya Meyrick (visual artist) and Matthew Dewey (sound artist). It's theme is liminality, a sense of being in between.

The awkwardness of Australian engagement with Asia : the dilemmas of Australian idea of regionalism

Australia has experienced difficulties engaging with Asia-Pacific regional integration. Despite Australian attempts to punch above its weight in regional forums and to be a regional leader, it is still not regarded as a full member or as quite fitting into the region. It is an ‘awkward partner’ in the Asian context, and has experienced the ‘liminality’ of being neither here nor there. The former Rudd government’s proposal for an ‘Asia Pacific Community’ (APC) by the year 2020 was a substantive initiative in Australia’s ongoing engagement with Asia. It has, however, attracted a high level of criticism both at home and abroad. The main critical analysis of the proposal has focused on institutional building or architecture, or its relationship with existing regional institutions, but overlooks a host of often fraught questions about culture,
norms, identities, and international power relations. The APC concept needs to be scrutinized in terms of these questions with a critical eye. This paper examines the cultural, cognitive, and normative dimensions of Rudd’s proposal. It analyses four dilemmas or awkward problems that the APC faces.

Late

Late (2012) is one of a series of works investigating the relationship between artist and ideas of liminality and location. This work was produced in inland Queensland, and invited to be exhibited as a shortlisted group of artists in the Bayton Awards, for the Rockhampton City Gallery.