European Naturalists and the Constitution of Human Difference in Oceania: Crosscultural Encounters and the Science of Race, 1768-1888

这项研究将促进更好地理解当代澳大利亚区域干预的历史渊源，与邻国的关系以及种族或民族差异的概念。因此，它直接针对当前关于历史政治的辩论。支撑当前澳大利亚态度和政策的关于地区差异的假设，源于更早的关于种族历史和大洋洲人的集体身体变异的辩论，以及关于欧洲人自然优于土著人口的信念。该项目将为这些想法的起源提供一个可访问的历史，并展示澳大利亚在大洋洲更广泛背景下的历史嵌入性。

This research will promote better understanding of the historical antecedents to contemporary Australian regional interventions, relations with our neighbours and conceptions of racial or ethnic differences. It thus directly addresses current debates on the politics of history. The assumptions about regional differences which underpin current Australian attitudes and policies stem from much earlier debates on the racial histories and collective physical variations of Oceanian people and from beliefs about natural European dominance over indigenous populations. This project will produce an accessible history of the genesis of such ideas and demonstrate the historical embeddedness of Australia within the wider context of Oceania.