History & International Relations

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Browsing History & International Relations by Author "Lyons, Tanya Julie"

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    Africa in/and the World
    (African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific, 2009) Lyons, Tanya Julie
    Back in 2000 Gavin Kitching sparked a major debate about giving up African Studies, his main argument being that African studies had become depressing, because the leaders he had supported during anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles had become the tyrants, keeping their countries and peoples subjugated and in poverty. His departure from the field of African studies flowed on the tide of Australian academics moving toward more mainstream fields of study including Asian studies, keeping job prospects open rather than closed. A rational choice in the face of an irrational Africa! A decade has passed since Kitching's 'depressing' announcement, and if only for the sake of assisting in the resettlement of former African refugees and African migrants in Australia, we need to engage with Africa and in particular conduct research and analysis of African issues in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the experiences and conditions in Africa today.
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    Pharmaceutical colonialism - ethical issues for research in Africa
    (African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific, 2009) Lyons, Tanya Julie
    Pharmaceutical Colonialism is the term used to describe the activities of some of the big pharmaceutical companies and their contract research organizations, that involves exploiting the sickness and poverty of citizens of weak and/or developing states.
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    Zimbabwe's crisis: local and global contexts
    (African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP), 2009) Lyons, Tanya Julie
    In this 29th year of Zimbabwe's independence, the Zimbabwean dollar is near worthless, with one hundred trillion buying only AUD$4. There is evidence that state sanctioned violence and killings continue in the country despite the progress of the new government of national unity, and Mugabe's calls for 'national healing.' Australia has only slightly downgraded its travel warning to the country while 254 Zimbabweans remain subjected to 'travel and financial sanctions' in Australia. The Australian government website on Zimbabwe has yet to update its list of Heads of Government for Zimbabwe to include Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister (www.dfat.gov.au/geo/zimbabwe/index.html), while Mugabe is still saluted as "Your Excellency". When he was Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kevin Rudd once criticised the Howard government for achieving no gains in the Zimbabwean crisis. Now as Prime Minister, will Rudd be able to put Africa and indeed Zimbabwe onto Australia's agenda?