My current research examines the intersection of regional order building, human rights and governance in Southeast Asia, paying particular regard to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To study this issue I examine the region through the lens of socialisation, investigating how ASEAN is both a driver of, and arena for, those efforts to diffuse standards. I am interested in the stories of rights socialisation efforts that have emerged, the success and failure of those efforts and how we can use those stories to better understand what ASEAN is.

I am commencing a project that takes this interest and examines ‘the new politics of human rights in Southeast Asia’, seeking to explain both why ASEAN came to adopt human rights standards and why it has done so in the way that it has. This project will expand my focus on ASEAN to encompass the history of the regional project and the cross over between human and traditional security throughout ASEAN cooperation.This project comprises a series of articles already underway and a book manuscript.

More generally I am interested in International Relations Theory, human rights and regions and have published across these three areas.

I have convened award-winning courses at the graduate and undergraduate level including in the areas of academic skill-building, World Politics, International Relations Theory, and Southeast Asian Security. I currently supervise honours, masters, and PhD students working in the field of International Relations theory, foreign policy, humanitarian aid, the environment, and democratic transitions.

Here I talk about my interest in the women, peace and security agenda in Southeast Asia.

Teaching

Mathew teaches the graduate course Issues in Australian Foreign Policy INTR8017 (Semester 2, 2020), and the undergraduate course Chinese Foreign and Security Policy INTR2012 (Semester 2, 2020).