A/Prof. James ( Jim ) Jose

Biography

I began my working life as an apprentice electrician with the Department of Civil Aviation. Some nine years later, after studying at night school to gain my matriculation, I took up full-time tertiary study at the University of Adelaide, starting with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Politics and Philosophy, and then moving on to a Master of Arts (Politics) by research and a PhD (Politics). Between 1981 until 2001 I worked as a lecturer/tutor in a number of tertiary institutions on a casual and contract basis: University of Adelaide (1981-1990), University of South Australia (1981-1988), and Charles Darwin University (formerly Northern Territory University) (1991-2001). My MA on the origins of the concept of 'dialectic' in early Greek political thought was awarded in 1986. My PhD, also undertaken at the University of Adelaide, was awarded in 1996 and examined the various polilcy strategies adopted by the South Australian Education Department between 1900 and 1990 to respond to external demands to incorporate sex education into the curriculum. Since arriving at Newcastle in May 2001 to take up a Senior Lectureship in Politics I have been engaged in teaching and promoting the study of politics. From 2001 to 2008 I was the Head of the Politics Discipline, and am currently the Politics Honours Coordinator. Since July 2009 I have been the Assistant Dean Research for the Faculty of Business and Law. I supervise an average of two Honours students per year and am currently involved in the supervision of eleven higher degree students (seven as Principal Supervisor and four as Co-Supervisor).

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Adelaide
• Master of Arts, University of Adelaide
• Bachelor of Arts, University of Adelaide

Research

Research keywords

• feminist political philosophy
• governance
• political theory
• postcolonialism

Research expertise

I am currently an Associate Professor in Politics in the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. I am the author of Biopolitics of the Subject: An Introduction to the Ideas of Michel Foucault (1998), a contributor to Anarchists and Anarchist Thought: An Annotated Bibliography, ed Paul Nursey-Bray (1992), and have published numerous journal articles on political theory, feminist theory, and Australian politics and public policy. In recent years I have developed an interest in both the concept and the practice of governance (as a manner of organising political power). This has prompted an interest in thinking about how the state in the 21st century has come to be restructured and understood, a development that I have begun exploring in a number of recent papers using the notion of the 'governance state'. Current research interests include;

* Governance and political discourse

* Philosophy, imperialism and colonial discourse

* Political theory and feminist political philosophy

* Transformation of labour processes

Collaboration

My principal research interests are in the fields of governance, Australian politics and public policy, and political theory (in particular feminist and postcolonial theory). I have a number of publications in each of these research areas. I am currently engaged in several active research projects that involve one or more of these interests.

One strand of my research has been concerned with the relationship between feminist scholarship and the study of politics, especially political theory. A number of papers exploring this theme have been published between 2000 and the present, with several other papers in various stages of completion. I am currently the Principal supervisor two PhD students working on topics informed by feminist scholarship, and another student successfully completed her PhD on feminist theory in 2011.

A major project that has been developing over the past six or so years concerns the concept of 'governance'. I have been researching its rise and deployment within contemporary political discourse, especially in Australia. I have also been concerned to link this conceptual study to the differing practices of governance and to explore how these might affect political identities, democratic practices and the structures of governing generally. This has led me to reconsider the institutional structures of governing in terms the governance state. (Paralleling this has also been an abiding interest in Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality, though in my view the two concepts, 'governance' and 'governmentality' are distinct and have different provenances.) Arising from this interest in governance I am supervising several PhD projects that each explore aspects of contemporary governance in Australia, Botswana, Kenya, and Zanzibar (Tanzania).

The governance research also links up with two other projects. One is the question of political violence and the various methods of governance that emerge to manage it, and the ways in which political violence is represented and communicated. I have been concerned to link this up with the development of the idea of the governance state. This project is loosely gathered under the umbrella of a research agenda around the idea of human security. A second project begun in late 2012 concerns the politics of memory. It initial focus is with the Kenyan elections of 2013 and the embedding into the election campaign rhetoric of references to and memories of the violence of the previous elections of 2007/2008.

Another project of a long-term research interest concerns a late nineteenth century organisation in Singapore known as the Straits Philosophical Society. I am currently collaborating with another colleague, Dr Tod Moore, in situating the SPS within the phenomenon of Edwardian dinner clubs in the United Kingdom and Australia which operated around this time and which exercised considerable contemporary influence in the maintenance of empire.

Fields of Research

Centres and Groups

Centre

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - Political Studies Association
• Member - Australasian Political Studies Association
• Member - International Political Science Association

Invitations

Master of International Relations Macquarie University, Australia (External Reviewer - Programs.)

2010

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Administrative

Administrative expertise

At the University of Newcastle I have undertaken a number of administrative roles. I was Head of the Politics Discipline from 2001-2008, Deputy Head of School from 2002 to 2007, Acting Head from 2007-2008, a member of various Faculty and School committees on an ongoing basis since 2001, a member of the University Senate from 2007 to 2009, Acting Head of the Tourism Discipline in S2 2009, and since July 2009, Assistant Dean of Research for the Faculty of Business & Law.

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Australian politics
• political theory
• public policy

Teaching expertise

At various times I have taught and continue to teach the following undergraduate courses:

POLI1010: Australian Politics and Government

POLI2010/POLI3010: Australian Political Culture

POLI2040/POLI3040: Democracy and the Politics of Equality

POLI2050/POLI3050: Political Theory and Social Change

POLI2120/POLI3120: Challenging Political Discourses

POLI2130/POLI3130: Principles of Public Policy

POLI4001/POLI4002: Politics Honours 1 & 2

I supervise an average of two Honours students per year. Between 2002 and 2010 I have supervised the theses of twenty-two Honours students of whom seven were awarded First Class Honours. I am currently the Principal Supervisor of nine PhD students and the Co-Supervisor of four other PhD students. Two Newcastle students completed successfully in 2005 and 2011, and a Charles Darwin University student under my supervision completed successfully in 2003.