title: Slain in the Spirit: Pentecostal-evangelical Christianity and the rise of witchcraft and sorcery-related violence in Melanesia

authors: Hapi, Ahere

subjects: Pentecostal

abstract: Within Melanesia, there has been a startling rise in new forms of brutal, dehumanizing, public violence directed towards accused witches and sorcerers in recent decades. This new suite of horrific practices departs radically from traditional practices and is much more widespread geographically. In this thesis, I argue that the rapid growth of Pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical forms of Christianity are a crucial factor in the emergence and diffusion of this new violence. Building upon existing studies, I show how the deepening influence of these Christian modalities in Melanesia has intensified the ontological reality of witchcraft and sorcery, powerfully associated witchcraft and sorcery with Satan and sin, thereby constructing these realms as the epitome of evil, and portrayed witchcraft and sorcery, and the individuals accused of practicing them, as entities that must be continuously and viciously defended against and destroyed through spiritual warfare. I argue that all of these attributes provide a powerfully enabling religious framework for the real life violence that is enacted upon accused witches and sorcerers. To make this point even stronger, I also show in the thesis how, in extreme cases, these Christians have sometimes condoned, facilitated and personally committed brutalized violence on suspected witches and sorcerers.

text: Slain in the Spirit: Pentecostal-evangelical Christianity and the rise of witchcraft and sorcery-related violence in Melanesia Within Melanesia, there has been a startling rise in new forms of brutal, dehumanizing, public violence directed towards accused witches and sorcerers in recent decades. This new suite of horrific practices departs radically from traditional practices and is much more widespread geographically. In this thesis, I argue that the rapid growth of Pentecostal, charismatic and evangelical forms of Christianity are a crucial factor in the emergence and diffusion of this new violence. Building upon existing studies, I show how the deepening influence of these Christian modalities in Melanesia has intensified the ontological reality of witchcraft and sorcery, powerfully associated witchcraft and sorcery with Satan and sin, thereby constructing these realms as the epitome of evil, and portrayed witchcraft and sorcery, and the individuals accused of practicing them, as entities that must be continuously and viciously defended against and destroyed through spiritual warfare. I argue that all of these attributes provide a powerfully enabling religious framework for the real life violence that is enacted upon accused witches and sorcerers. To make this point even stronger, I also show in the thesis how, in extreme cases, these Christians have sometimes condoned, facilitated and personally committed brutalized violence on suspected witches and sorcerers.

year: 2020

title: 'Mama, am I always going to speak my beautiful languages?': Heritage language maintenance in New Zealand

authors: Connelly, Margaret

subjects: Heritage languages

abstract: This study aimed to explore heritage language maintenance in New Zealand. Specifically, language beliefs, practices and education opportunities are investigated within the domains of family, community and education.
A convenience sample was recruited by snowball recruitment. Invitations to participate were distributed through Facebook and emails to local community leaders. By use of an online, open-item questionnaire, participants from migrant communities were invited to share attitudes, practices and experiences about their family language use at home and in the community, and language education opportunities for their children. Data were gathered from 35 migrant parents of school-aged children, representing 40 languages, and analysed following a systematic thematic analysis approach.
Findings in relation to language beliefs indicate participants share positive attitudes towards their heritage language, identifying themes of identity, family cohesion, and cognitive, academic, economic and cultural benefits to multilingualism. However, although children seem to share their parents’ positive language beliefs, themes of ambivalence emerge in relation to sense of identity, and the perceived social and academic capital of their heritage language. The findings also indicate clear evidence of children’s language shift upon starting mainstream education. 
It was found that the marginalised position of heritage languages in New Zealand introduces a burden on families seeking to maintain their languages. Formal heritage language education is reported as largely unavailable. In this context, the responsibility of language maintenance falls to families and communities, who are faced with challenges such as limited funding, facilities and resources to support language acquisition and maintenance. Despite these challenges, most parents report engaging in communicative strategies to support their children’s heritage language acquisition such as conversation, literature and media.
Findings from this study suggest that language maintenance is achieved when heritage language environments exist in a variety of domains beyond the family. Enabling more successful heritage language maintenance requires a collaboration across families, communities, schools and government. Doing so yields benefits to wellbeing, identity development, academic and economic performance, and improves social cohesion.

text: 'Mama, am I always going to speak my beautiful languages?': Heritage language maintenance in New Zealand This study aimed to explore heritage language maintenance in New Zealand. Specifically, language beliefs, practices and education opportunities are investigated within the domains of family, community and education.
A convenience sample was recruited by snowball recruitment. Invitations to participate were distributed through Facebook and emails to local community leaders. By use of an online, open-item questionnaire, participants from migrant communities were invited to share attitudes, practices and experiences about their family language use at home and in the community, and language education opportunities for their children. Data were gathered from 35 migrant parents of school-aged children, representing 40 languages, and analysed following a systematic thematic analysis approach.
Findings in relation to language beliefs indicate participants share positive attitudes towards their heritage language, identifying themes of identity, family cohesion, and cognitive, academic, economic and cultural benefits to multilingualism. However, although children seem to share their parents’ positive language beliefs, themes of ambivalence emerge in relation to sense of identity, and the perceived social and academic capital of their heritage language. The findings also indicate clear evidence of children’s language shift upon starting mainstream education. 
It was found that the marginalised position of heritage languages in New Zealand introduces a burden on families seeking to maintain their languages. Formal heritage language education is reported as largely unavailable. In this context, the responsibility of language maintenance falls to families and communities, who are faced with challenges such as limited funding, facilities and resources to support language acquisition and maintenance. Despite these challenges, most parents report engaging in communicative strategies to support their children’s heritage language acquisition such as conversation, literature and media.
Findings from this study suggest that language maintenance is achieved when heritage language environments exist in a variety of domains beyond the family. Enabling more successful heritage language maintenance requires a collaboration across families, communities, schools and government. Doing so yields benefits to wellbeing, identity development, academic and economic performance, and improves social cohesion.

year: 2022

title: Protecting the heartwood: How can tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori inform the construction of digital identities and relational responsibilities to data in Aotearoa New Zealand?

authors: Lucas, Danielle

abstract: A report prepared by Danielle Lucas as part of the Tikanga in Technology research project

text: Protecting the heartwood: How can tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori inform the construction of digital identities and relational responsibilities to data in Aotearoa New Zealand? A report prepared by Danielle Lucas as part of the Tikanga in Technology research project

year: 2025-02-11