Researcher in Development Geography
It was a pleasure to chair the session on socio-economic inequalities and uneven development at the Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies (DevNet) conference at the University of Otago.
💡 A key message from our session is the value of research exploring the nuanced lived experiences of diverse sociocultural groups across different localities for effective policy responses.
Find out more about the DevNet 2024 conference.
Poverty is currently being widely debated in Fiji. Here a research-based viewpoint in the Fiji Times.
In Fiji, income poverty and consumption poverty have been widely debated. Poverty research shows that there is a need to shift to a broader understanding of poverty as a multidimensional, beyond economic poverty. Furthermore, there is a need to consider relative poverty and inequalities in the wider Pacific Islands region.
Read more in my EADI blog: http://www.developmentresearch.eu/?p=1244.
"Definitions of concepts such as ‘poverty’ and ‘inequality’ may seem an ivory tower exercise. Yet, the way in which poverty is defined matters in the real world."https://t.co/0hZ4flsMVK
— EADI (@EADI) June 21, 2022
Fiji’s COVID-19 crisis is taking a toll on people, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable. We argue that understanding Fiji’s spatial and social realities are crucial to leading the country out of its current crisis. More in our ANU Devpolicy publication.
Meine Forschungsergebnisse zur Geschichte der Anthropologie im Südpazifik wurden kürzlich in The Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) publiziert.
Die Publikation geht dem Paradox nach, dass der Südpazifik durch Forschungen u.a. von Margaret Mead, Raymond Firth und Derek Freeman für die Anthropologie eine grosse Bedeutung hat, aber als akademische Disziplin in dieser Region meist ein Nischendasein führt.
Link zur Publikation:
Kessler KA. Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions. Aust J Anthropol. 2021;32:33–53.
Vielen Dank an alle Forschungsteilnehmenden!
Die Südsee hat für die Anthropologie eine grosse Bedeutung, führt als akademische Disziplin in dieser Region aber meist ein Nischendasein. Mehr in dieser Publikation: https://t.co/n14yv0iWa0 #Sozialanthropologie #Ethnologie #Ozeanien #Südpazifik
— Kim Andreas Kessler (@KimKessler_) June 25, 2021
Why does the University of the South Pacific (USP) not offer anthropology as a study programme? This paper in The Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) investigates for the first time anthropology’s past and present status at USP.
Title
Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions
Abstract
The Pacific Island region is a key context in the history of anthropology. Yet, while much has been written about how anthropology of the Pacific Islands contributed to Anglo‐American anthropology, the discipline’s institutional history in the Pacific Islands has received very little attention. This paper is the first to explore the history of anthropology at the University of the South Pacific (USP). Research findings demonstrate that anthropology lacked practical meaning in an institution established to modernise Pacific Island states. Fieldwork conducted at USP suggests that current perceptions of anthropology held by academic staff are strongly linked to the discipline’s classic era. I argue that the anti‐colonial version of the Pacific Way from the 1970s onward, coupled with the hegemony of political economist and anti‐culturalist approaches among the USP teaching staff in the 1980s, inhibited a meaningful engagement with the Writing Culture debate at USP. This may explain why there has been little influence by the discipline’s postmodern transformation over the past thirty years on current perceptions of anthropology at USP.
Reference: Kessler KA. Anthropology at the University of the South Pacific: From past dynamics to present perceptions. Aust J Anthropol. 2021;00:1–21. https://doi. org/10.1111/taja.12388
Many thanks to all research participants!
DevNet 2020 Conference Awards: Kim Kessler was awarded best PhD presentation.
More DevNet highlights. Congratulations to Kim Kessler on being awarded best PhD presentation. And our staff members were also in full flight conveying their research findings at the conference. #DevNet2020 #phdlife #developmentresearch #geography pic.twitter.com/ZwE0hoGqcG
— Otago Uni Geography (@GeographyOtago) December 4, 2020
The Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network (DevNet) 2020 Conference is on at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Geography #PhD candidates Sargam Gounder and Kim Kessler presented at the #DevNet #Conference in Palmerston North today. Good to see several of our PhD students presenting at a variety of conferences over the last month. #DevNet2020 pic.twitter.com/bef8tWya67
— Otago Uni Geography (@GeographyOtago) December 2, 2020
“Pacific Island countries and territories are internationally portrayed as particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. However, in times of crisis, it is important not to forget their strengths, write Sargam Goundar and Kim Andreas Kessler.” (Otago Daily Times, 7 April 2020)
Read the full article in the Otago Daily Times here.
This is a joint research symposium between the Polar Environments Research Theme and the Otago Climate Change Network, which will bring together researchers from multiple disciplines to share and discuss current research. We will have two sessions, one on polar research, and another on research related to climate change, open to all divisions and disciplines. There will also be a poster session. (Source: https://events.humanitix.co.nz)
There will be a session on ‘Climate Change in the Pacific’.
Date: 15 October 2019, 8.30am – 5pm
Location: Dunedin Public Art Gallery
Registration here.
