Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Protecting our Taonga: How New Zealand can contribute to regional stability(2023) Tan, Alex; Vanvari , NeelItem Open Access Revitalising rural development in the Pacific: An itaukei (indigenous Fijian) approach(2019) Vunibola, Suliasi; Scheyvens RIndigenous groups who live on and work with customary land and resources occupy many rural settings in the Pacific. In Fiji, as life has become dominated by economic demands, many itaukei (indigenous Fijian) communities have struggled to see how bula vakavanua (tradition, culture and the way of being)—such as solesolevaki, or unpaid communal work for collective good—can aid in sustainable development of their resources for their people’s benefit. This struggle, along with a lack of opportunities in rural settings, has given rise to rural-urban migration and increased related social problems. This paper aims to demonstrate that indigenous-driven, effective rural development is possible in the Pacific despite these challenges. Case studies of successful itaukei businesses based on customary land in Fiji—and how solesolevaki has been revived to support itaukei entrepreneurial success and community wellbeing—were conducted and analysed.Item Open Access Who is the language policy for? Translation discrepancies and their implications to (dis)trust(Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Library, online-publication-date) Ting CJ; Teng, WeiThis paper investigates the impact of language policy translation as a discursive action on historical and political mechanisms of trust within the context of Indigenous language revitalization in Taiwan. Combining a critical discourse studies approach and translation theories, we examine the translation discrepancies between the Chinese source text and the English translation of Tawain’s Indigenous Language Development Act (2017). We focus on the analysis of the interpersonal meanings conveyed by two Chinese modal verbs (ying/應 and de/得), aiming to elucidate how Taiwan’s Government positions itself within both language versions. The findings suggest that the government constructs itself as more actively responsible for the Indigenous language development in the English version. This strategic move reflects the government’s commitment to enhancing Taiwan’s international reputation as the English version is meant for global audiences. Considering language policy is inherently ideological with the government’s political intentions, we discuss the implication of distrust created by the translation discrepancy. This study highlights that language policy translation can be recontextualized to suit a government’s political agendas and ideological appropriations.Item Open Access Food security and community development in the Pacific: Case studies from Fiji(2021) Vunibola, Suliasi; Leweniqila IThis paper considers the role of bula vakavanua (the Fijian way of life) in two indigenous Fijian communities, Saroni and Bucalevu, in helping rural villages achieve food security. Traditional mechanisms such as solesolevaki (cultural capital through collective work), together with monthly community work structures in place, can help households achieve food security. Revitalising these traditional mechanisms, encouraging wider use of them, and establishing legal frameworks for protecting traditional food security could have widespread benefits.Item Open Access The Moderate Effect of Good Corporate Governance on Carbon Emission Disclosure and Company Value(Indonesian Accountant Association - Compartment Educator Accountant, online-publication-date) Blesia, Jhon Urasti; Trapen , Enggelina; Arunglamba , Rama SoyanThis research examines the influence of carbon emission disclosure on the firm value with good corporate governance as a moderating variable. A total of 20 Indonesian energy service companies listed on Indonesia's stock exchange in 2015- 2021 are analyzed using the Moderated Regression. The results show a significant positive effect between carbon emission disclosure and firm value. Despite an increase in the carbon emission disclosures following the amendment of Indonesia Financial Accounting Standards of Number 1 in 2014 about the demands of environmental disclosures, good corporate governance in these companies cannot moderate the relationship between carbon emission disclosure and firm value. This research strengthens the legitimacy theory that environmental disclosure maintains the good reputation of the companies. Investors can consider carbon emission disclosure when determining their investment decisions. Management can determine companies' policies related to carbon emission disclosures. The results of this research can be regarded as determining policies related to reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia.Item Open Access BSW students under stress: Students’ struggles lead to an innovative response in Aotearoa New Zealand.(2020) Meadows, Letitia; Fraser , Sarah; Swift , Donna; Gant , LisaSocial work students balance multiple roles and responsibilities alongside their educational journey, with recent research suggesting these challenges are exacerbated during practicum. The informal accounts of the pressures and strains on students on the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programme in Aotearoa New Zealand provided impetus for an exploration of the local issues compared with those reported internationally and in different institutional contexts. In 2018, Year three and Year four BSW students were invited to participate in focus groups exploring both the challenges and sustaining factors they encountered during the course of their studies. The findings reveal that, as described in the international literature, NMIT students experience multiple pressures and use a range of support systems to sustain themselves through their student journey. The findings from the study are now informing a review of the structure and delivery of the academic curriculum at NMIT and have led to the development of “He Arawhata”. This programme sits alongside the academic curriculum and is aimed at enhancing the health and wellbeing of students in preparation for the demands of both practicum and a career in social work.Item Open Access Reimagining innovation through Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge (IAK): Indigenous innovations and climate crisis resilience in the Pacific(2024) Vunibola, Suliasi; Leweniqila I; Raisele KThis paper examines Indigenous innovation using self-determination for climate resilience within Indigenous communities in the Pacific. Given the Pacific context, communities are vulnerable to the climate crisis, but have adopted climate-resilient strategies and practices. A Pacific research methodological framing and qualitative ethnographic-case study approach was used for the study, which included discussion of some Indigenous enterprises and community driven development projects in Fiji. Talanoa method was used to collect data. Three themes unfolded from the three case studies in Fiji: the adoption of Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge as part of their operating model, practical contributions by the enterprises and community-driven projects in response to climate-induced disasters and aiding collective community resilience and well-being through their operations. Indigenous peoples are intimately and holistically connected to their vanua (resources, people and culture) reflected by their environment-related contributions and practices. The paper contributes toward understanding Indigenous innovation centred on indigenous peoples' socio-cultural and spiritual value systems. These are reflected in business operations and community-driven development projects that consider ecological limits and build collective resilience to the climate crisis.Item Open Access Edith Wharton's “Coming Home”: Spinning a Good Yarn with Homeric Intent(The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019) Montgomery, MaureenThis article offers an interpretation of Wharton's first war story in light of classical reception studies. For many First World War writers, the classics offered a way of articulating experiences of war. To date, scholars have not yet acknowledged Wharton's reworking of Homer's Odyssey, the archetypal story of a soldier returning home. I argue Wharton draws on the Odyssey to reinforce her position as an eyewitness to the war in France. She does so to enhance her authority as a noncombatant capable of producing a credible account of the war zone against the prejudices of gender and combat gnosticism. The first allusion to the Odyssey draws attention to the ability of Demodocus, the blind bard, to tell the story of the Trojan War as if (ironically) he had been an eyewitness. Wharton chooses a narrator who prides himself on dealing with factual knowledge, but even he is unable to say what actually happens at key moments of a journey to the war zone. With so many loose threads, Wharton succeeds in giving us a war story that captures the fog of war and the linguistic crisis, which hampers the articulation of experiences far beyond what an individual has heretofore encountered.Item Open Access Beyond the Veil: Genre hybridity, cultural specificity and anthology media in Aotearoa New Zealand(2024) Harrington, ErinThe Aotearoa New Zealand television anthology, Beyond the Veil, offers stand-alone horror and supernatural shorts from Māori, Sāmoan, Filipino and Chinese New Zealand storytellers. Focusing on the Sāmoan found footage horror episode ‘26:29’ and drawing from internal government agency documentation, this article suggests that the state-funded series leverages the strengths of short-form story-telling, and the unique textual features of the anthology format, to offer a playful, often pointed counter to dominant (i.e. Pākehā/New Zealand European, Anglo-American) cultural and horror narratives, while creating much-needed opportunities for culturally responsive stories and production practices. These concerns are contextualized within an account of genre-led storytelling and the emergence in recent years of the anthology form as a powerful political site of Indigenous, immigrant and diaspora-led filmmaking practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.Item Open Access Abortion counselling controversies and the precarious role of social work: Research and reflections from Aotearoa New Zealand(2023) Meadows, LetitiaINTRODUCTION: This article presents debates and controversies about counselling within abortion provision in Aotearoa New Zealand. Formal and informal counselling networks are described, where the role of social workers as providers of counselling services is precarious. Insights consider how service users may be more holistically supported when accessing abortion care. METHODS: Drawing on findings from a broader qualitative research project involving 52 participant interviews, formal and informal observation of practices, and analysis of service documentation, the concept of boundary objects by Star and Griesemer (1989) is taken up to account for diverse abortion counselling practices that occur in multiple but connected social worlds. Revisiting these findings in the context of current abortion legislation and developments, a Reproductive Justice (RJ) lens is used to inform the implications for service users and social work practice. FINDINGS: Past and present efforts within legislation, policy, and practice guidelines to standardise abortion counselling have not prevented different versions of counselling from being enacted by social workers, counsellors, nurses, medical practitioners, staff of community agencies, and crisis pregnancy services. This has resulted in the practice and the term counselling being contested. Participant accounts and observations revealed that multiple disciplines offer counselling practices while social work remains poorly integrated into service provision. CONCLUSION: This article employs the concept of boundary objects to account for how variations of counselling have been enacted and disputed. The addition of a reproductive justice (RJ) lens with its attention to social justice is used to appreciate recent advances in access to abortion services alongside arguing for enriched care practices and the value of social work in supporting the integrated well-being and agency of service users.Item Open Access Reinvestigating social vulnerability from the perspective of Critical Disaster Studies (CDS): directions, opportunities and challenges in Aotearoa disaster research(Informa UK Limited, online-publication-date) Uekusa, Shinya; Wynyard , Matthew; Matthewman , SteveThis article argues that resilience has been overemphasised in popular and scholarly discourse, while social vulnerability has been comparatively overlooked. We therefore need to shift the focus from resilience and adaptation towards vulnerability and the various structures that engender and maintain systemic inequality and disadvantage. This necessitates a shift from strict hazard management and resilience building to considerations of social justice. People should not have to be resilient to ongoing marginalisation and stigmatisation, and, in focusing on individual resilience, systemic disadvantage is obscured. Disaster scholars here must also reckon with the structural violence of colonisation. Aotearoa New Zealand has a unique hazard profile, and it has unique social infrastructures that can help deal with them. The best disaster mitigation and recovery programmes are inclusive and equity driven. Greater attention to Indigenous Knowledge – Mātauranga Māori – and Indigenous institutions, such as marae and the myriad relationships and connections that such institutions support, might potentially play a crucial role in future disaster mitigation and response.Item Open Access The Political Case for a New Zealand-US Free Trade Agreement(2023) Khoo N, Nicholas; Tan, AlexItem Open Access What stops Australian teenagers reading for pleasure?(2023) Reddan B, Bronwyn; Rutherford , Leonie; Johanson K, Katya; Matheson, DonaldReading for pleasure is associated with a range of educational, social, cognitive, and personal benefits for young people. The Australian Research Council Linkage project, Discovering a ‘Good Read’: Cultural Pathways to Reading for Australian Teens in a Digital Age, maps and analyses the network of influences that shape young people’s reading practices to develop evidence-based strategies that increase teenagers’ participation in recreational reading. This article reports on research findings about the structural barriers that contribute to the decline in recreational reading by Australian teenagers. It identifies five factors that stop teenagers reading (time, identity, attention, motivation, and supply) and three areas of focus for school leaders who want to support recreational reading (mindset, leadership, and collaboration).Item Open Access Bringing friends onboard? The conundrum of decoupling and de-risking(Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs, 2023) Tan, Alex; Vanvari NSince the G7 Summit at the end of May 2023, ‘de-risking’ has entered the jargon in the evolving debates about great power competition and the intensification of the US-China rivalry. Initially used by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in March 2023, she stated that “Our relations are not black or white – and our response cannot be either. This is why we need to focus on de-risk, not decouple”. The term has increasingly been used by US officials such as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to describe US policy towards China.Item Open Access Betting On India: What History Tells Us That Snapshots Don’t(Institute for Indo-Pacific Affairs, 2023) Tan, Alex; Vanvari NItem Open Access Iti te kupu, nui te kōrero (Few words, huge meaning): Writing (in) Māori Shorts(2020) Wilson, JaniItem Open Access On the Continuum Fallacy: Is Temperature a Continuous Function?(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023) Montelle, Clemency; Jha, Aditya; Campbell, Douglas; Wilson, PhillipIt is often argued that the indispensability of continuum models comes from their empirical adequacy despite their decoupling from the microscopic details of the modelled physical system. There is thus a commonly held misconception that temperature varying across a region of space or time can always be accurately represented as a continuous function. We discuss three inter-related cases of temperature modelling — in phase transitions, thermal boundary resistance and slip flows — and show that the continuum view is fallacious on the ground that the microscopic details of a physical system are not necessarily decoupled from continuum models. We show how temperature discontinuities are present in both data (experiments and simulations) and phenomena (theory and models) and how discontinuum models of temperature variation may have greater empirical adequacy and explanatory power. The conclusions of our paper are: a) continuum idealisations are not indispensable to modelling physical phenomena and both continuous and discontinuous representations of phenomena work depending on the context; b) temperature is not necessarily a continuously defined function in our best scientific representations of the world; and c) that its continuity, where applicable, is a contingent matter. We also raise a question as to whether discontinuous representations should be considered truly de-idealised descriptions of physical phenomena.Item Open Access Decolonising journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand: Using a Tiriti-led framework for news practice(2023) Ross, TaraIn 2020, newspaper conglomerate and owner of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest news website, Stuff, issued an historic public apology for its racist portrayal of Indigenous Māori after an internal investigation showed it had contributed to stigma, marginalisation and stereotypes against Māori. This study explores what has changed since Stuff’s apology and, by deploying an analytical framework grounded in Māori worldviews and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the founding treaty signed between Māori and British colonisers), demonstrates how an Indigenous lens can help news organisations better identify and rethink Western-centric journalistic norms to develop more inclusive and equitable practice. The study analyses Stuff’s then largest newspaper, The Press, via a content analysis of two constructed weeks, one before Stuff’s apology (n=480 articles) and another post-apology (n=430 articles), along with a topic modelling analysis of 5091 articles published between 2016 and 2021. Analysis grounded in Kaupapa Māori and te Tiriti shows some improvement in news coverage – as well as opportunities for more equitable representation by incorporating Indigenous tikanga (custom) in reporting practice. It also finds ongoing problems, indicating more fundamental and transformative action is needed for news media organisations to meet their commitments to anti-racism and de-Westernising the field.Item Open Access Donna Awatere on Whiteness in New Zealand: Theoretical Contributions and Contemporary Relevance(Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Library, 2023) Norris AN; De Saxe J; Cooper, GarrickIn June 2022, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern designated the US-based neo-fascist groups The Base and the Proud Boys as terrorist organisations. This designation marks one of the few times white supremacy entered the national political discourse in New Zealand. Discourses of whiteness are mostly theorised in the North American context. However, Donna Awatere’s 1984 examination of White Cultural Imperialism (WCI) in her book Māori Sovereignty advanced an analysis of whiteness in New Zealand that has received limited scholarly attention and is essentially unexplored. This paper reintroduces Awatere’s conceptualisation of WCI. It offers core tenets of WCI and theoretical insights into contemporary discussions of white supremacy that move beyond the focus of individuals and groups to a broader national framework of New Zealand. Two interrelated features of WCI, as defined by Awatere, are the minimisation and normalisation of whiteness and white racial hostility – inherent features that maintain, protect, and reproduce the white institutionalised body as the primary beneficiary of Western European domination that will always thwart Indigenous sovereignty and equality. This paper concludes that Awatere’s articulation of WCI links whiteness in the New Zealand context to the broader network of global white supremacy that offers insight into contemporary criminal justice scholarship.Item Open Access Going forward: challenges in Asia-Pacific economic cooperation(2023) Tan, Alex