Griffith University

D Teaching, B Arts, M Arts, PhD

Member, Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing

Contact details for Associate Professor Georgina Murray

Biography

I have worked internationally and nationally for twenty years on three areas of political economic/sociological research:

• First, in the area of networks of power that will culminate in the publication of two books-
  • Capitalist Networks and Social Power in Australia and New Zealand (2006); and forthcoming
  • Who Rules the World? Edgar Elgar co-edited with Professor John Scott, University of Plymouth.
    • With impetus from an earlier ARC grant in the mid 1990s plus 2006 ASP, this led to field work and refereed journal articles being written about New Zealand (2001, 1989a, 1989b), South Africa (2001), China (2002a, 2002b, 2002c and 2003), and Australia (2009, 2005 2001), a South African book chapter (2003) and conference papers (2008a, 2008b, 2006a, 2006b, 2005, 2004, 2002a, 2002b and 2000) (see Curriculum Vitae for details).
    • My expertise in Networks of Power has also led to a 2010 invitation to lecture in Hamburg at the Helmut Schmidt Universitat, and in 2006 an invitation to be a ‘Guest researcher’ consultancy at the University of Bergen, Norway by the Vice Chancellor Sigmund Grønmo.
    • I have co-organised a number of recent conferences around the theme of networks of power - at the Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic - Global Capitalism and Transnational Class Formation, (17th -18th September 2011); and for the RC02 section of the ISA Conference, Sociology on the Move, at Gothenburg Sweden (July 11-17th, 2010). Conferences coming up are 
      1. For the RC02, ISA Interim Conference Embeddedness and Beyond: Do Sociological Theories Meet Economic Realities? in Moscow, Russia, National Research University - Higher School of Economics;
      2. For RC02, ISA Interim Conference and the Network for Critical Studies on Global Capitalism - Networks of Transnational Capitalism, to be held at Griffith University, 2013.
  • Second, a focus on women and work, has led to several conference papers, articles, consultancy projects, ARC Linkage and a book Women of the Coal Rushes
    • This strand developed from an earlier research interest in feminism (which included an edited collection in 1996) and women in the legal profession (which included a book chapter published in 2003, as well as several 1980s and 1990s articles). This multi-disciplinary project has led to a nine-minute documentary film, an article for Griffith Review (2008), and several papers in conference proceedings.
      
    • Recognition in this area led to a request to act as an expert witness on ‘unreasonable hours’ in Alan Macpherson v Coal and Allied Services in the Federal Magistrates Court Sydney. It has also led to a number of related media interviews on ABC Local Radio and for Life Matters on ABC Radio National.
    • An offshoot of our earlier coal study is our new Australian Mining and Well Being project (ACES) based around a successful ARC Linkage Grant. This is a questionnaire being sent to 9,000 Australian miners and their partners to ascertain their wellbeing in turbulent times. This is being done in conjunction with the CFMEU, Professor David Peetz and Dr Olav Muurlink. And the new Networks and support for delegates project being done in conjunction with the ACTU Organising Centre, Ms Jenny Evans, Ms Jane Clarke and Professor David Peetz.
  • And third, a scholarly focus on citizenship that has resulted in several journal publications;
    • This centres on an extremely topical subject that includes local, national and global citizenship and issues of social justice that build on earlier research on class and power. This strand has led to articles in overseas major refereed journals in 2006 (Relations Industrielles) and 2007 (Societies without Borders)
    • Elected to Vice President for the Research Committee RC02, Economic Sociology for the International Sociological Association.

  Research output

  • Mining Women

  Teaching

  I have taught political economy at the universities of Auckland (New Zealand), Bergen (Norway), Beiwei (China) and Griffith (Australia).

  Publications

  Available in Griffith Research Online