Dr Damian Grenfell

Position	Senior Lecturer
School / Work Unit	Global Studies, Social Science &Planning
Contact Details	+(61 3) 9925 3462 damian.grenfell@rmit.edu.au
Location	Building: 37 Level: 5 Room: 32A City Campus
College/Portfolio	Design & Social Context

Key activities

Teaching/Work responsibilities

Peacebuilding and Reconciliation (Course coordinator)

An undergraduate and postgraduate course that examines both the processes and effects of different peacebuilding techniques used in order to secure peace in societies that have experienced widespread violence and warfare. The course gives special emphasis to the study of Truth and Reconcilation Commissions.

Human Security Program, Global Cities Institute

How can cities harness their immense resources to cope with crises, insecurities and processes of reconstruction?

Metropolitan spatial concentrations are the focus of human creativity and desire. They are able to harness immense resources to cope with crises, and are able to project themselves to the world through being the focal point for international media and politics. However, they are also concentrations of diverse and often conflicting cultures, sources of insecurity from natural, technological and social agents. The sense of insecurity has been made more acute by globalized violence and the War on Terror. Our immediate region provides numerous examples. We are frequently reminded that Australia is situated within an 'arc of instability'; and the massive destruction and resilience of Asian communities following the recent tsunami is an instance of disaster striking at cities from environmental forces that go a long way beyond the locale or immediate region. Disasters have the proven capacity to halt development in poorer cities. This Program will focus on the pathways for recovering from conflict, building resilience and reducing disaster vulnerability. This can be achieved by understanding and building on the strengths of cities and working to reduce the forces promoting violence and vulnerability to disaster. For many cities in our region, and throughout the world, this is a key factor in any hope of sustainability.

Timor-Leste Research Program

The Timor-Leste Research Program is based at RMIT University, and is primarily situated within the Globalism Research Centre and the Global Cities Institute. Researchers from the Globalism Research Centre (www.rmit.edu.au/globalism) have been working in Timor-Leste since 2003, and as with other sites within Australia and the Asia-Pacific, our main intellectual task has been to understand processes of change and continuity, and to think through cultural-political questions such as nation-formation in a globalizing world. We endeavour to work across the divide between abstract theory and applied research and we seek to develop strong collaborative connections with communities, civil society and state organisations in our research areas. RMIT's Global Cities Institute (www.global-cities.info) was inaugurated in 2006 and brings together key researchers in order to understand the complexity of globalizing urban settings. As part of the Global Cities Institute, the Timor-Leste Research Program has developed its work to incorporate Dili as a major site for its research.

Postgraduate supervisor

As a supervisor of honours, Masters and Doctorate candidates, I have supervised students in a range of topics that are central to my research interests (see next page), including the East Timorese independence movement, gender and development, activism of refugees from Burma, the media representation of war, and the anti-corporate globalisation movement. I am interested in supervising students in areas of social movements, the politics of resistance, independence and nationalist movements, postcolonialism and globalization, or area studies involving conflicts, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Qualifications

• PhD, Faculty of Arts, Monash University.
• BA (Hons), Department of Politics, Monash University.

Community Engagement

• Editorial Advisory Board, Chain Reaction, Friends of the Earth, Melbourne (current).
• Worked with the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor, November 2004 and May 2005.
• Attended World Social Forums in Mumbai, India (2004) and Porto Alegre, Brazil (2005).

Research/Scholarship

Research interests

The common basis of my research is driven by an interest in insurrection, resistance and dissent and various forms of social conflict, in particular those that include violence. My postgraduate study sought to challenge commonplace assumptions regarding the relationship between the state and social movements in Australia. In my PhD—‘The State and Protest in Contemporary Australia: From Vietnam to S11’—I examined a series of major campaigns over the last forty years in Australia and argued that notwithstanding both significant continuities and changes, expressions of dissent in Australia have continuously been unable to transform broader social structures despite an often implicit ambition to do so. In recent years, the national focus of this research has been extended so as to consider formations of global resistance, from anti-corporate politics through to localised patterns of dissent and the development of the World Social Forum.

The interest in social movements and resistance politics has provided an impetus for research into forms of nationalist insurrection and post-conflict reconstruction, especially in terms of how we understand the nation-state in a period of intense globalisation. I currently work on various projects that attempt to map out the complex relationship between nationally-based identity and processes of globalization at the point of conflict, with Timor-Leste providing one key focus for this study.

Research projects

• Human Security (Program Manager), Global Cities Research Institute, RMIT University (2007-09)
• After the Violence: Truth, Reconciliation and National Integration in Timor-Leste, ARC Discovery Grant, Australian Research Council (2007-09, including Perceptions of Governance and Justice Programs: 2008-2009)
• Community Security and Sustainability in Timor-Leste (Irish Aid) (2008-09)
• Community Security Program (Oxfam and Concern Worldwide) (2007-08)
• Research Training, JSMP, Timor-Leste (2008)
• Vota Ba Futuru: Voter Perceptions from Dili and Venilale, RMIT University (2007-08)
• Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality in Timor-Leste, Office for the Promotion of Equality, Office of the Prime Minister, Timor-Leste, in conjunction with Irish Aid (2006-07)
• Human Security Program, Dili, Timor-Leste (2007-09)
• Development options in Oecusse, Timor-Leste, (consultancy with Oxfam Australia) (2007-08)
• Challenges and Possibilities: Women and International Organisations in Timor-Leste (2005)
• Editorial and advisory support for The Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Reception's final report in Timor-Leste (2003-04).

Publications

Books

Millenial Nation: Violence, Identity and National Formation in Timor-Leste (with Paul James), Pluto, London, forthcoming, 2010.

Rethinking Insecurity, War and Violence: Beyond Savage Globalization? (with Paul James) Routledge, London, 2008.

Chapters

'Truth, Reconciliation and Nation Formation' in C. Fleming, P. Rothfield and P. Komesaroff (eds) 'Our Land' of Timor-Leste', in Pathways to Reconciliation: Between Theory and Practice, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, 2008, pp. 79 - 88.

'Governance, Violence and Crises in Timor-Leste: Estadu Seidauk Mai', in S. Farram (et al), Democratic Governance in Timor-Leste: Reconciling the Local and the National, Charles Darwin University, 2008, pp. 85 - 97.

'Debating insecurity in a globalizing world: an introduction', with Paul James, in Rethinking Insecurity, War and Violence: Beyond Savage Globalization? Routledge, London, 2008, pp. 3-19.

Reconciliation: violence and nation formation in Timor-Leste' in Rethinking Insecurity, War and Violence: Beyond Savage Globalization, Routledge, London, 2008, pp. 181-193.

‘Nationalist Struggles and Global Terrains in the War for Aceh’, in J. Goodman and P. James, eds, Globalism, Nationalism, Solidarities, Routledge, London, 2007, pp. 139 - 151.

‘Beyond the Local and the Global: Scales of Resistance, Repression and Sustainability’, in Josée Johnston, Mike Gismondi and James Goodman, eds, Reclaiming Sustainability in an Age of Ecological Exhaustion, Broadview Publications, Ontario, 2006, pp. 225-244.

‘Getting the Government “off our Backs”? The Ruling Class, the State and New Trends in the Management of Dissent’, in N. Hollier, ed., Ruling Australia: The Power, Privilege and Politics of the New Ruling Class, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2004, pp. 70-86.

‘Environmentalism, State Power and National Interest’, in James Goodman, ed., Protest and Globalisation: Prospect for Transnational Solidarity, Pluto, Sydney, 2002, pp. 108-122.

Refereed journal articles

‘Reconstituting the Nation: Reconciliation and the National Community in Timor-Leste’, Occasional Papers in Justice and International Studies, School of International and Community Studies, RMIT University, 2007

‘East Timor: Colonialism, Nation-Building and the Politics of Oil’, Arena Journal, vol. 72, 2004, pp. 45-52.

Reports

Strategic Directions for Relations with Civil Society in Timor-Leste, An Advisory Report to the Secretariat of State for the Promotion of Equality, (with Anna Trembath), Irish Aid and The Globalism Research Centre, 2008.

Social and Economic Development in Oecusse, Timor-Leste, (with Kym Holthouse), Oxfam Australia and the Globalism Research Centre, RMIT University, 2008 (also in Indonesian).

Community Sustainability and Security in Timor-Leste: Sarelari and Nanu, (with Mayra Walsh, Carmenesa Moniz Noronha, Kym Holthouse and Anna Trembath), Oxfam Australia, Concern Worldwide and the Globalism Research Centre, RMIT University, 2008 (also in Tetun).

Challenges and Possibilities: International Organizations and Women in Timor-Leste, A Weekend of Reflection, Dialogue and Collaboration 9-11 September 2005 (with Anna Trembath), Storey Hall, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, first edition 2005, second edition 2008 (also in Tetun).

Mapping The Pursuit of Gender Equality, Non-Government and International Agency Activity in Timor-Leste (with Anna Trembath), with The Office For The Promotion Of Equality (with Anna Trembath), Office for the Promotion of Equality and Irish Aid, Prime Minister's Office, Timor-Leste,fourth edition, 2008 (also in Tetun).

Impacts of Economic Development and Border Policy Options for Oecusse (with Kym Holthouse), Timor-Leste A report for Oxfam Australia, 47 pages, June 2007.

Other articles and political commentaries

'Review of Masters of Terror: Indonesia's Military and Violence in East Timor', Inside Indonesia, January-February 2008.

‘Making Modernity in Timor-Leste’, Arena Magazine, No.90, August-September 2007, pp. 9-12.

‘Challenging the Mantras on West Papua’, Review of Reluctant Indonesians: Australia, Indonesia and the Future of West Papua by Clinton Fernandes, Overland 186, 2008.

Review of Masters of Terror: Indonesia’s Military and Violence in East Timor, Inside Indonesia, January-February 2007.

‘Oan Kiak: Women and Independence in Timor-Leste’ (with Anna Trembath), Arena Magazine, No. 83, June-July, pp. 10-12.

‘The Long-Fight Against Neo-Liberalism’, Arena Magazine, No. 82, April-May, pp.13-14.

‘Review of S. Maddison and S. Scalmer, ‘Activism and Wisdom: Practical Knowledge and Creative Tension in Social Movements’, in Arena Magazine, No, 81, February-March 2006, pp. 54-55.

‘When Remembering Isn’t Enough: Reconciliation and Justice in Timor-Leste’, Arena Magazine, No. 80, December-January 2005-06, pp. 32-35.

‘From Mass Campaigns to Direct Debt Activism: Protest Politics in Australia Today’, (Lead Article), Chain Reaction, No. 95, Summer 2005, pp.6-8.

‘The East Timor Solidarity Movement’in Australia’, Chain Reaction, No. 95, Summer 2005, pp. 17-18.

‘Reconstructing the Coffee Republic: Development and Colonialism in Timor-Leste’, Development Bulletin, No. 68, October 2005, pp. 83-86.

‘Many Worlds Against Empire: Friends of the Earth International and the 2005 World Social Forum’, (with D. Sullivan), Chain Reaction,vol. 94, no.7, 2005, pp. 39-42.

‘WSF 2005: “Nation shall Speak unto Nation”’, Arena Magazine, vol. 76, 2005, pp. 17-19.

‘Review of Reluctant Saviour: Australia, Indonesia and the Independence of East Timor ’, (by Clinton Fernandes), Journal of Australian Studies, www.jasreview.com, February 2005.

‘Conflict in North Maluku’, Arena Magazine, vol. 70, 2004, p. 9.

‘WSF 2004: A Moment, Not a Movement’, Arena Magazine, vol. 69, 2004, pp. 5-7.

‘A Spectre Haunting the Refugee Movement?’ (with Anna Trembath) Arena Magazine, vol. 68, p. 21.

‘Baxter and Beyond: Where Now for the Refugee Movement?’ (with Anna Trembath) Arena Magazine, vol. 65, pp. 9-10.

‘Violence and the Mainstream Media’ (with Anita Lacey), Arena Magazine, vol. 49, 2000, pp. 9-10.

Conferences

'The Violence of Nation-Formation in Timor-Leste' at the Charles Darwin University conference Democratic Governance in Timor-Leste: Reconciling the Local and the National, 7 February 2008.

Finding the Soromutu: Violence, Identity and Nation-Formation in Timor-Leste,Nationalism and National Identities Today: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism, University of Surrey, 12 -13 June 2007.

‘Violence, Intervention and Rupture in Timor-Leste’, OCIS Conference, Melbourne University, July, 2006.

Relaxed and Comfortable Conference, ‘A Time for Glory: Violence: Nationalism, Imperialism and the Intervention in Timor Leste’, Overland, Melbourne, March 2006.

Pathways to Reconciliation Conference, ‘Violence and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste’, Sarajevo, August 2005.

One World, Many Worlds? Identity and Difference in Resistance Politics, ‘Other Worlds: Social movements and the making of alternatives’ (with Anna Trembath), University of Technology, Sydney, April 2005.

Nationalist Struggles and Globalisation in Indonesia, ‘The Impact of Globalization on Minorities Peoples’, Chiang Mai University, Thailand, November 2004.

The Global Conflict in Aceh, Sources of Insecurity Conference, RMIT University, Melbourne, November 2004 (Refereed).

The Neo-Liberal State and Global Protest: S11 and the Management of Dissent, ‘Ruling Class Ruling Culture’, Overland Conference, Melbourne, 2002.

The Future of the Australian Environmental Movement: Forging an Alternative Global Public Sphere?, ‘Protest and Globalisation’ Conference, Sydney University of Technology, 1999.

Civil Resistance, The State and the Public Sphere, Monash University Politics Research Conference, Melbourne, 1998.

Looking for Leadership in the Asian-Australian Community, ‘On Racism’, a conference held by Vietnamese Youth Today, Melbourne, 1997.

Seminars, lectures and electronic media commentaries

2008

'Ethnography-Managing the Tensions', Globalism Research Centre, December 2008.

Launch of 'Rethinking Insecurity' Publication, Melbourne, October 2008.

Research Training Methods, GSSSP, RMIT, September 2008.

'International Management Practice in a Global World', School of Business, RMIT, August 2008.

Launch of Community Sustainability and Security Report, Human Security Program, RMIT, August 2008.

'Ramos Horta's Return', Radio Australia, 15 April2008.

'Timor-Leste in Crisis Keynote', Australian Institute for International Affairs, Melbourne, March 2008.

'Community Security in Timor-Leste', Global Cities Institute, RMIT, 20 March 2008.

'Assassination Attempts and Timor-Leste', Radio New Zealand, 14 February, 2008.

'Political Situation Report, Timor-Leste', ABC Radio Darwin, 13 February 2008.

'Assassination Attempts in Timor-Leste', ABC Radio and Radio New Zealand, 11 February, 2008.

2007

‘From independence to violence in Timor-Leste’, Global Processes, RMIT University, August 2007.

‘Gender in Timor-Leste’, Launch of Mapping the Pursuit of Gender Equality in Timor-Leste report, Melbourne, August 2007.

‘Voting for the President’, ABC Radio Darwin, 9 May 2007.

‘Political Situation in Timor-Leste’, 3CR Community Radio Melbourne, 16 April, 2007.

Presidential Elections in Timor-Leste, ABC Radio Darwin, 9 April 2007.

‘Anti-Corporate Politics and Globalization’, Global Processes, RMIT University, March, 2007.

‘Violence and Crisis in Timor-Leste’, Global Processes, RMIT University, March 2006.

‘Resistance, Power and Globalization’, Contemporary Social and Political Theory, RMIT University, March 2007.

‘Ethics in Field Research’, Panel Discussion, Design and Social Context Research Seminar, RMIT University, March 2006.

Gender and NGO Relations with Government in Timor-Leste, Dili, January 2007.

Researching Gender: An Introduction to Research Techniques, Part Two, Office of the Promotion of Equality, Dili, Timor-Leste, January 2007.

Researching Gender: An Introduction to Research Techniques, Part One, Office of the Promotion of Equality, Dili, Timor-Leste, January 2007.

2006

‘The Australian Political System’, Adult Learning Centre, Lolotoi, Timor-Leste, September 2006.

‘Towards a Global Anthropology’, Globalism Institute Research Seminar, July 2006.

‘From Independence to Crisis in Timor-Leste’ (with Kym Holthouse), Globalism Institute Research Seminar, July 2006.

‘Violence and Development in Timor-Leste’, APHEDA-Union Aid Abraod, June, 2006.

‘Conflict in East Timor: Causes, Consequences and Possible Ways Forward’, Australian Institute of International Affairs, Melbourne, June 2006.

‘Violence and Crisis in Timor-Leste’, Institute of Postcolonial Studies, Melbourne, June 2006.

‘Understanding the Conflict in Timor-Leste’, Lecture, Batchelor of International Studies, RMIT University, June 2006.

‘Conflict in East Timor’, Voice of America Radio Interview, May 2006 (Hong Kong).

‘NGOs and East Timor’, Australian Catholic University, April 2006.

‘Globalization: An Introduction to Analysis’, Architecture and Design, RMIT University, April, 2006.

‘Anti-Capitalist and Anti-Corporate Politics and Globalization’, Global Processes, RMIT University, April 2006.

‘Cross Cultural Research’, Design and Social Context Research Seminar, RMIT University, March 2006.

‘Resistance, Power and Globalisation’, Contemporary Social and Political Theory, RMIT University, March 2006.

‘Ethics in Field Research’, Panel Discussion, Design and Social Context Research Seminar, March 2006.

‘East Timor and 1999: Power, Time and Space in Forging the New Republic’, Sources of Insecurity Research Colloquium, RMIT University, February 2006.

2005

‘Networks from the Local to the International’ (with Anna Trembath), invited address at two-day networking forum sponsored by UNDP, Oxfam Australia and NGO Forum, Dili, November 2005.

‘The Colonialism of Capacity Building in Timor-Leste’, Panel Presentation with Joaquim da Fonseca and Vannessa Hearman, RMIT University, Melbourne, September 2005.

‘Violence and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Pathways to Reconciliation Conference, Sarajevo, August 2005.

‘Timor-Leste: History, Resistance and Nation Formation’, Lecture to BA International Studies Students, RMIT University, July 2005.

‘Reconciliation and Colonialism in East Timor’, Globalism Institute Seminar Series, RMIT University.

‘Challenging Empire? The World Social Forum 2005’, keynote address, RMIT University, Melbourne.

‘The World Trade Organisation and Social Movement Opposition’, guest lecture to Environmental Accounting, School of Accounting and Business, RMIT University.

‘Global Movements, Social Conflicts’, guest lecture to Postgraduate Students in Social Science, RMIT University.

‘Movements Against Empire: The World Social Forum and Possibilities for Radical Action’, invited public address, Friends of the Earth Melbourne, Melbourne.

2004

‘Civil Society, East Timor and Nation Formation’, Guest Speaker, Arena (Melbourne).

‘Global Civil Society and Transnational Social Movements’, Bachelor of International Studies, RMIT.

‘Field Work in Post-Conflict Societies’, Community and Regional Engagement Forum, RMIT.

‘Postcolonialism and the World Today’, Invited Guest Lecturer, Contemporary Political and Social Theory (Postgraduate), RMIT.

‘Empty Space, Memory and Post-Colonial Nationalism’, Institute of Postcolonial Studies, Melbourne (Melbourne).

‘Mediated Resistance’, Bachelor of International Studies, RMIT

‘Space, Place and Global Dissent’, Keynote Speaker, Trades Hall Council Special Event, (Melbourne).

‘East Timor as a Post-Colonial Outpost’, East Timor Network Inaugural Presentation.

‘The World Social Forum’, Victorian Peace Network Forum.

2003

‘Beyond Corporate Globalism: Is Another World Possible? ’ Panel convened in conjunction with the Research Initiative on International Activism (UTS), Readers Feast, Melbourne, 23 July 2002.

‘The State, War and Global Resistance’, Victorian Peace Network Public Forum

‘East Timor as a Global Conflict’, Bachelor of International Studies, RMIT

Australian Social Movements, 3CR Melbourne Radio

Refugee Protests in South Australia, 3CR Melbourne Radio

‘Activism and the Media in Australia’, Bachelor of International Studies, RMIT

‘Conflict Resolution’, Bachelor of International Studies, RMIT

‘The Clash of Everything: East Timor and Nationalism’, Globalism Institute Forum

2002

‘Summits, Blockades and Barricades’, Friends of the Earth Forum

Anti-Corporate Protests in Sydney, 3CR Melbourne Radio

Refugee Movement in Australia, 3CR Melbourne Radio

‘Completing a PhD on Time’ to Postgraduate audience at Monash University

Media and Activism in Australia, 3CR Melbourne Radio

2001

‘Globalisation and Social Movements’, Undergraduate Lecture, Faculty of Arts, Monash University

Accomplishments/Achievements

Distinctions and Awards

• ARC Discovery Grant, ‘After the Violence: Truth, Reconciliation and National Integration in Timor-Leste’ (2007-2008)
• RMIT Research Community Engagement Award (2006)
• RMIT Research Project Award (2006)
• RMIT International Research Team Award (2005)
• RMIT Research Team Award (2003)
• RMIT Teaching Excellence Award (2003)
• Awarded Faculty of Arts PhD Completion Stipend (2001)