Dr Vaughan Higgins
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
Biography
Vaughan's research focuses broadly on how social groups and organizations are governed, and govern themselves. With a particular interest in the analytical approaches of governmentality and actor network theory, Vaughan’s work is oriented toward the study of how programs, protocols, standards and related instruments of governing are implemented in practice, and the various ways in which these mechanisms, and the conduct of those who are governed, are shaped as a consequence. While such a focus is applied primarily to governance of the agriculture and food sector, a recent and growing area of attention for Vaughan is clinical governance within medical settings.
Research interests
Governance related to the agriculture and food sectors, agri-environmental regulation, biosecurity, sociology of science and technology, medical sociology
Current research projects
- Sustainable Farming in Australia: Market Instruments for Improved Land Management – ARC Discovery Project. Chief investigator with Professor Chris Cocklin (James Cook University) and Dr Clive Potter (Imperial College London)
- Tools for Dairying Change: Implementation of an On-farm Climate Change Adaptation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Mitigation Support Model for Australian Dairy Farms. Australia's Farming Future - FarmReady Grants Scheme (Partner Investigator with Murray Goulburn Dairy Pty Ltd)
Recent publications
Books
- Higgins, V. and Larner, W. (eds) (2010, forthcoming) Calculating the Social: Standards and the Reconfiguration of Governing, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
- Kitto, S. and Higgins, V. (2009) Pedagogical Machines: ICTs and Neoliberal Governance of the University, New York: Nova Science
- Cheshire, L., Higgins, V. and Lawrence, G. (eds) (2007) Rural Governance: International Perspectives, Routledge: London
Articles and book chapters
- Andree, P., Dibden, J., Higgins, V. and Cocklin, C. (2010, forthcoming) ‘Contesting Productivism? Alternative Agri-Food Networks in Australia’, Australian Geographer
- Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2010, forthcoming) ‘Adapting Standards: The Case of Environmental Management Systems in Australia’, in V. Higgins and W. Larner (eds), Calculating the Social: Standards and the Reconfiguration of Governing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
- Higgins, V. and Larner, W. (2010, forthcoming) ‘Standards and Standardization as a Social Scientific Problem’, in Calculating the Social: Standards and the Reconfiguration of Governing, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
- Higgins, V. and Larner, W. (2010, forthcoming) ‘From Standardization to Standardizing Work’ in Calculating the Social: Standards and the Reconfiguration of Governing, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
- Bryant, M. and Higgins, V. (2010) ‘Self Confessed Troublemakers: An Interactionist View of Deviance during Organizational Change', Human Relations, 63(2): 249-277
- Kitto, S. and Higgins, V. (2010) ‘Working Around ERPs in Technological Universities', Science, Technology and Human Values, 35(1): 29-54
- Bryant, M. and Higgins, V. (2009) ‘Team Communication Failure in Operating Rooms: Preliminary Findings from an Observational Study’, Proceedings of the 23rd Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Melbourne: ANZAM
- Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2008) ‘Neoliberalism and Natural Resource Management: Agri-Environmental Standards and the Governing of Farming Practices', Geoforum, 39: 1776-1785
- Lockie, S. and Higgins, V. (2008) ‘Roll-Out Neoliberalism and Hybrid Practices of Regulation in Australian Agri-Environmental Governance', in R. Munton (ed.), The Rural. Critical Essays in Human Geography, Aldershot: Ashgate
- Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2008) ‘Why do Farmers Adopt EMS? Market-Oriented Environmental Schemes and the Governance of Farm Management', in G. Carruthers and R. Johnson (eds), Practical Approaches: Exploring the Future of EMS in Australia. Proceedings of the 1st National EMS National Forum, Environmental Management Systems Association Inc
- Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2008) ‘Building Alternative Agri-Food Networks: Certification, Embeddedness and Agri-Environmental Governance', Journal of Rural Studies, 24: 15-27
- Higgins, V. (2007) ‘Performing Users: The Case of a Computer-Based Dairy Decision-Support System', Science, Technology and Human Values, 32(3): 263-286
- Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2007) ‘Market-Oriented Initiatives for Agri-Environmental Governance: Environmental Management Systems in Australia ‘, in D. Maye, L. Holloway and M. Kneafsey (eds), Alternative Food Geographies: Representation and Practice, Oxford: Elsevier
- Lockie, S. and Higgins, V. (2007) ‘Roll-Out Neoliberalism and Hybrid Practices of Governing in Australian Agri-Environmental Governance', Journal of Rural Studies, 23: 1-11
- Cheshire, L., Higgins, V. and Lawrence, G. (2007) ‘Introduction: Governing the Rural', in L. Cheshire, V. Higgins and G. Lawrence (eds), Rural Governance: International Perspectives, Routledge: London
- Cheshire , L., Higgins, V. and Lawrence, G. (2007) ‘Rural Governance and Power Relations: Theorising the Complexity of State-Citizen Interactions', in L. Cheshire, V. Higgins and G. Lawrence (eds), Rural Governance: International Perspectives, Routledge: London.
Postgraduate supervision
- Modise Moseki – Analysing the Impact of Asbestosis on the South African Land Reform Program
- Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder – Remittances as an Informal Tool of Rural Development in Bangladesh
- Monica Jackson – The Corporatisation of Australian Agriculture
- Peter O’Donnell – Restoring Native Vegetation: Ecological and Sociological Perspectives
- Donald Coventry – The Implications of Peak Oil for Regional Australia