Staff profile

Dr Raelene Wilding

Senior Lecturer

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

School of Social Sciences

MB 485, Melbourne (Bundoora)

 

Qualifications

PhD (University of Western Australia).

Membership of professional Associations

The Australian Sociological Association (TASA).

Area of study

Sociology

Brief Profile

My research is concerned with themes of intimacy, care, mobilities and connections. My PhD research at the University of Western Australia used interviews and ethnography to examine  the contemporary consumer ritual of the wedding. I was interested in the impact of media in the preparation, performance and aftermath of the wedding, particularly in terms of intimate relations and a sense of self. I later conducted research with Loretta Baldassar and Cora Baldock, exploring the ways in which migrants in Australia use communication technologies and visits to care for their elderly parents in the home country. This interest in transnational relationships provided the foundation for two of my current projects. The first explores the notion of ‘global ageing’, considering the implications of the ways in which elderly migrants and non-migrants in Australia engage with friends and family around the world. The second documents the ways in which young people from refugee backgrounds use communication technologies and media production tools to communicate with their peers in Australia and beyond. My teaching builds on these research projects by focusing on issues of identity, self, relationships, migration, transnationalism and qualitative research methods.

 

Research interests

Asian Cultural Studies

- Families and intimacy

- Love and marriage

- Migration and identities

Gender, Culture, Sexuality

- Intimacy and relationships

- Love and marriage

- Parenting and childcare

- Social and cultural identities

Migration

- Migrant and refugee identities

- Transnational families and relationships

Teaching Units

  • SOC2/3SOR Sociology of Relationships
  • SOC2/3EAI Ethnicity and Identity
  • SOC4COR Key Issues in social theory and research

Recent Publications

Books

  • Fozdar, F, Wilding, R & Hawkins, M 2009, Race and Ethnic Relations, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne.
  • Baldassar, L, Baldock, C & Wilding, R 2007 Families Caring Across Borders: Migration, Ageing and Transnational Caregiving. Palgrave, Houndmill.
  • Wilding, R & Tilbury, F (eds) 2004, A Changing People: Diverse Contributions to the State of Western Australia. Department of Premier and Cabinet, WA and Office of Multicultural Interests, WA, Perth.

Journal Articles

  • Wilding, R. 2012, ‘Mediating culture in transnational spaces: An example of young people from refugee backgrounds’, Continuum 26(3): 501-511.
  • Wilding, R 2009, 'Refugee Youth, Social Inclusion, and ICTs: can good intentions go bad?', Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society 7(2/3): 159-174.
  • Wilding, R and Baldassar, L 2009, 'Transnational Family - Work Balance: Experiences of Australian migrants caring for ageing parents and young children across distance and borders', Journal of Family Studies 15(2): 177-187.
  • Wilding, R 2008, ‘Introducing Anthropology: A Review Article’. Anthropological Forum 18(1): 71-78.
  • Wilding, R 2007, 'Transnational ethnographies and anthropological imaginings of migrancy', Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, special issue ‘Migrancy’, N. Harney & L. Baldassar (eds) 33(2), pp.331-48.
  • Wilding, R 2006, ‘"Virtual" intimacies? Families communicating across transnational contexts’, Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Affairs 6(2): 125-142.
  • Wilding, R 2006, 'Locating editorials and advertising in wedding magazines', Media International Australia 119, pp.74-84.
  • Wilding, R 2003, 'Romantic love and "getting married": narratives of the wedding in and out of cinema texts', Journal of Sociology 39(4), pp.373-389.

Chapters in Books

  • Wilding, R 2012, ‘Migrants’, in P. Beilharz & T. Hogan (eds) Sociology: Antipodean Perspectives, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp. 438-42.
  • Wilding, R 2008, ‘Imagined futures: Irish-Australian migrants and their children’, in H. Lee (ed.) Ties to the Homelands: Second Generation Transnationalism, Cambridge Scholars Publishers, pp.33-52.
  • Baldassar, L, Wilding, R & Baldock, C 2007, 'Long-distance care-giving: Transnational families and the provision of aged care', in I. Paoletti (ed.) Family Caregiving for Older Disabled, Nova Publishers, pp.201-27.
  • Wilding, R & Tilbury, F 2004, 'Preface: Constructing A Changing People', in R. Wilding & F. Tilbury (eds) A Changing People: Diverse Contributions to the State of Western Australia, Department of Premier and Cabinet, WA and Office of Multicultural Interests, WA, Perth, pp.1-7.

Refereed Conference Papers

  • Wilding, R 2008, 'Global ageing and transnationalism: Reflections on research prospects'. Re-imagining Sociology: Refereed Proceedings of The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, 2-5 December 2008, University of Melbourne.
  • Wilding, R 2007, ‘The invisible costs of skill: Migrant nurses and personal care responsibilities’. Paper presented at the 12th International Metropolis Conference, 8-12 October 2007, Melbourne Australia.
  • Wilding, R 2007, ‘Imagined futures: The case of second generation Irish-Australians’. Paper presented at the 12th International Metropolis Conference, 8-12 October 2007, Melbourne Australia.
  • Wilding, R 2006, 'Childhood obesity and media messages: Interpreting parental resistance to healthy eating guidelines', Sociology for a Mobile World: Refereed Proceedings of The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, 4-7 December 2006, Perth.
  • Wilding, R 2005, 'Shifting patterns of parental love? Supernanny and the search for democratic intimacy', in Community, Place, Change: Refereed Proceedings of The Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference, 5-8 December 2005, Hobart.
  • Wilding, R et al. 2004, 'Incorporating online learning into existing high contact first year units', in Seeking Educational Excellence: Refereed Proceedings of Annual Teaching and Learning Forum, 9-10 February, Perth.