Overview
Background
Morgan Brigg is expert in peace and conflict studies and Indigenous political thought and governance. His research considers the interplay of culture, governance and selfhood in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and international development. He worked in conflict resolution and mediation prior to his academic career, and he continues to practice as a nationally accredited mediator and facilitator. His research develops ways of knowing and working across cultural difference which draw upon Indigenous approaches to political community. Current projects examine ways of recuperating Indigenous forms of governance and conflict resolution, and the promise of ideas of relationality for making the field of conflict resolution a genuinely global endeavour.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Single-Authored Books
The New Politics of Conflict Resolution: Responding to Difference, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, (2008).
Edited Volumes
Mediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution (with Roland Bleiker), Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, (2011).
Unsettling the Settler State: Creativity and Resistance in Indigenous-Settler State Governance (with Sarah Maddison), Sydney: Federation Press, (2011).
Autoethnographic International Relations, Forum in the Review of International Studies, Vol 36 No 3 and 4, 2010 (with Roland Bleiker)
Journal Articles
"Relational and Essential: Theorising Difference for Peacebuilding", Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2018.1482078 (2018)
"Beyond the thrall of the state: governance as a relational-affective effect in Solomon Islands", Cooperation and Conflict. 53, 2 doi:10.1177/0010836718769096 (2018)
Humanitarian symbolic exchange: extending Responsibility to Protect through individual and local engagement. Third World Quarterly, . doi:10.1080/01436597.2017.1396534 (2017)
(with Jodie Curth-Bibb) "Recalibrating intercultural governance in Australian Indigenous organisations: the case of Aboriginal community controlled health", Australian Journal of Political Science, doi:10.1080/10361146.2017.1281379 (2017)
"Beyond accommodation: The cultural politics of recognition and relationality in dispute resolution." Australian Journal of Family Law 29 (3, Religion, culture and dispute resolution): 188-202 (2015)
“Old Cultures and New Possibilities: Marege’-Makassar Diplomacy in Southeast Asia”, The Pacific Review 24, no.5 (2011): 601-623."
"Autoethnographic International Relations: exploring the self as a source of knowledge" (with Roland Bleiker) Review of International Studies 36, no. 3 (2010):779-798
“Wantokism and State Building in the Solomon Islands: A Response to Fukuyama”. Pacific Economic Bulletin 24, no. 3 (2009): 148-161.
“The Developer’s Self: A Non-Deterministic Foucauldian Frame”. Third World Quarterly 30, no. 8 (2009): 1411-1426.
“Biopolitics Meets Terrapolitics: Political Ontologies and Governance in Settler-Colonial Australia”.Australian Journal of Political Science 42, no. 3 (2007): 403-417.
“Governance and Susceptibility in Conflict Resolution: Possibilities beyond Control”. Social and Legal Studies 16, no. 1 (2007): 27-47.
“Post-Development, Foucault, and the Colonisation Metaphor”. Third World Quarterly 23, no. 3 (2002): 421-436.
Book Chapters
"Relational Peacebuilding: Promise beyond Crisis", Peacebuilding in Crisis? Rethinking Paradigms and Practices of Transnational Cooperation, eds Tobias Debiel, Thomas Held, Ulrich Schneckener. Routledge, 56-69, (2016).
“Indigeneity and Peace”, (with Polly Walker), in "The Palgrave Handbook of Disciplinary and Regional Approaches to Peace". eds Oliver P. Richmond, Sandra Pogodda, Jasmin Ramovic: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 259-271, (2016).
“Beyond Captives and Captors: Settler-Indigenous Governance for the 21st Century” (with Lyndon Murphy). In Unsettling the Settler State: Creativity and Resistance in Indigenous-Settler State Governance, eds. S. Maddison and M. Brigg. Sydney: Federation Press, (2011).
“Conflict Murri Way: Managing Through Place and Relatedness” (with Mary Graham and Polly Walker). InMediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution, eds. M. Brigg and R. Bleiker. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, (2011).
“Culture: Challenges and Possibilities”. In Palgrave Advances in Peacebuilding: Critical Developments and Approaches, ed. O. Richmond. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, (2010).
“Disciplining the Developmental Subject: Neoliberal Power and Governance through Microcredit”. In Prospects and Perils of Microcredit: Neoliberalism and Cultural Politics of Empowerment, ed. J. Fernando. London: Routledge, (2006).
Other Contributions
“Noel Pearson's hunt for the 'radical centre' is doomed”, (with Lyndon Murphy) The Age, February 18 (2016).
“Identity and politics in Settler-Colonialism: Relational analyses beyond domination?” Postcolonial Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13688790.2015.1061908, 2015.
"Dialogue on Governance and Peace: Choiseul and Western Province, Solomon Islands", (with W. Chadwick, C. Griggers), in Sharing and Exploring Pacific Approaches to Dialogue: A compendium of Case Studies from Pacific Island Countries, J. Murdock, T. Vienings and J. Namgyal (eds.), Suva, Fiji, UNDP Pacific Centre (2015).
“Culture, ‘Relationality’, and Global Cooperation" Global Cooperation Research Papers 6, Duisburg, Germany, (2014).
The Forked Tongue of the Whiteman: Culture and contemporary peacebuilding, in Pax In Nuce weblog, Posted on July 31 (2014).
"Review of Kevin Avruch, Context and Pretext in Conflict Resolution: Culture, Identity, Power, and Practice." Australian Journal of International Affairs, (2013).
“Networked Relationality: Indigenous Insights for Integrated Peacebuilding.” Research Report Series, Hiroshima University Partnership for Peacebuilding and Social Capacity (2008).
“Review: Harrison, Simon, (2007) Fracturing Resemblances: Identity and Mimetic Conflict in Melanesia and the West, New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books”. Anthropological Forum 18, no. 2 (2008): 179-181.
“Whitegoods” (with Lyndon Murphy). Arena Magazine, no. 67 (2003): 30-31.
Availability
- Associate Professor Morgan Brigg is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Conflict Resolution
The politics, ethics and efficacy of conflict resolution, conflict management, peacemaking and peacebuilding.
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Indigenous Politics
Settler-Indigenous and global Indigenous politics, including different conceptions of political order and contemporary governance practices.
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Politics of Cultural Difference, Decoloniality, Postcolonialism
How cultural difference frames conceptions of political order, decolonising knowledge production.
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Selfhood and Subjectivity
The variable production of selves through relations of power and culture, and the self as a vehicle for knowing and translating across cultural difference.
Works
Search Professor Morgan Brigg’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2018
Journal Article
Beyond the thrall of the state: governance as a relational-affective effect in Solomon Islands
Brigg, Morgan (2018). Beyond the thrall of the state: governance as a relational-affective effect in Solomon Islands. Cooperation and Conflict, 53 (2), 154-172. doi: 10.1177/0010836718769096
2025
Journal Article
The conflict coaching challenge: design and evaluation of an online conflict coach
Brigg, Morgan, Druckman, Daniel, Loode, Serge and Thai, Hannibal A. (2025). The conflict coaching challenge: design and evaluation of an online conflict coach. International Journal of Conflict Management. doi: 10.1108/ijcma-07-2024-0159
2024
Journal Article
Furthering relational approaches to peace
Brigg, Morgan (2024). Furthering relational approaches to peace. Journal of Peace Research, 1-15. doi: 10.1177/00223433241267811
2024
Journal Article
Indigenous Diplomacy for an Australian Civilisational Ethos?
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2024). Indigenous Diplomacy for an Australian Civilisational Ethos?. Australian Outlook.
2024
Journal Article
Closing the Gap: Governments must modernise their approach to Indigenous corporations
Brigg, Morgan and Brown, Prue (2024). Closing the Gap: Governments must modernise their approach to Indigenous corporations. Pearls and Irritations.
2023
Other Outputs
Courting assimilation: beyond the risks of the Voice referendum
Murphy, Lyndon and Brigg, Morgan (2023, 11 10). Courting assimilation: beyond the risks of the Voice referendum ABC Religion and Ethics
2023
Journal Article
Holding contradictions: toward the lawful carriage of Indigenous diplomacy
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2023). Holding contradictions: toward the lawful carriage of Indigenous diplomacy. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77 (6), 1-11. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2023.2275707
2023
Other Outputs
“We know that we are implicated …”: Australia’s interior life after the Voice referendum
Brigg, Morgan (2023, 11 01). “We know that we are implicated …”: Australia’s interior life after the Voice referendum ABC Religion and Ethics
2023
Other Outputs
Communiqué from a civilisational culture: Ten principles for life together after the referendum
Graham, Mary and Brigg, Morgan (2023, 10 09). Communiqué from a civilisational culture: Ten principles for life together after the referendum ABC Religion and Ethics 1-5.
2023
Journal Article
Mapping the spatial politics of Australian settler colonialism
Benson, Eleanor, Brigg, Morgan, Hu, Ke, Maddison, Sarah, Makras, Alexia, Moodie, Nikki and Strakosch, Elizabeth (2023). Mapping the spatial politics of Australian settler colonialism. Political Geography, 102 102855, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2023.102855
2023
Book Chapter
Indigenous public policy futures: a manifesto for relationalist public administration
Graham, Mary and Brigg, Morgan (2023). Indigenous public policy futures: a manifesto for relationalist public administration. Public policy and Indigenous futures. (pp. 13-26) edited by Nikki Moodie and Sarah Maddison. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-19-9319-0_2
2023
Journal Article
Approaching First Nations diplomacy from the Australian continent
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2023). Approaching First Nations diplomacy from the Australian continent. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77 (6), 1-5. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2023.2265849
2023
Journal Article
Indigenous international relations: old peoples and new pragmatism
Graham, Mary and Brigg, Morgan (2023). Indigenous international relations: old peoples and new pragmatism. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77 (6), 1-10. doi: 10.1080/10357718.2023.2265847
2022
Other Outputs
Whitewashing Australian history: How the “History is Calling” ad distorts Indigenous existence before colonisation
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2022, 12 14). Whitewashing Australian history: How the “History is Calling” ad distorts Indigenous existence before colonisation ABC Religion and Ethics 1-2.
2022
Journal Article
Making space for Indigenous approaches in the Southwest Pacific? The spatial politics of peace scholarship and practice
Brigg, Morgan, George, Nicole and Higgins, Kate (2022). Making space for Indigenous approaches in the Southwest Pacific? The spatial politics of peace scholarship and practice. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 16 (5), 545-562. doi: 10.1080/17502977.2022.2139908
2022
Other Outputs
Supporting corporations beyond compliance: advancing ORIC’s governance approach
Brigg, Morgan, Brown, Prudence, Bourne, Josephine, Curth-Bibb, Jodie and Moran, Mark (2022). Supporting corporations beyond compliance: advancing ORIC’s governance approach. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
2022
Other Outputs
The relevance of Aboriginal political concepts (9): human futures and the incomplete Dreaming story of COVID-19
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2022, 05 25). The relevance of Aboriginal political concepts (9): human futures and the incomplete Dreaming story of COVID-19 ABC Religion and Ethics 1-3.
2022
Other Outputs
Queensland’s ‘Path to Treaty’ has some lessons for the rest of Australia
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2022, 01 20). Queensland’s ‘Path to Treaty’ has some lessons for the rest of Australia
2021
Book Chapter
Indigenous Approaches to Peace
Morgan Brigg and Polly O. Walker (2021). Indigenous Approaches to Peace. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. (pp. 1-6) edited by Oliver Richmond and Gëzim Visoka. London, United Kingdom: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_201-1
2021
Other Outputs
The relevance of Aboriginal political concepts (8): the relationalist ethos for managing survivalism
Brigg, Morgan and Graham, Mary (2021, 10 26). The relevance of Aboriginal political concepts (8): the relationalist ethos for managing survivalism ABC Religion and Ethics 1-3.
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Morgan Brigg is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Master Philosophy
Self-Sacrifice and Intractable Conflict
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Roland Bleiker
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Doctor Philosophy
Intractable Conflict and Self-Sacrifice in Interpersonal Mediation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Roland Bleiker
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Doctor Philosophy
Relating with Relational Knowledge
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Phillips
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Doctor Philosophy
Relating with relational knowledge: The company of violence
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Phillips
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Doctor Philosophy
SPACE, RACE AND GENDER: Analyzing Counterterrorism Strategy in Kenya through a Feminist Geopolitical Lens
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole George
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Doctor Philosophy
SPACE, RACE AND GENDER: Analyzing Counterterrorism Strategy in Kenya through a Feminist Geopolitical Lens
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole George
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Doctor Philosophy
Situating Saibai Language and Cultural archival material within a Cultural Framework
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Felicity Meakins
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Master Philosophy
Fighting and Fleeing: Resistance within the International Movement Regime
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Gerhard Hoffstaedter
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Doctor Philosophy
Conflict and Disaster Recovery
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alastair Stark
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Local ownership, NGOs, and peacebuilding in Africa: A study of conflict-affected zones in Ghana
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Roland Bleiker
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Aboriginal men's selfhood and the spectre of criminalisation and incarceration
Principal Advisor
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
The Institutionalisation of Special Autonomy as "Ethnic" Conflict Resolution? The Case of Papua, Indonesia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Alastair Stark
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
`Impossible to detain them without chains': Interrogating Colonialism in Histories of Aboriginal people's Restraint in Australia
Principal Advisor
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
Elites and the Negotiation of Special Autonomy Policy in Papua, Indonesia
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Frank Mols
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2019
Doctor Philosophy
From "Under the Acacia Tree" to the African Union's "Panel of the Wise": The emergence of Indigenous African approaches to conflict resolution in discourse
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Sebastian Kaempf
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2018
Doctor Philosophy
Politics and the colonial frontier 1838 to 1877: the frontier indigenous policy of the government and political institutions of colonial Queensland.
Principal Advisor
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2014
Doctor Philosophy
Religious Peacebuilders: The Role of Religion in Peacebuilding in Conflict-Torn Society in Southeast Asia
Principal Advisor
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Development of a deliberative democratic framework for the evaluation of environmental alternative dispute resolution processes
Principal Advisor
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Emotions and Political Violence: An (Auto-)ethnographic Account of the People's War in Nepal
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Emma Hutchison, Professor Roland Bleiker
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
The `Turn to the Local' : Hybridity, local ordering and the new governing rationalities of peace and security interventions in Somalia
Associate Advisor
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Theatre for Peacebuilding: the role of arts in conflict transformation in South Asia
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Roland Bleiker
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2015
Doctor Philosophy
Governance and the Management of Intercommunal Conflicts: Rethinking Contemporary Perspectives and Possibilities through Relational Analysis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Martin Weber
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2013
Doctor Philosophy
Influencing official and unofficial justice and reconciliation discourse in Cambodia: the role of local non-state actors and institutions
Associate Advisor
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2011
Doctor Philosophy
Neoliberal Indigenous Policy in Australia: Government, Sovereignty and Colonialism
Associate Advisor
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Morgan Brigg directly for media enquiries about:
- Aboriginal Australia
- Conflict resolution
- Culture
- Facilitation
- Mediation
- Pacific
- Peacebuilding
- Southeast Asia
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