Sinclair Dinnen, LLB (Hons) (Strath), MA (Sheff), PhD (ANU)
Senior Fellow, State, Society & Governance in Melanesia Program (SSGM), School of International, Political & Strategic Studies (SSGM)
Email: Sinclair.Dinnen@anu.edu.au
Biographical statement
Dr Sinclair Dinnen was appointed as a Post Doctoral Fellow when SSGM commenced in 1996. Sinclair has qualifications in law and criminology. He previously lectured at the Law Faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and later was a senior researcher at the National Research Institute (NRI) in Port Moresby. His doctoral research undertaken in Port Moresby and parts of the Highlands resulted in Law and Order in a Weak State: Crime and Politics in Papua New Guinea (2001). He has longstanding research interests in crime, conflict and peacebuilding, and legal pluralism in Melanesian countries, particularly PNG and The Solomon Islands. Sinclair's edited books include Reflections on Violence in Melanesia (with Alison Ley, 2000); A Kind of Mending: Restorative Justice in the Pacific Islands (with Anita Jowett and Tess Newton, 2003); and Politics and State Building in The Solomon Islands (with Stewart Firth, 2008). His current research looks at issues of state-building and nation-building, aid policy, interventionism, and policing in Melanesia. He is working on a book on Australian policing interventions in The Solomon Islands and Timor Leste. Sinclair has undertaken extensive policy work in the area of law and justice.
Research interests
Conflict and peace building; legal pluralism; comparative criminology; governance in fragile states; the politics of aid; and Australia's relations with the Pacific.
Key publications
- (with Andrew Goldsmith) 'Transnational Police Building: critical lessons from Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands'. Third World Quarterly, Vol.28, No.6, 2007, 1091-1109.
- 'State-Building in a Post-Colonial Society: The Case of Solomon Islands'. Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol.9, No. 1, Summer 2008. 51-78.
- (ed. with Stewart Firth) Politics and State-Building in Solomon Islands. Asia-Pacific Press and ANU E-Press 2008.
Career highlights
Lecturer in Law, University of Papua New Guinea; Head, Crime Studies Division, PNG National Research Institute (1992-1994); Law and Justice Adviser to PNG Government (1999 & 2003); Adviser to the Solomon Islands Peace Process (2000).
