title: Book review: Popular culture in a globalised India

authors: Athique, Adrian M.

abstract: The article reviews the book “Popular culture in a globalised India” edited by K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake.

text: Book review: Popular culture in a globalised India The article reviews the book “Popular culture in a globalised India” edited by K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake.

year: 2012

title: Can Justice be Traded for Democracy?

authors: Foxcroft, Debrin

subjects: Democracy

abstract: For much of the Twentieth Century, the transition processes of democratizing states have followed a familiar pattern. Outgoing authoritarian regimes relinquished power after extracting the promise of amnesty from the incoming democratic leadership. These authoritarian leaders demanded amnesty for gross human rights violations. The incoming democratic leaders felt like they had no choice. Amnesty has consistently been viewed as a necessary price to pay for democracy. While expedient, in agreeing to amnesty the incoming democratic leaders agreed to sacrifice justice for democracy. 
This thesis examines the long-term consequences of the amnesty pact on the democratic state and questions whether justice can be sacrificed without ultimately undermining the basis of the democracy. While other studies have focused on the moral implications of amnesty, this work examines the functional realities. Rather than asking whether democratic elites should agree to amnesty, this work asks whether they actually can. Can measures of justice be sacrificed without fundamentally undermining the development and stability of democracy? Can the argument that amnesty is in the interest of the greater good subdue later demands for restoration or retribution? Case study methodology is employed in the examination of the political transitions of Brazil, Chile and South Africa. These countries have each employed different approach to amnesty, though all coming to the same general end. The political and social outcomes in each country speak to the fundamental consequences of amnesty legislation decades after the bargain was struck. The case studies inform my response to the larger theoretical question. 
This research posits the argument that there are fundamental incompatibilities between the injustice of amnesty and the fundamental requirement of justice that is characteristic of democracy; the current collapse of democracies in Brazil and South Africa, and the fundamental struggles in Chile, are, it is argued, the inevitable results of this impossible trade-off. Building on the data gained from in-country qualitative research, this thesis argues that democratic norms will either be fundamentally weakened by the continued existence and use of amnesty, or, alternatively, democratic norms will be forced to undermine the law or decree itself, compelling leaders to eventually repeal such legislation that ultimately makes democracy, in its basic foundation in justice, impossible. Either situation is highly problematic, creating the potential for instability and the possibility of regime reversal. At its core, this research suggests that the long-term negative consequences of amnesty outweigh the immediate gains made during the transition. For democracy to work, it must be built on a foundation of justice. Amnesty legislation undermines that foundation, and this is simply more than a newly democratizing state can sustain.

text: Can Justice be Traded for Democracy? For much of the Twentieth Century, the transition processes of democratizing states have followed a familiar pattern. Outgoing authoritarian regimes relinquished power after extracting the promise of amnesty from the incoming democratic leadership. These authoritarian leaders demanded amnesty for gross human rights violations. The incoming democratic leaders felt like they had no choice. Amnesty has consistently been viewed as a necessary price to pay for democracy. While expedient, in agreeing to amnesty the incoming democratic leaders agreed to sacrifice justice for democracy. 
This thesis examines the long-term consequences of the amnesty pact on the democratic state and questions whether justice can be sacrificed without ultimately undermining the basis of the democracy. While other studies have focused on the moral implications of amnesty, this work examines the functional realities. Rather than asking whether democratic elites should agree to amnesty, this work asks whether they actually can. Can measures of justice be sacrificed without fundamentally undermining the development and stability of democracy? Can the argument that amnesty is in the interest of the greater good subdue later demands for restoration or retribution? Case study methodology is employed in the examination of the political transitions of Brazil, Chile and South Africa. These countries have each employed different approach to amnesty, though all coming to the same general end. The political and social outcomes in each country speak to the fundamental consequences of amnesty legislation decades after the bargain was struck. The case studies inform my response to the larger theoretical question. 
This research posits the argument that there are fundamental incompatibilities between the injustice of amnesty and the fundamental requirement of justice that is characteristic of democracy; the current collapse of democracies in Brazil and South Africa, and the fundamental struggles in Chile, are, it is argued, the inevitable results of this impossible trade-off. Building on the data gained from in-country qualitative research, this thesis argues that democratic norms will either be fundamentally weakened by the continued existence and use of amnesty, or, alternatively, democratic norms will be forced to undermine the law or decree itself, compelling leaders to eventually repeal such legislation that ultimately makes democracy, in its basic foundation in justice, impossible. Either situation is highly problematic, creating the potential for instability and the possibility of regime reversal. At its core, this research suggests that the long-term negative consequences of amnesty outweigh the immediate gains made during the transition. For democracy to work, it must be built on a foundation of justice. Amnesty legislation undermines that foundation, and this is simply more than a newly democratizing state can sustain.

year: 2017

title: Indigenous women and the professions: Some Maori women's experiences in the accountancy profession of Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: McNicholas, Patty

abstract: Concern about and resistance to the marginalisation of indigenous peoples has been growing globally. A focus upon indigenous women's experiences of accountancy is thus timely given the increasing concern to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples. This thesis aims to explore the experiences of Maori women accountants in Aotearoa/NewZealand through the use of oral history. It seeks to provide Maori women with an opportunity to be heard by researchers, academics, policy makers, members of the accountancy profession and Maori women more widely. An opportunity is also provided for Maori women to influence the discipline of accounting and its organisational practices by exposing the profession to issues concerning Maori, as an indigenous ethnic group. 
It is argued that it is important to gather and listen to the stories of Maori women, as being heard is a crucial step towards understanding and reconciliation of their experiences with societally espoused commitments to equality and social justice. The struggle for Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand is for equal participation, which also manifests itself in our organisations like accountancy firms and the accountancy profession. I have investigated the relationship between contemporary Maori women, accountancy and the history of colonialism and post-colonialism. Kaupapa Maori research methodologies are seen as a means of intervention in the transformation of Maori socially, economically and politically. The intent of these methodologies is to ensure a practice beyond the mere assimilation of marginalised groups, like Maori women. 
Over the last decade feminist accounting research has focused upon, perhaps unintentionally, women from the dominant white middle-class. The special features of 'Other' women have been obliterated by the cultural and class blindness of researchers. Their minority status has also rendered their significant differences to be invisible. There has been a particular paucity of research concerned to explain the career experiences of women from indigenous groups, including Maori women. 
An analysis of the empirical date gathered for this thesis is undertaken from a critical feminist perspective, by reference to the works of theorists on the 'decolonisation' of Maori and Maori women in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Suggestions on the transformation of the mono-cultural practices of the accountancy profession and its organisations include the process of hearing and understanding the Maori perspective. The Maori women in this study have shown that they have something unique to bring to the table in seeking a commitment for equal participation, in their aspirations for future equality in all aspects of Aotearoa/New Zealand society.

text: Indigenous women and the professions: Some Maori women's experiences in the accountancy profession of Aotearoa/New Zealand Concern about and resistance to the marginalisation of indigenous peoples has been growing globally. A focus upon indigenous women's experiences of accountancy is thus timely given the increasing concern to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples. This thesis aims to explore the experiences of Maori women accountants in Aotearoa/NewZealand through the use of oral history. It seeks to provide Maori women with an opportunity to be heard by researchers, academics, policy makers, members of the accountancy profession and Maori women more widely. An opportunity is also provided for Maori women to influence the discipline of accounting and its organisational practices by exposing the profession to issues concerning Maori, as an indigenous ethnic group. 
It is argued that it is important to gather and listen to the stories of Maori women, as being heard is a crucial step towards understanding and reconciliation of their experiences with societally espoused commitments to equality and social justice. The struggle for Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand is for equal participation, which also manifests itself in our organisations like accountancy firms and the accountancy profession. I have investigated the relationship between contemporary Maori women, accountancy and the history of colonialism and post-colonialism. Kaupapa Maori research methodologies are seen as a means of intervention in the transformation of Maori socially, economically and politically. The intent of these methodologies is to ensure a practice beyond the mere assimilation of marginalised groups, like Maori women. 
Over the last decade feminist accounting research has focused upon, perhaps unintentionally, women from the dominant white middle-class. The special features of 'Other' women have been obliterated by the cultural and class blindness of researchers. Their minority status has also rendered their significant differences to be invisible. There has been a particular paucity of research concerned to explain the career experiences of women from indigenous groups, including Maori women. 
An analysis of the empirical date gathered for this thesis is undertaken from a critical feminist perspective, by reference to the works of theorists on the 'decolonisation' of Maori and Maori women in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Suggestions on the transformation of the mono-cultural practices of the accountancy profession and its organisations include the process of hearing and understanding the Maori perspective. The Maori women in this study have shown that they have something unique to bring to the table in seeking a commitment for equal participation, in their aspirations for future equality in all aspects of Aotearoa/New Zealand society.

year: 2003