Doctor Rachel Sharples

Lecturer in Social Sciences,
Anthropology & Sociology

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Supervision
Teaching

Biography

Dr Rachel Sharples (BA Comms (CSU); PhD (RMIT) is a Lecturer of Social Sciences in the School of Social Sciences. She completed her doctoral thesis at RMIT in 2012, examining the nature of the Thai-Burma borderlands, and the construction and projection of a Karen ethnic and cultural identity. Rachel is a member of the Challenging Racism Project (CRP) and the Diversity and Human Rights Research Centre (DHRRC) at Western as well as the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (CRIS). Rachel's research interests including racism and anti-racism, bystander anti-racism, Islamophobia and racism in digital platforms such as social media and the sharing economy services. Key areas of research include displaced persons, refugees and migrants in local and global settings; the construction and projection of ethnicity, culture and identity; statelessness, citizenship and belonging; and spaces of solidarity and resistance. With a focus on the projection of identity, she also explore forms of narrative, cultural and artistic expression and oral story telling. Rachel’s research interests are interdisciplinary, spanning anthropology, sociology, ethnic and racial studies, communications, cultural studies and politics. Recent publications include claims of anti-white racism in Australia (Journal of Sociology), discrimination in sharing economy platforms (Geoforum) and the segmentation of Islamophobia in the Australian population (Ethnicities). Rachel’s manuscript, Spaces of Solidarity, was published by Berghahn Books in 2020.

This information has been contributed by Doctor Sharples.

Professional Memberships

Associate Member, Globalism Research Centre (2012)
Diversity and Human Rights Research Centre (2020)
Challenging Raism Project (2016)
Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Communities (CRIS) (2021 - 2024)
The Australian Sociological Association (2021)

Interests

Borderlands
Ethnic and racial studies
Peacebuilding and humanitarian interventions
Refugees and displaced persons
Spaces of solidarity and resistance

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

Anthropology & Sociology

Contact

Email:	R.Sharples@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:	(02) 47360 113
Mobile:
Location:	P.G.12 Penrith (Kingswood)

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Teaching

Previous Teaching Areas

HUMN1041 People, Place and Social Difference, 2022

Publications

Books

Sharples, R. (2020), 'Spaces of Solidarity: Karen Activism in the Thailand-Burma Borderlands', : Berghahn Books 9781789207163.

Chapters in Books

Piracha, A., Sharples, R. and Dunn, K. (2021), 'Discrimination in the urban sharing economy', A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy, Edward Elgar Publishing 9781789909555.
Sharples, R. and Briskman, L. (2021), 'Racialized citizenship : challenging the Australian imaginary ', Handbook of Migration and Global Justice, Edward Elgar Publishing 9781789905656 .

Journal Articles

Vergani, M., Diallo, T., Mansouri, F., Dunn, K., Sharples, R., Paradies, Y. and Elias, A. (2023), 'Racist and anti-diversity attitudes as predictors of support for political violence among supporters of mainstream political parties', Terrorism and Political Violence, vol 35, no 5 , pp 1085 - 1105.
Sharples, R., Dunn, K. and Diallo, T. (2023), 'Categorising anti-asylum seeker sentiment through a regime of securitisation', Geopolitics, vol 28, no 4 , pp 1535 - 1561.
Safa, N., Sharples, R. and Dunn, K. (2023), 'The impact of stereotypical constructions of masculinity among the Rohingya population living in the Kutupalang Rohingya camp in Bangladesh', Gender, Technology and Development, vol 27, no 2 , pp 207 - 226.
Kamp, A., Dunn, K., Sharples, R., Denson, N. and Diallo, T. (2023), 'Understanding trust in contemporary Australia using latent class analysis', Cosmopolitan Civil Societies, vol 15, no 2 , pp 84 - 104.
Ben, J., Elias, A., Sharples, R., Dunn, K., Truong, M., Mansouri, F., Denson, N., Walton, J. and Paradies, Y. (2023), '[In Press] Racism data in Australia : a review of quantitative studies and directions for future research', Journal of Intercultural Studies, .
Kamp, A., Sharples, R., Vergani, M. and Denson, N. (2023), '[In Press] Asian Australians' experiences and reporting of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic', Journal of Intercultural Studies, .
Ben, J., Elias, A., Sharples, R., Dunn, K., Truong, M., Mansouri , F., Denson, N., Walton, J. and Paradies, Y. (2023), 'How could data help us combat racism?', The Policymaker, vol 11 October 2022 .
Sharples, R. and Colic-Peisker, V. (2022), 'Social cohesion revisited : policy and practice in migrant concentration areas of Sydney and Melbourne', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol 57, no 1 , pp 215 - 232.
Kamp, A., Denson, N., Sharples, R. and Atie, R. (2022), 'Asian Australians' experiences of online racism during the COVID-19 pandemic', Social Sciences, vol 11, no 5 .
Ben, J., Elias, A., Issaka, A., Truong, M., Dunn, K., Sharples, R., McGarty, C., Walton, J., Mansouri, F., Denson, N. and Paradies, Y. (2022), 'Racism in Australia : a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis', Systematic Reviews, vol 11, no 1 .
Sharples, R. and Blair, K. (2021), 'Claiming 'anti-white racism' in Australia : victimhood, identity and privilege', Journal of Sociology, vol 57, no 3 , pp 559 - 576.
Dunn, K., Diallo, T. and Sharples, R. (2021), 'Segmenting anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia : insights for the diverse project of countering Islamophobia', Ethnicities, vol 21, no 3 , pp 538 - 562.
Sharples, R. (2021), 'Disrupting state spaces : asylum seekers in Australia's offshore detention centres', Social Sciences, vol 10, no 3 .
Priest, N., Alam, O., Truong, M., Sharples, R., Nelson, J., Dunn, K., Francis, K., Paradies, Y. and Kavanagh, A. (2021), 'Promoting proactive bystander responses to racism and racial discrimination in primary schools : a mixed methods evaluation of the 'Speak Out Against Racism' program pilot', BMC Public Health, vol 21, no 1 .
Sharples, R. (2020), 'Movements across space : a conceptual framework for the Thai-Burma borderlands', Journal of Borderlands Studies, vol 35, no 5 , pp 693 - 708.
Piracha, A., Sharples, R., Forrest, J. and Dunn, K. (2019), 'Racism in the sharing economy : regulatory challenges in a neo-liberal cyber world', Geoforum, vol 98 , pp 144 - 152.
Sharples, R. (2019), 'Transversal borderings : territory and mobility for human rights activists in the Thai-Burma borderlands', Borderlands, vol 18, no 2 , pp 37 - 63.
Sharples, R. (2016), 'To be Karen in the Thai-Burma borderlands : identity formation through the prism of a human rights discourse', Asian Ethnicity, vol 18, no 1 , pp 74 - 94.
Sharples, R. (2016), 'Institutional governance and refugee resistance : displaced Karen in the Thai-Burma borderlands', Anthropological Forum, vol 26, no 1 , pp 37 - 53.
Sharples, R. (2008), 'Technology in the borderlands', Forced Migration Review, vol 30 , pp 24 - 24.

Other Publications

2022, 'Australians' Well-Being and Resilience During COVID-19', Report
2021, 'Countering Islamophobia in the Victorian Population', Report
2021, 'Understanding Varied Attitudes Towards Muslims', Report
2021, 'Asian Australians' Experiences of Racism During the COVID-19 Pandemic', Report

My research interests are interdisciplinary, spanning anthropology, sociology, ethnic and racial studies, communications, cultural studies and politics. My key areas of research involve displaced persons, refugees and migrants in local and global settings. I'm interested in the construction and projection of ethnicity, culture and identity. I'm also interested in areas of statelessness, citizenship and belonging. With a focus on the projection of identity, I also explore forms of narrative, cultural and artistic expression and oral story telling.Through my work at the Challenging Racism Project, my research also focuses on racism and anti-racism, Islamophobia and constructions of nationalist identity. I have published in a number of scholarly journals, most recently on the construction of Karen identity through a human rights discourse in Asian Ethnicity, and on internal governance and refugee resistance in Anthropological Forum.