Micro-biopolitics and the deep relationality of (self)care
Health and well-being are often assumed to be properties of individuals, either solely or aggregated as populations. But health and well-being arise from a wide range of multi-species, multi-scalar and inter-temporal entanglements. From the 39 trillion tiny microbes that constitute the human microbiome to environmental changes at the planetary level, human health is constituted relationally in ways that far exceeds any notion of self-contained individuality. This calls into question dominant ideas about the self, especially as the subject of self-care, and instead illustrates the deep relationality of our own health with the social conditions of our collective flourishing.
Examples of this deep relationality abound: 95% of the body’s serotonin, a hormone involved in digestion and mood, is actually produced by the microbial inhabitants of the gut; structural racism and economic violence profoundly influence inflammation and the body’s immune response, which in turn contributes to ailments as diverse as asthma, arthritis, diabetes and even cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and; environmental degradation has produced new forms of climate anxiety and ‘eco-distress’, especially among young people. Your mother’s microbiome, whether you grew up with a family dog, your exposure to antibiotics (at a young age, in particular), and the amount of fibre in your diet will all shape your health now and, often, well into the future.
The subject of health and well-being is increasingly recognised as multitudinous: as extending beyond humanistic ideas of discrete individuality and individual responsibility. How, then, does one care for the (multitudinous) self when the pursuit of health and well-being so often falls within an individualist frame? For example, our relationship to the microbial world has typically been characterised by an outmoded pathogenic imaginary in which ‘bugs’ are envisioned as enemies to be exterminated in order to protect individual human bodies from illness. But the failure to recognise the productive and protective features of our microbial kin has led to problems such as the overuse of microbicides, the rise of superbugs (i.e. antimicrobial resistance) and is also implicated in the rise of chronic conditions that now affect up to 50% of the population. However, some emerging (and some enduring) practices of care (for the self and for others) offer potential for a more expansive vision of the deep relationality of our health: care for the gut, for the mind, for one’s immunity, for the conditions of working and living that foster or compromise well-being, and for the planet are but a few examples.
We invite HDR proposals that will creatively explore the deep relationality of wellbeing, (self)care and the broader micro-biopolitics within which they emerge (or don’t). Taking informal practices of care among young people in Australia as its central focus, this project will generate novel conceptualisations of the interdependencies between human/microbial bodies and material/environmental conditions that move beyond the exterminatory logics of the pathogenic imaginary. It will advance a micro-biopolitics that attends to the vital contribution of microbes and environments – good and bad – and will foster new modes of coexistence between the human and non-human (i.e. microbial/planetary) worlds.
Using a range of qualitative methods with scope for creative innovation, this HDR project will anchor a theoretical exploration the nature of self/other/collective, formal/informal/self-care, micro/bio/politics, and micro/macro/past/ and future, grounded in the specifics of particular empirical cases, likely around human-microbial relations and centered on the informal practices of care of young Australians . It will ask questions such as:
- How do young people in Australia make sense of the microbiome, infection/immunity and inflammation and the roles they play in their own health and efforts to care for the self and for others?
- How do young people understand the relationship between their own health and the world around them?
- How do the self-care practices of young people emerge or diverge from their families’? And what respective roles do schooling, friends, health and social messaging play?
- What is the transformative potential of young people’s perspectives on the deep relationality of health, and how might they be more meaningfully engaged in service of more commensal human-microbial-material-structural-environmental relations?
The study will contribute to a broader program of research – situated within the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies (SCHS) providing excellent opportunities for supervision, mentoring and support. Most directly, the study will be associated with Dr Kenny’s ARC DECRA Fellowship on human-microbial relations in everyday family life (DE22101498).
The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr Kenny and Professor Broom at the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies. The HDR project presents a unique opportunity to work with scholars at the cutting-edge of innovative approaches to studying health and its social production. The successful candidate will be embedded in the vibrant research culture of the SCHS, in which HDRs, ECRs and more established researchers work together to develop research skills and collegial relationships and produce field-leading research. The supervisory team collectively has a total of 14 successful HDR completions as well as demonstrated experience in HDR and ECR mentoring and capacity building. The candidate will be supported with ample mentoring and training to support their work on the project, and additional opportunities for collaboration and co-authorship with established scholars.
Applicants are invited to submit a proposal for PhD research that aligns directly to this project.
Prospective candidates may qualify for direct entry into the PhD program if their research proposal (see above) is accepted and they satisfy at least one of the criteria listed below.
- Bachelor's degree with first- or second-class honours in an appropriate area of study that includes a research thesis based on primary data not literature review
- Master's degree by research in an appropriate area of study that includes a research thesis that draws on primary data
- Master's degree by coursework, with a research thesis or dissertation of 12,000–15,000 words that draws on primary data not literature review, with a grade-point average of at least 80 per cent in the degree.
- Demonstrated appropriate professional experience and alternative qualifications in the field of study.
For more information regarding applying for a PhD refer to the course details for Doctor of Philosophy (Arts and Social Sciences).
Please also refer to guidelines for preparing a research proposal.
A number of scholarships are available to support your studies.
Australian Government RTP Scholarship (Domestic)
Australian Government RTP Scholarship (International)
University of Sydney International Strategic Scholarship
These scholarships will provide a stipend allowance of $35,629 per annum for up to 3.5 years. Successful international students will also receive a tuition fee scholarship for up to 3.5 years.
For other scholarship opportunities refer to Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Scholarships (Domestic) or Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Scholarships (International).
For further details about the PhD project contact Dr Katherine Kenny, Deputy Director, Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies at katherine.kenny@sydney.edu.au.