The whole world shook : shifts in ethnic, national and heroic identities in children's fiction about 9/11

Like many other cataclysmic events September 11, a day now popularly believed to have 'changed the world', has become a topic taken up by children's writers. This thesis, titled The Whole World Shook: Ethnic, National and Heroic Identities in Children's Fiction About 9/11, examines how cultural identities are constructed within fictional texts for young people written about the attacks on the Twin Towers. It identifies three significant identity categories encoded in 9/11 books for children: ethnic identities, national identities, and heroic identities. The thesis argues that the identities formed within the selected children's texts are in flux, privileging performances of identities that are contingent on post-9/11 politics. This study is located within the field of children's literature criticism, which supports the understanding that children's books, like all texts, play a role in the production of identities. Children's literature is highly significant both in its pedagogical intent (to instruct and induct children into cultural practices and beliefs) and in its obscurity (in making the complex simple enough for children, and from sometimes intentionally shying away from difficult things). This literary criticism informed the study that the texts, if they were to be written at all, would be complex, varied and most likely as ambiguous and contradictory as the responses to the attacks on New York themselves. The theoretical framework for this thesis draws on a range of critical theories including literary theory, cultural studies, studies of performativity and postmodernism. This critical framework informs the approach by providing ways for: (i) understanding how political and ideological work is performed in children's literature; (ii) interrogating the constructed nature of cultural identities; (iii) developing a nuanced methodology for carrying out a close textual analysis. The textual analysis examines a representative sample of children's texts about 9/11, including picture books, young adult fiction, and a selection of DC Comics. Each chapter focuses on a different though related identity category. Chapter Four examines the performance of ethnic identities and race politics within a sample of picture books and young adult fiction; Chapter Five analyses the construction of collective, national identities in another set of texts; and Chapter Six does analytic work on a third set of texts, demonstrating the strategic performance of particular kinds of heroic identities. I argue that performances of cultural identities constructed in these texts draw on familiar versions of identities as well as contribute to new ones. These textual constructions can be seen as offering some certainties in increasingly uncertain times. The study finds, in its sample of books a co-mingling of xenophobia and tolerance; a binaried competition between good and evil and global harmony and national insularity; and a lauding of both the commonplace hero and the super-human. Being a recent corpus of texts about 9/11, these texts provide information on the kinds of 'selves' that appear to be privileged in the West since 2001. The thesis concludes that the shifting identities evident in texts that are being produced for children about 9/11 offer implicit and explicit accounts of what constitute good citizenship, loyalty to nation and community, and desirable attributes in a Western post-9/11 context. This thesis makes an original contribution to the field of children's literature by providing a focussed and sustained analysis of how texts for children about 9/11 contribute to formations of identity in these complex times of cultural unease and global unrest.

Social policy implications relating to road trauma in a rapidly motorising world : the example of China

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies road trauma as a major public health issue in all countries, though most notably among low-to-middle income countries and particularly those experiencing rapid motorisation, such as China. As China transitions from a nation of bicycle riders and pedestrians to one where car ownership is increasingly desired, there is need to address the accompanying social policy challenges. With this increased motorisation has come an increased road trauma burden, shouldered disproportionately among the population. Vulnerable road users (i.e., pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists) are of primary concern because they are most frequently killed in road crashes, representing approximately 70% of all Chinese road-related fatalities. The aim of this paper is to summarise the scale of the road trauma burden, highlight the disparity of this burden across the Chinese population, and discuss the related social policy implications in dealing with the impact of deaths and of otherwise healthy lives diminished by injury and disability. Future research priorities are also discussed and include the need to strive to provide detailed information on the level of inequity of the road trauma burden across the population and identify appropriate social supports and healthcare services required, both preventative and post-crash, so these can be developed and implemented throughout China.

Fusion of worlds : consumers’ self-narrative in a hybrid physical/digital world

As the Internet becomes deeply embedded into consumers’ daily life, the digital virtual world brings significant influence to consumers’ self and narrative. Prior studies look at consumer self from either from a certain online space or comparing consumers’ physical and digital virtual selves but not the integration of the physical/digital world. This paper aims to explore the meanings of the digital virtual space on consumers’ narrative as a whole (their interests, dreams, or subjectivity). We utilise a postmodern concept of the cyborg to understand the cultural complexity, subjective meanings of, and the extent to which the digital virtual space plays a role in consumers’ self-narrative. We conducted in-depth interviews and gathered three consumer narratives. Our findings indicate that consumers’ narrative contains important fragments from both physical and digital virtual worlds and their physical and digital virtual selves form a feedback loop that strengthen their overall narrative.

Perspectives on Australian bankruptcy law through the prism of the World Bank report on the treatment of the insolvency of natural persons

The insolvency of natural persons raises questions not only for a nation’s economy but also for its concern for equity. The World Bank has recently released a Report on the Treatment of the Insolvency of Natural Persons to guide nations in addressing the issues raised by an individual debtor’s insolvency. A brief review of Australia’s personal insolvency laws shows that it addresses many of the issues raised by the Report. However two areas are identified as worthy of further investigation by policy-makers and scholars to better address a concern for equity.

‘Only a pawn in their game’ : crime, risk and politics in the case of Robert Fardon

In 2003 Robert Fardon was the first prisoner to be detained under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld), the first of the new generation preventive detention laws enacted in Australia and directed at keeping sex offenders in prison or under supervision beyond the expiry of their sentences where a court decides, on the basis of psychiatric assessments, that unconditional release would create an unacceptable risk to the community. A careful examination of Fardon’s case shows the extent to which the administration of the regime was from the outset governed by politics and political calculation rather than the logic of risk management and community protection. In 2003 Robert Fardon was the first person detained under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) (hereafter DPSOA), a newly enacted Queensland law aimed at the preventive detention of sex offenders. It was the first of a new generation of such laws introduced in Australia, now also in force in NSW, Western Australia and Victoria. The laws have been widely criticized by lawyers, academics and others (Keyzer and McSherry 2009; Edgely 2007). In this article I want to focus on the details of how the Queensland law was administered in Fardon’s case, he being perhaps the most well-known prisoner detained under such laws and certainly the longest held. It will show, I hope, that seemingly abstract rule of law principles invoked by other critics are not simply abstract: they afford a crucial practical safeguard against the corruption of criminal justice in which the ends both of community protection and of justice give way to opportunistic exploitation of ‘the mythic resonance of crime and punishment for electoral purposes’ (Scheingold 1998: 888).

Protecting World Heritage sites from the adverse impacts of climate change : obligations for States Parties to the World Heritage Convention

Through its mandate to protect and preserve places of ‘outstanding universal value’, the World Heritage Convention provides an unlikely yet effective tool in global efforts to mitigate climate change. The practical efficacy of the Strategy to Assist States Parties to Implement Appropriate Management Responses (‘the Strategy’), which represents the World Heritage Committee’s primary response to the threats posed by climate change to World Heritage sites, is undermined by its weak stance on mitigation. This paper argues that the World Heritage Convention imposes stronger obligations on States Parties than those contained in the Strategy, including a duty on States Parties to commit to ‘deep cuts’ in greenhouse gas emissions. In order to ensure the continuing success of the World Heritage Convention States Parties must engage in extensive mitigation strategies without delay.

All about that base : differing player experiences in video game genres and the unique case of MOBA games

Video games provide unique interactive player experiences (PX) often categorised into different genres. Prior research has looked at different game genres, but rarely through a PX lens. Especially, PX in the emerging area of massive online battle arena (MOBA) games is not well understood by researchers in the field. We address this knowledge gap by presenting a PX study of different game genres, which we followed up with a second semi-structured interview study about PX in MOBA games. Among the results of our analyses are that games that are likely played with other players, such as MOBA games, stimulate less immersion and presence for players. Additionally, while challenge and frustration are significantly higher in this genre, players get a sense of satisfaction from teamwork, competition and mastery of complex gameplay interactions. Our study is the first to contribute a comprehensive insight into key motivators of MOBA players and how PX in this genre is different from other genres.

Game On: Know Alcohol - Co-creating a tailored alcohol social marketing program

Research demonstrates that education programs are more effective when their target audiences and other key stakeholder groups are involved in the design. The majority of programs continue to be researcher and expert driven. This study extends upon previous research by employing a co-creation research design to offer a consumer driven alternative to education program design. Two co-creation groups involving twenty 14-16 year old Year 10 students who had previously participated in the Game On:Know Alcohol (GOKA) program, which aims to moderate alcohol drinking attitudes and behaviour, were conducted. Analysis revealed that a co-created GOKA program will differ substantially from the researcher and expert driven program that is currently being field tested. Students prefer interactive activities and activities that engage and challenge. Co-creation offers the potential to contest researcher and expert views and may offer to assist in the generation of new insights for the development of education programs.

Game On: Know Alcohol - Interim findings from the first nine schools

A six module program designed to 1) show students the effects of alcohol, 2) impart knowledge of standard drinks and 3) provide students with strategies to moderate (or abstain) from alcohol drinking, is currently being tested in a cluster randomised control design in Queensland. This paper presents immediate evaluation results for the program that was designed using the eight National Social Marketing Centre (2009) benchmark criteria. Students have participated in baseline and/or immediate follow up evaluation in six intervention and three control schools to date. Early results suggest that Game On:Know Alcohol increases knowledge relating to alcohol and moderates attitudes towards binge drinking while maintaining behavioural intentions to drink alcohol excessively. Limitations of the current study and opportunities for future research are outlined.