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 🙂
Dr. Jatinder Mann specialises in transnational and comparative history and politics, with a focus on Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, South Africa, and the British World. He is a Fellow in the Centre for Modern History at City, University of London. 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. He has also lived and worked in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Jatinder is currently working on a research project on the ‘Transnational Identities of the Global South Asian Diaspora in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and South Africa, 1900s-1940s’. He also has over thirty refereed publications, which include four books. Jatinder is a co-editor of a special issue of the British Journal of Canadian Studies on ‘Canada 150’, published in 2018 by Liverpool University Press. He has also published numerous articles in front-ranking and emerging interdisciplinary journals. Jatinder is a co-editor in the forthcoming Documents on Australian Foreign Policy: Australia in War and Peace, 1914-1919 with UNSW Press. He is also the editor for a book series on ‘Studies in Transnationalism’ with Peter Lang Publishing, New York. Jatinder is the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Australian, Canadian, and Aotearoa New Zealand Studies (JACANZS). He was also awarded the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta in 2014. Jatinder was a recipient of the highly competitive Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship for his doctoral research at the University of Sydney. He has also 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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Transnational Identities of the Global South Asian Diaspora in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and South Africa, 1900s-1940s 