Getting down to business!

Posted byDr. Jatinder MannPosted inUncategorized

For my previous three research projects (‘The search for a new national identity: A comparative study of the rise of multiculturalism in Canada and Australia, 1890s-1970s’, ‘Australia in War and Peace, 1914-1919’, and ‘The end of the British World and the redefinition of citizenship in Australia, Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand, 1950s-1970s’) I have always started by carrying out secondary research on my subject, going through sources that I collect, and making notes. I find this useful in various ways. Firstly, it is of course good to know the existing historiography on my subject in more detail than putting my research proposal together allowed. Secondly, I always find it interesting to see the different approaches fellow scholars undertake towards their own research. Thirdly, I find the primary sources that they might have used a useful starting point for my own primary research for my project. And fourthly, I add any secondary sources that they consulted relevant to my research project to my own list of articles, book chapters, and books to have a look at. Conducting secondary research for your project is of course a constant process, as there are new things being written all the time, and you come across them and other previously published sources in the course of the research process. All of the above illustrates the importance of carrying out secondary research for a historical project. Quite often historians emphasise primary research, which is of course crucial. But the importance of secondary research should not be underestimated! I am very excited to be moving my new research project forward 🙂

Published by Dr. Jatinder Mann

Dr. Jatinder Mann is a Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Reading. He specialises in transnational, international, and comparative history, law, and politics with a focus on Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, South Africa, and the British World. Jatinder is also the Creator and Manager of the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand Studies Network (ACNZSN). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Jatinder is British and of South Asian descent, specifically from the Punjab. His current research project is on the ‘Transnational Identities of the Global South Asian Diaspora in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and South Africa, 1900s-1940s’. Jatinder has over fifty refereed publications, which include over a dozen books and edited journals. His most recent book is Indigeneity and the British World: Settler Colonialism, Resistance, and Self-Determination (2026). Jatinder has also published numerous articles in front-ranking and emerging interdisciplinary journals. He is the editor for a book series on ‘Studies in Transnationalism’ with Peter Lang Publishing. Jatinder is also the Editor-in-chief and Book Reviews Editor of the Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies (JACANZS). He was awarded the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta. Jatinder was also a recipient of the highly competitive Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship for his doctoral research at the University of Sydney. He has held visiting fellowships at King’s College London, the Australian National University, Carleton University, and Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington.

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