title: Ki te kapu o takau ringa - In the Hollow of my Hand: Wānanga based Photographic Approaches to Place Representation

authors: Hill, Rodrigo

abstract: Ka matakitaki iho au ki te riu o Waikato
 Ano nei hei kapo kau ake maaku; 
Ki te kapu o taku ringa, 
“I look down on the valley of Waikato, 
As though to hold it  
In the hollow of my hand.
 The words above are from Māori King Tawhiao’s maioha (song poem), a representation of his love for his homelands of the Waikato and the region known today as the King Country. Now imagine a large-scale photograph: a close-up of cupped hands, holding an object carefully. The phrase above informs Professor Tom Roa and Dr. Rodrigo Hill’s current research project titled ‘Te Nehenehenui - The Ancient Enduring Beauty in the Great Forest of the King Country’. With this project still in its early stages the research team will present early and ongoing creative practice developments, discussions and ideas about photography practice, wānanga, and place representation. The project promotes the use of wānanga (forums and meetings of focus groups through which knowledge - mātauranga - is discussed and passed on) and other reflective practices, engaging with and led by mana whenua (guardians of the land) providing a thread which will guide the construction of the photographic images. The research fuses wānanga, that is Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge), and photography practice in novel ways, aiming to move away and challenge core photographic conventions and Eurocentric modes of place representation. Roa and Hill understand wānanga as a fluid practice of engagement which can be with mana whenua or with the taiao - the environment - either by itself or with the mana whenua. This is the essence of Kaupapa Māori Research.

text: Ki te kapu o takau ringa - In the Hollow of my Hand: Wānanga based Photographic Approaches to Place Representation Ka matakitaki iho au ki te riu o Waikato
 Ano nei hei kapo kau ake maaku; 
Ki te kapu o taku ringa, 
“I look down on the valley of Waikato, 
As though to hold it  
In the hollow of my hand.
 The words above are from Māori King Tawhiao’s maioha (song poem), a representation of his love for his homelands of the Waikato and the region known today as the King Country. Now imagine a large-scale photograph: a close-up of cupped hands, holding an object carefully. The phrase above informs Professor Tom Roa and Dr. Rodrigo Hill’s current research project titled ‘Te Nehenehenui - The Ancient Enduring Beauty in the Great Forest of the King Country’. With this project still in its early stages the research team will present early and ongoing creative practice developments, discussions and ideas about photography practice, wānanga, and place representation. The project promotes the use of wānanga (forums and meetings of focus groups through which knowledge - mātauranga - is discussed and passed on) and other reflective practices, engaging with and led by mana whenua (guardians of the land) providing a thread which will guide the construction of the photographic images. The research fuses wānanga, that is Mātauranga Māori (Māori Knowledge), and photography practice in novel ways, aiming to move away and challenge core photographic conventions and Eurocentric modes of place representation. Roa and Hill understand wānanga as a fluid practice of engagement which can be with mana whenua or with the taiao - the environment - either by itself or with the mana whenua. This is the essence of Kaupapa Māori Research.

year: 2023-10-25

title: Reimagining community resilience through a Te Ao Maori worldview

authors: Boston, Megan

abstract: Efforts to improve community resilience have seen universal efforts to grow capabilities in disaster management for the built environment. Although comprehensive frameworks exist, the perspective used to derive these frameworks fails to address marginalised communities' vulnerabilities, including Indigenous Māori people. Colonization and socio-economic deprivation on Māori mean community response frameworks fail to reflect their values and specific needs when preparing and responding to natural disasters. The nature of Māori culture and values presents an opportunity to reimagine the scope of community resilience for an inclusive framework. The Māori history has resilient practices weaved into the very fabric of their culture, which knowledge has survived through the oral transmission of waiata, whakataukī, whakairo, and pūrakau. The practice of community resilience amongst ancient Māori was not consigned to singular events but instead is a holistic perspective to the manner of living. Sourcing and qualifying this information from people aligned and immersed in nature is the knowledge required to improve the frameworks to respond to natural disasters while expanding the literature on community resilience. A comprehensive analysis of traditional Māori resilience is conducted by evaluating a variety of Mātauranga Māori that relate to the resilient nature of Māori. This information is compared to modern Māori perceptions of community resilience using a derived earthquake scenario for the local Iwi Ngati Toa, located in the city of Porirua within the Wellington region. This information will enable a comprehensive definition of community resilience and improve disaster response frameworks to be more inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient.

text: Reimagining community resilience through a Te Ao Maori worldview Efforts to improve community resilience have seen universal efforts to grow capabilities in disaster management for the built environment. Although comprehensive frameworks exist, the perspective used to derive these frameworks fails to address marginalised communities' vulnerabilities, including Indigenous Māori people. Colonization and socio-economic deprivation on Māori mean community response frameworks fail to reflect their values and specific needs when preparing and responding to natural disasters. The nature of Māori culture and values presents an opportunity to reimagine the scope of community resilience for an inclusive framework. The Māori history has resilient practices weaved into the very fabric of their culture, which knowledge has survived through the oral transmission of waiata, whakataukī, whakairo, and pūrakau. The practice of community resilience amongst ancient Māori was not consigned to singular events but instead is a holistic perspective to the manner of living. Sourcing and qualifying this information from people aligned and immersed in nature is the knowledge required to improve the frameworks to respond to natural disasters while expanding the literature on community resilience. A comprehensive analysis of traditional Māori resilience is conducted by evaluating a variety of Mātauranga Māori that relate to the resilient nature of Māori. This information is compared to modern Māori perceptions of community resilience using a derived earthquake scenario for the local Iwi Ngati Toa, located in the city of Porirua within the Wellington region. This information will enable a comprehensive definition of community resilience and improve disaster response frameworks to be more inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient.

year: 2023

title: Development and Conflict: The Economic Impacts of Civil War in Swat: Pakistan

authors: Bhatti, Haseeb Ahmed

subjects: Conflict economics

abstract: Violent conflicts have economic causes and economic consequences. In addition to the lost lives, injuries and the overall scale of human suffering that conflicts create, they also destroy assets and institutions. The consequences, the intensities of conflicts and their linkages with human endeavours to protect people from critical threats are not only a major national, but also an international developmental challenge. The terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 drastically changed the paradigm and the epicentres of conflicts to something much different from the 20th century. In the changed paradigm, terrorist planning and attacks are largely considered to be originating from Muslim countries, masterminded by internationally linked organisations like Al Qaeda. These organisations are considered to be the source and Western countries to be revenge targets, particularly the United States because of its foreign policy repercussions in Muslim countries. Considering this fact, this thesis examines global conflicts and their links with income, economic development and democracy from 2000-2009, the period which fundamentally transformed the nature of global intrastate conflicts. This study is expected to be the first attempt to cover the period and to have a specific focus on Muslim majority countries, using similar econometric techniques and variables to those applied to broad global analyses. 
This study then moves from global analysis to focus on the micro household effects of the recent violent civil conflict involving the Taliban in Swat, Pakistan. A visible gap in economics-based conflict-orientated research was identified, with no apparent studies of post-conflict livelihoods in Swat. This thesis seeks to fill the void, and investigates losses of key household assets and their impact on determining post-conflict livelihood choices in Swat. Using survey data from 275 randomly sampled households in five out of the seven affected tehsils of Swat district, several statistical and modelling techniques are used to assess how and to what extent the conflict, which became civil war, has affected household livelihoods in Swat. Specifically the following relationships were considered and examined: (i) assets and income portfolios of households, and the quantitative extent of damages to conflict-affected household assets; (ii) asset endowment and its impact in prioritising post-conflict livelihood strategies; and (iii) possible alternative livelihood opportunities resulting from positive post-conflict interventions in the regional economy, which effectively results in livelihood revival. 
It was found that households lost human, physical, natural, social, and financial assets, and the post-conflict environment constrained their income and employment opportunities. Their expenditures increased and as a coping strategy, many sold their assets. The limited and damaged asset endowments (physical, financial and natural) were identified as major constraints to pursuing known livelihood choices or adopting more rewarding ones, in the shattered infrastructural and physical economic environment of Swat. Finally, in finding appropriate revival options, and by using simulation modelling, this thesis suggests an integrated development framework to enhance the regional economy and household livelihoods. This revival of pre-war thriving sectors is expected to decrease economic incentives to join militant groups such as the Taliban.

text: Development and Conflict: The Economic Impacts of Civil War in Swat: Pakistan Violent conflicts have economic causes and economic consequences. In addition to the lost lives, injuries and the overall scale of human suffering that conflicts create, they also destroy assets and institutions. The consequences, the intensities of conflicts and their linkages with human endeavours to protect people from critical threats are not only a major national, but also an international developmental challenge. The terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 drastically changed the paradigm and the epicentres of conflicts to something much different from the 20th century. In the changed paradigm, terrorist planning and attacks are largely considered to be originating from Muslim countries, masterminded by internationally linked organisations like Al Qaeda. These organisations are considered to be the source and Western countries to be revenge targets, particularly the United States because of its foreign policy repercussions in Muslim countries. Considering this fact, this thesis examines global conflicts and their links with income, economic development and democracy from 2000-2009, the period which fundamentally transformed the nature of global intrastate conflicts. This study is expected to be the first attempt to cover the period and to have a specific focus on Muslim majority countries, using similar econometric techniques and variables to those applied to broad global analyses. 
This study then moves from global analysis to focus on the micro household effects of the recent violent civil conflict involving the Taliban in Swat, Pakistan. A visible gap in economics-based conflict-orientated research was identified, with no apparent studies of post-conflict livelihoods in Swat. This thesis seeks to fill the void, and investigates losses of key household assets and their impact on determining post-conflict livelihood choices in Swat. Using survey data from 275 randomly sampled households in five out of the seven affected tehsils of Swat district, several statistical and modelling techniques are used to assess how and to what extent the conflict, which became civil war, has affected household livelihoods in Swat. Specifically the following relationships were considered and examined: (i) assets and income portfolios of households, and the quantitative extent of damages to conflict-affected household assets; (ii) asset endowment and its impact in prioritising post-conflict livelihood strategies; and (iii) possible alternative livelihood opportunities resulting from positive post-conflict interventions in the regional economy, which effectively results in livelihood revival. 
It was found that households lost human, physical, natural, social, and financial assets, and the post-conflict environment constrained their income and employment opportunities. Their expenditures increased and as a coping strategy, many sold their assets. The limited and damaged asset endowments (physical, financial and natural) were identified as major constraints to pursuing known livelihood choices or adopting more rewarding ones, in the shattered infrastructural and physical economic environment of Swat. Finally, in finding appropriate revival options, and by using simulation modelling, this thesis suggests an integrated development framework to enhance the regional economy and household livelihoods. This revival of pre-war thriving sectors is expected to decrease economic incentives to join militant groups such as the Taliban.

year: 2015