title: Neoliberalism and knowledge interests in boundaryless careers discourse

authors: Roper, Juliet

subjects: boundaryless careers

abstract: Decades of critical research have established that economic and political ideologies permeate and shape thought, text and action, and academic knowledge production is no exception. This article examines how ideologies might permeate academic texts, by assessing the reach and influence of neoliberalism in research on boundaryless careers. Specifically, it asks: did the emergence and growth of scholarship on boundaryless careers support, challenge, or merely run parallel to the rising dominance of neoliberal ideology? It was found that a diversity of knowledge interests, including managerial, agentic, curatorial and critical interests underlie the production of research on boundaryless careers. However, all four of these knowledge interests are complicit in discursively constructing and aligning the notion of boundaryless careers with neoliberalism in two specific ways. Implications for scholarship on careers and work are discussed.

text: Neoliberalism and knowledge interests in boundaryless careers discourse Decades of critical research have established that economic and political ideologies permeate and shape thought, text and action, and academic knowledge production is no exception. This article examines how ideologies might permeate academic texts, by assessing the reach and influence of neoliberalism in research on boundaryless careers. Specifically, it asks: did the emergence and growth of scholarship on boundaryless careers support, challenge, or merely run parallel to the rising dominance of neoliberal ideology? It was found that a diversity of knowledge interests, including managerial, agentic, curatorial and critical interests underlie the production of research on boundaryless careers. However, all four of these knowledge interests are complicit in discursively constructing and aligning the notion of boundaryless careers with neoliberalism in two specific ways. Implications for scholarship on careers and work are discussed.

year: 2011

title: TOKU TIA: Tuvalu and the impacts of climate change

authors: Falefou, Tapugao

subjects: Tuvalu

abstract: Climate change is the greatest and most profound threat the world is facing today. Its impacts on the environment, species of all kinds, and humanity is intensifying at an unprecedented rate. Low-lying atoll states, such as Tuvalu, because of their geomorphologies, are exposed directly to climate change impacts. Scientific predictions of the rising sea levels and media representations of low-lying atolls becoming uninhabitable and sinking are increasingly causing grave concerns to people living in atoll states. 
This thesis endeavours to examine the perceptions of the people of Tuvalu about climate change and sea level rise. Situated within the human geography theoretical framework, this study specifically explores the cultural and emotional geographies of Tuvaluans in relation to these phenomena. Cultural and national identities are the two pillars that embrace the study. 
In examining Tuvaluans’ perceptions, the study noticed that most people display a profound uncertainty about the future of their cultural heritage and the country’s national sovereignty. The emotions and affects of the people about their future are overwhelmingly touching and heartbreaking. As people who highly value coconut in their traditional ways of life, Tuvaluans’ perceptions are analogous to what I metaphorically call “coconut roots and coconut fruits”. Tuvaluans’ conception of sense of place is one that has very strong connections and attachment to their fenua or island or land like the coconut roots to the soil. However, Tuvaluans, like other Pacific islanders, are also voyagers and great explorers who have traversed the Pacific oceans for centuries like the “coconut fruits” that can drift in the ocean for long periods and become established once washed ashore. Yet, the encroaching effect of climate change and sea level rise is greatly reshaping the rootedness and/or fluidity of Tuvaluans.
Tuvaluans’ perceptions are greatly influenced by their religious beliefs. As citizens of a Christian atoll state, the majority of Tuvaluans firmly believe that the rainbow in Noah’s narrative is unequivocal. However, there is a new interpretation growing within the Tuvalu Christian Church leadership that casts doubt on this view and finds the rainbow starting to fade in their perception of climate change and sea level rise. Tuvaluans understand that they need to construct an ark – solution – to save the islands. Unless the world renders genuine support to the implementation of Tuvalu’s Climate Change Policy known as Te Kaniva, Tuvaluans will not be able to construct the ark and may well be displaced causing their identities to vanish in the passage of time.

text: TOKU TIA: Tuvalu and the impacts of climate change Climate change is the greatest and most profound threat the world is facing today. Its impacts on the environment, species of all kinds, and humanity is intensifying at an unprecedented rate. Low-lying atoll states, such as Tuvalu, because of their geomorphologies, are exposed directly to climate change impacts. Scientific predictions of the rising sea levels and media representations of low-lying atolls becoming uninhabitable and sinking are increasingly causing grave concerns to people living in atoll states. 
This thesis endeavours to examine the perceptions of the people of Tuvalu about climate change and sea level rise. Situated within the human geography theoretical framework, this study specifically explores the cultural and emotional geographies of Tuvaluans in relation to these phenomena. Cultural and national identities are the two pillars that embrace the study. 
In examining Tuvaluans’ perceptions, the study noticed that most people display a profound uncertainty about the future of their cultural heritage and the country’s national sovereignty. The emotions and affects of the people about their future are overwhelmingly touching and heartbreaking. As people who highly value coconut in their traditional ways of life, Tuvaluans’ perceptions are analogous to what I metaphorically call “coconut roots and coconut fruits”. Tuvaluans’ conception of sense of place is one that has very strong connections and attachment to their fenua or island or land like the coconut roots to the soil. However, Tuvaluans, like other Pacific islanders, are also voyagers and great explorers who have traversed the Pacific oceans for centuries like the “coconut fruits” that can drift in the ocean for long periods and become established once washed ashore. Yet, the encroaching effect of climate change and sea level rise is greatly reshaping the rootedness and/or fluidity of Tuvaluans.
Tuvaluans’ perceptions are greatly influenced by their religious beliefs. As citizens of a Christian atoll state, the majority of Tuvaluans firmly believe that the rainbow in Noah’s narrative is unequivocal. However, there is a new interpretation growing within the Tuvalu Christian Church leadership that casts doubt on this view and finds the rainbow starting to fade in their perception of climate change and sea level rise. Tuvaluans understand that they need to construct an ark – solution – to save the islands. Unless the world renders genuine support to the implementation of Tuvalu’s Climate Change Policy known as Te Kaniva, Tuvaluans will not be able to construct the ark and may well be displaced causing their identities to vanish in the passage of time.

year: 2017

title: Decolonising legal research: Developing legal theory to articulate Māori and non-Māori legal research paradigms equitably

authors: Hasan-Stein, Linda

abstract: Māori and non-Māori legal research paradigms in Aotearoa New Zealand are separated by a considerable theoretical knowledge gap. Māori knowledge systems are generally not well known in a non-Māori context. In order to bridge this theoretical knowledge gap jurisprudential studies need to address this gap from Māori and non-Māori perspectives. Doing so enables the development of decolonised legal research paradigms which allow for the sharing of knowledge from positions of respect. In this work, a new theoretical interpretation of legal research paradigms in our jurisprudence is presented, relying on an interdisciplinary approach to support these interpretive strategies. 

Beginning with the understanding that knowledge is empowering for both Māori and non-Māori, I foreground the epistemological character of decolonising legal research that supports Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s call for research to be conceived differently and highlight the need for an integrated recognition of kaupapa Māori in the development of legal theory in Aotearoa New Zealand. Reimagining our laws as something more than ‘sovereignty’ is the first step in narrowing the current theoretical knowledge gap. I translate the broader language of colonialism into the more specific vocabulary of the criminal justice system, in order to make more visible the manner in which Eurocentrism permeates decolonising legal research and stifles the potential future social development of Māori. 

Since Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s call to decolonise research, significant progress has been made with regard to the inclusion of principles of tikanga Māori to guide legal research that includes Māori. However, transforming principles of tikanga Māori into our jurisprudential landscape is a complex task. It is increasingly recognised that understanding the key principles of tikanga Māori is not always sufficient and that a greater theoretical understanding of decolonising legal principles is needed. I will analyse theoretical features of research epistemologies with the goal of grasping the complex array of historically-specific practices through which particular dimensions of our socio-legal experience are produced. 

Finally, I will explore how an interdisciplinary approach enables us to link forms of subjectivity to forms of objectivity in a distinctively “cultural” way, by working through difference rather than against it, and by acknowledging as meaningful each law’s characteristic discursive formation. 

This work is written as an intervention in Eurocentrism, aimed at providing a fresh interpretation of decolonising legal research. On this level, the most important argumentative thread is the one that demonstrates how Eurocentrism can be read as a colonising tool, which deploys positions that marginalise Indigenous knowledge. By unpacking Eurocentrism’s complex meaning it is possible to refashion Eurocentrism to include the notions of “partnerships”, that value subjective experience over objective, and that, in reality, include “Indigenous cultural” qualities. 

This style of decolonising jurisprudence pushes strenuously for a legal paradigm shift towards a culturally safe space for all legal scholars, not just Māori; a shift that could encourage our legal theory to converge in a more holistic way. The most important argumentative threads are those centred on the inclusion of Indigenous arguments, and the emergent character of decolonising legal research categories such as whanaungatanga or relational accountability. This type of innovative legal interpretation offers the possibility for a new theoretical era for decolonising legal research.

text: Decolonising legal research: Developing legal theory to articulate Māori and non-Māori legal research paradigms equitably Māori and non-Māori legal research paradigms in Aotearoa New Zealand are separated by a considerable theoretical knowledge gap. Māori knowledge systems are generally not well known in a non-Māori context. In order to bridge this theoretical knowledge gap jurisprudential studies need to address this gap from Māori and non-Māori perspectives. Doing so enables the development of decolonised legal research paradigms which allow for the sharing of knowledge from positions of respect. In this work, a new theoretical interpretation of legal research paradigms in our jurisprudence is presented, relying on an interdisciplinary approach to support these interpretive strategies. 

Beginning with the understanding that knowledge is empowering for both Māori and non-Māori, I foreground the epistemological character of decolonising legal research that supports Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s call for research to be conceived differently and highlight the need for an integrated recognition of kaupapa Māori in the development of legal theory in Aotearoa New Zealand. Reimagining our laws as something more than ‘sovereignty’ is the first step in narrowing the current theoretical knowledge gap. I translate the broader language of colonialism into the more specific vocabulary of the criminal justice system, in order to make more visible the manner in which Eurocentrism permeates decolonising legal research and stifles the potential future social development of Māori. 

Since Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s call to decolonise research, significant progress has been made with regard to the inclusion of principles of tikanga Māori to guide legal research that includes Māori. However, transforming principles of tikanga Māori into our jurisprudential landscape is a complex task. It is increasingly recognised that understanding the key principles of tikanga Māori is not always sufficient and that a greater theoretical understanding of decolonising legal principles is needed. I will analyse theoretical features of research epistemologies with the goal of grasping the complex array of historically-specific practices through which particular dimensions of our socio-legal experience are produced. 

Finally, I will explore how an interdisciplinary approach enables us to link forms of subjectivity to forms of objectivity in a distinctively “cultural” way, by working through difference rather than against it, and by acknowledging as meaningful each law’s characteristic discursive formation. 

This work is written as an intervention in Eurocentrism, aimed at providing a fresh interpretation of decolonising legal research. On this level, the most important argumentative thread is the one that demonstrates how Eurocentrism can be read as a colonising tool, which deploys positions that marginalise Indigenous knowledge. By unpacking Eurocentrism’s complex meaning it is possible to refashion Eurocentrism to include the notions of “partnerships”, that value subjective experience over objective, and that, in reality, include “Indigenous cultural” qualities. 

This style of decolonising jurisprudence pushes strenuously for a legal paradigm shift towards a culturally safe space for all legal scholars, not just Māori; a shift that could encourage our legal theory to converge in a more holistic way. The most important argumentative threads are those centred on the inclusion of Indigenous arguments, and the emergent character of decolonising legal research categories such as whanaungatanga or relational accountability. This type of innovative legal interpretation offers the possibility for a new theoretical era for decolonising legal research.

year: 2026