Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item ‘We're Hands-On People’: Healing Diabetes in the Absence of Traditional Healers in an Aboriginal Community in Northern Territory, Australia.(Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa New Zealand (ASAANZ), 2021-03-12) Mitchell AE; Farrelly T; Andrews RThis study of a remote Aboriginal community in Australia’s Northern Territory in 2014 sought to understand diabetes from a local Aboriginal perspective. Participants drew on a variety of holistic healing methods in the absence of an individual or individuals identified as holding a healing role in the community. The study offers an alternative to the common assumption that all communities can identify specific individuals as Aboriginal healers who are central to maintaining Aboriginal beliefs and wellbeing who contribute to holistic health (Clarke 2008; Maher 1999; McDonald 2006; Seathre 2013; Williams 2011). This research found the seven adult Aboriginal diabetes patients participating in the longitudinal ethnographic study actively engaged in self-healing strategies. Moreover, diabetes clinicians could combine local remedies and biomedical treatment to heal diabetes within the clinic, as well as actively engaging the patient in their own treatment, effective to reduce the symptoms and prevalence of diabetes in Aboriginal populations.Item Speaking up to end plastic pollution: Ensuring Pacific voices are heard.(Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University, 8/09/2022) Farrelly TItem A binding global agreement to address the life cycle of plastics(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1/07/2021) Simon N; Raubenheimer K; Urho N; Unger S; Azoulay D; Farrelly T; Sousa J; van Asselt H; Carlini G; Sekomo C; Schulte ML; Busch PO; Weinrich N; Weiand LItem Is Voluntary Product Stewardship for E-Waste Working in New Zealand? A Whangarei Case Study(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 30/05/2019) Blake V; Farrelly T; Hannon JNew Zealand currently manages its annually generated 99,000 tonnes of e-waste via voluntary product stewardship schemes. Limited data is available to determine the success of this approach. This lack of data is cited as the logic preventing the declaration of e-waste as a priority product by the Minister for the Environment which would trigger the enforcement of mandatory product stewardship. This case study, involving a survey of e-waste creation and management in Whangarei District households, as well as analyses of local services, and local and national policy, found that only 1.8% of the estimated e-waste created in the district is recycled by municipal services. The ‘cost to recycle’ and ‘a lack of knowledge’ present as barriers to engagement in these services, with ‘the lack of ability to repair/the cost to repair’ found to be the most significant driver for e-waste creation. The adoption of mandatory product stewardship for e-waste was recommended, as this measure would ensure robust and transparent data collection, see recycling services become more accessible, and raise awareness of these services, thus reducing the value-action gap. Mandatory e-waste management would also impact product design to ensure affordable repair-ability further supporting a circular economy for electronic goods.Item Plastic Pollution as Waste Colonialism in Moananui(University of Arizona Libraries, 2022) Fuller S; Ngata T; Borrelle SB; Farrelly TPlastics pollution is a global, relational, integrated, and intersectoral issue. Here, we undertook narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews with nineteen key plastic pollution decision-makers. They offered a contextual lens to understand challenges facing Pacific Island (Te Moananui) nations in preventing plastics pollution. We build on the work of Ngata (2014-2021) and Liboiron (2014-2021) to situate the narrative analysis within a "waste colonialism" framework. We argue that plastics pollution as waste colonialism transcends environmental, policy, and industry concerns. "Indigenous political ecologies" of plastics pollution provide an understanding by which plastics pollution prevention can be examined at multiple scales. These include, at the international level: trade agreements and import dependency, donor aid and duplication, and transnational industry influence. At the local level: pressure from local plastics manufacturers, importers and suppliers, and barriers to accessing the latest science. Located within a global and regional context, our findings capture the systemic and long-standing impacts of colonialism on Indigenous responses to plastics pollution prevention and management, highlighting its effects on human and environment health and wellbeing. Sustainable solutions to plastics pollution for Te Moananui require the centering of its peoples and their deep, lived, and intergenerationally transmitted knowledges in the identification of challenges and solutions, the implementation of activities, and amplification of a shared regional voice.Item Sustainability2021,13, 1252. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031252www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityArticleThe Strengths and Weaknesses of Pacific Islands Plastic Pollution Policy Frameworks(MDPI AG, 25/01/2021) Farrelly T; Borrelle SB; Fuller SThe rate of plastic pollution entering the environment is accelerating with plastic production predicted to increase by 40% over the next decade. Plastic pollution transcends territorial boundaries on ocean and air currents. Large Ocean Small Island Developing States (LOSIDS) are on the frontline of the plastics crisis and associated climate change impacts. This desktop gap analysis identified potential strengths and weaknesses in national policy frameworks in52key documents relevant to plastic pollution in ten Pacific LOSIDS. The study found considerable gaps in the vertical and horizontal integration of plastic pollution-related policy, and a lack of access to current science-based evidence on plastic pollution including evidence related to human health impacts and microplastics. The study concludes that, even if Pacific LOSIDS were to include best practice management of plastic pollution across all policy frameworks, they could not prevent plastic pollution, and that a plastic pollution convention is needed.Item An Ethnography of Entanglements: Mercury’s Presence and Absence in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold-mining in Antioquia, Colombia(The World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA), 1/03/2020) Robertson T; Farrelly TThis paper describes a ‘follow the thing’ methodology as applied to an ethnography of entanglements. This methodology allowed for a materially and politically nuanced understanding of Antioquia, Colombia’s response to mercury pollution. This pollution primarily originates from the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) industry where mercury is employed in the gold extraction process. In following the mercury, the authors experiment with an ethnography of entanglements. The paper discusses how they address the current lacunae in mining ethnographies by focussing on mining as ‘practice’, going past the provision of technical descriptions of mining and ethnographic descriptions of miners to an ethnography of mining. This ethnographic approach considers the politics of materiality and addresses a lack of attention to the impacts of the presence and absence of materials on social life. Various mining practices in Antioquia illuminate how entanglements between miners and mercury have been co-constitutive of particular modes of ASGM. The paper will also provide examples of ‘negative mercury entanglements’ where efforts have been made to extricate mercury from mining practices. Rather than creating a vacuum, these mercury absences have been generative of new contested symbolic and material arrangements including entrepreneurial and ‘responsible’ mining, debates over miners’ rights, and the creation of new political relationships between ASGM and large-scale mining companies.Item An ethnography of entanglements: Mercury’s presence and absence in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Antioquia Columbia(Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa New Zealand with assistance from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Otago, 23/08/2018) Robertson T; Farrelly TThis paper describes a ‘follow the thing’ methodology as applied to an ethnography of entanglements. This methodology allowed for a materially and politically nuanced understanding of Antioquia, Colombia’s response to mercury pollution. This pollution primarily originates from the Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) industry where mercury is employed in the gold extraction process. In following the mercury, the authors experiment with an ethnography of entanglements. The paper discusses how they address the current lacunae in mining ethnographies by focussing on mining as ‘practice’, going past the provision of technical descriptions of mining and ethnographic descriptions of miners to an ethnography of mining. This ethnographic approach considers the politics of materiality and addresses a lack of attention to the impacts of the presence and absence of materials on social life. Various mining practices in Antioquia illuminate how entanglements between miners and mercury have been co-constitutive of particular modes of ASGM. The paper will also provide examples of ‘negative mercury entanglements’ where efforts have been made to extricate mercury from mining practices. Rather than creating a vacuum, these mercury absences have been generative of new contested symbolic and material arrangements including entrepreneurial and ‘responsible’ mining, debates over miners’ rights, and the creation of new political relationships between ASGM and large-scale mining companies.Item Political ecology, privation and sustainable livelihoods in northern Thailand's national parks(University of Arizona, 2020) Pongchiewboon A; Farrelly T; Hytten K; Holland JNational parks provide a wide range of ecological, social and economic benefits. However, in some cases the establishment of national parks has also led to the displacement of Indigenous people, the disruption of their livelihoods, and ongoing social conflict. Northern Thailand's national parks are home to approximately one million Indigenous people. Balancing the interests and needs of national park authorities with those of Indigenous communities within and adjacent to these parks poses significant challenges. This article employs qualitative research methods to assess the livelihood strategies of six Indigenous hill tribe communities residing within three national parks in Northern Thailand. Due to the criminalization of the traditional farming systems and restrictions imposed on land use, these communities have had to adapt their livelihood practices to survive. Our findings suggest that communities remain in a state of flux and are continually adapting to changing circumstances. It is argued that greater community empowerment and participation in collaborative decision making is crucial to strengthen both sustainable livelihoods and environmental conservation efforts within Northern Thailand's national parks.Item Qi no tu i baba ni qwali (living down by the river): Impacts of flooding and mining on ecosystems and livelihoods(Frontiers Media S.A, 28/07/2022) Varea R; Varea R; Kant R; Farrelly TA vast ocean rich with resources to maintain a sustainable livelihood surround Pacific Island Countries and Territories. In Fiji, coastal resources are a primary source of food, medicine, income and other necessities for livelihood security. Human-induced climate change places growing pressure on the quality of coastal resources due to the increased intensity and frequency of natural disasters like coastal erosion and flooding. Anthropogenic activities like coastal mining of earth minerals further threatens livelihood security with cumulative pressure on the coastal environment and its resources. This paper discusses the compounding impacts of mining in the flood-prone community of Vanua Votua in Ba (Fiji). They currently witness the degradation of their coastal environment and its resources (iqoliqoli). The people of Vanua Votua have a cultural and spiritual attachment to their coastal ecosystem as indigenous custodians. However, they are limited in their ability to conserve and protect their iqoliqoli due to an unfair legal duality of national coastal governance structures and processes between the state and indigenous custodians. We found that a central issue of coastal mining, governance, and the people’s livelihood vulnerabilities, is Fiji’s Mining Act [Cap 146] and associated environmental legislations and policies that consolidate much of the coastal governance authority with the state. The Fiji Mining Act is currently under review. This paper provides a timely case study using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach and the Vanua Research Framework, outlining the need for current and future legislation to be nuanced and sensitive to the realities of the local context.
