Connections between Australia and the East Asia region through the organisations and processes of civil society are being examined by researchers in the Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights.

Dr Gary Smith and Dr Michael Muetzelfeldt have received Australian Research Council funding for the project.

Governmental and business relations between Australia and the region have been well studied, says Dr Smith. However the importance of relations through other less official channels has not been examined.

"This project aims to fill this gap by studying the growing array of associations operating outside or along side government, or business. It will develop a basis for investigating the regional perceptions and activities of Australian non-government organisations (NGOs), and their role in expanding regional networks," Dr Smith said.

With the winding back of the state and the push for smaller government, the assumed central role of the state in sustaining citizenship has been questioned, Dr Muetzelfeldt said.

In the last few years analytical attention has shifted to the role of the organisations and processes of civil society, as well as of the state, in producing and reproducing the conditions for effective citizenship.

The Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights has been examining the institutional and organisational bonds, and the senses of group and individual identity, that make up civil society. "The Centre has several research projects that have focused on not for profit organisations, and on the effects of contracting out government services to non government organisations. These projects focus on how the changing boundaries between the state and civil society change people's capacity as citizens to fully participate in political and social processes." Dr Muetzelfeldt said.

This new project introduces another dimension to the Centre's work through its focus on the possibilities of cross-national regional civil society, and in particular the importance of the non-government and nonbusiness links between Australia and its regional neighbours. It will examine how important these links are for building citizenship in Australia and the region, and for enhancing security through strengthening the positive links between Australia and the region.

The project has two components, explains Dr Smith.

"It will first study the regional connectedness of Australian NGOs or the Australian parts of networks operating in the region through bilateral, regional, and global links. This work will address the nature and significance of Australia's regional relationships in the civil society 'third sector' of Australian NGOs that aim to interact with governmental, business or NGOs in East Asian states," he said.

"It will then explore the perceptions and discourses of Australian NGOs in their relation to regional civil society. The research will document these organisations' values, policy concerns, preferred modes of action, and capacity to mobilise resources. It will compare these with the dominant accounts in public politics and the media of the central interests in Australia's regional relations, and of the role, capacity and usefulness of the Australian NGOs that actively link to East Asia. It will pay attention to any divergences or discrepancies between the NGO and media discourses, and the consequences this might have for the capacity of Australian civil society to contribute positively to Australian regional relations."