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Item Knowing, belonging & becoming-with the Ōruawharo : an ethnography of a river : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany Campus, Aotearoa, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-11-17) Joensen, ClareThis thesis is situated in the northwest of Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand along the Ōruawharo river, a salty tidal tributary of the Kaipara Harbour. For over a hundred and fifty years, the Ōruawharo and surrounding district have been storied by a dominant ‘settler’ narrative which maps onto place, as names, text, histories, monuments and civic apparatus. However, this is not the only story of the Ōruawharo. There are multiple stories, multiple ways of knowing the river; knowings which produce different belongings. As such belonging to a place is always a process of becoming, and this becoming is produced relationally, as a series of “withs”, with both humans and non-humans. These becoming-withs produce embodied ways of knowing which in turn, remake place when given the opportunity to be known by others. This thesis aims to bring to light the unknown, hidden and subordinated Ōruawharo knowledges in order to reveal multiplicities and develop new ways of thinking about place. This is Pākehā research done inbetween Māori and Pākehā worlds in a Māori-Pākehā place; a form of research which comes with its own set of troubles. As it is a Pākehā imperative to decolonise (Shaw 2021b), I stay with the trouble (Haraway 2016), and through a level of discomfort, produce small decolonising acts in written text, public speaking roles and through the curation of an exhibit. Decolonising actions, spurred on by this thesis, have then led to others as people come to know more, including that which cannot be unknown. Drawing on knowledges generated with boats (boat ethnography), people (interviews and casual conversations), texts (archives, books, texts, journals, letters and documents), the curation of an exhibit and a wide range of encounters in my community, I debunk knowing place as a singularity and demonstrate the value of knowing place differently through these methods. Ultimately, this ethnography of a river offers a multiplicity of knowings-with and in doing so, shifts human-centric and settler-centric narratives with tendencies to dominate. With dynamism, knowing, becoming and belonging are shown as relational, embodied, in amongst the withs, ever in motion, shaping lives and reshaping place, place as seen, imagined, felt, understood, experienced and remade.Item On LIFE within the Society-of-Captives : exploring the pains of imprisonment for real : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-12-12) Luff, Daniel JohnInstitutional and social discourse upholds the prison as an effective rehabilitative solution to crime, but more recently there has been increasing criticism of the prison as a producer of harm rather than healing. Despite such criticism, discussions of the rehabilitative potentials of prisons predominantly exclude and silence insider, incarcerate voices in criminal justice debates and literature, and often do not describe what those ‘inside’, like me, are living and experiencing. The primary aim of this project is to theorise twenty years of lived experience of incarceration in the hope of contributing to the work being done to problematise risk-averse, harmful correctional practices. Through a deeply reflexive autoethnographic performance, the reader comes with me beyond prison walls, into the largely closed off, inaccessible world within. Through navigation of my lived experience of imprisonment, I reflexively theorise memories of incarceration that are usually only speculated upon through objective, exclusionary research. The account that emerges from theorising incarceration ‘for real’ analyses the constraints of political narratives and risk averse policy and practice produced within our prison system, and within the bodies that system contains. Through an interweave of autoethnographic field noting, performance and analysis, the research unpacks the connections between the structural, socio-political issues, and the pains of incarceration. Using Arrigo’s Society of Captives (SOC) thesis, the harms being produced are theorised with regard to subjectivities constituted through prison – the prisoner, their guard, and society at large. Theoretical storying shows how socio-political issues are having considerably detrimental impacts on correctional policy and practice. Prisoners are neither seen nor heard, and their keepers too are held captive, unable to engage with their charges ethically lest they be reprimanded for doing corrections differently. Through this multi-layered harm, a society of captives is being perpetuated within which the very harm and risk it proclaims to alleviate is reproduced. Embedded in a pursuit of social justice, I argue for a relational, ethical praxis wherein people are seen, and heard, for real. The change is not only theorised but rare instances of it, and the healing power it produces, demonstrated. Through autoethnography’s theoretical praxis, and embracing of the SOC thesis’ pursuit of becoming, my research also involves considerable personal movement. It illustrates how, through the utilisation of autoethnographic methodology, in particular reflexive process, it becomes possible to ethically resist harmful representations and risk-focused correctional practices. In making these movements the research brings us out of prison, and provides in-depth consideration of my bodily attempts to reintegrate into the community after two decades of largely harmful carceral experiences. In these, the narrative contributes to a growing consciousness, global debate, and movement regarding prison, rehabilitation, and how community safety is best served. And it contributes to a process of becoming within me, a bodily movement, a transition into a place where humanness can be done differently…Item Unpacking ethnology within contemporary paradigms (the practice of packaging, transfer, and delivery) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Arts at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Henare-Findlay, FraserThis thesis examines multi-layered notions of Māori identity and descriptions of Māori contextualised against a personal artistic response to being Māori. The art of packaging, transfer, and delivery is presented as an artistic embodiment of Māori identity, illustrating how popular beliefs shape not only the construction of identity but also influence cultural institutions and affiliations. Examples of Māori identity are discussed throughout the study to illustrate how artists and established practices embracing Māori concepts advance Māori identity. The packaged artworks explore the theme of identity by weaving together narratives and concepts that draw attention to the displaced and disconnected perspective of what it means to be Māori. They also shed light on the subjugation and stereotyping of Māori culture and identity. This sense of displacement is intricately linked to the process of postage, delivery, and receipt. Ethnology, which is essentially the comparative study of ethnicity to understand the characteristics of different peoples (races) and the differences and relationships between them, is featured in the thesis title and in the packaged artwork that constitutes the practical component of the thesis. However, it is not extensively discussed within the thesis itself. This is not due to its lack of importance as a field of study but rather because the packaged artworks primarily feature various characters who have been either created for the screen or have developed personas within the music industry. Most of these characters are 'constructed' identities, meaning they have been shaped to adopt the attitudes of the screenwriter. These diverse characters have played a significant role in shaping my own identity and have contributed to who I am today. In this study, a comprehensive examination of Māori identity, art, and the prevalent impacts of stereotyping and discrimination will be conducted through a diverse range of methodological approaches. These multifaceted methods will not only inform the creative and theoretical dimensions of the artwork but also highlight the relationship between Māori identity and the researcher. Key methodologies, such as Kaupapa Māori research and Autoethnography, will be applied, with a particular focus on incorporating personal experiences and reflections into the research process, inspiring and clarifying the intended significance of the artwork.Item A story in the telling. . . : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree, a Masters in Fine Arts, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Cook, DamonThis exegesis contains a laying out of the ground that is our contemporary moment of environmental and social crisis,. This includes the approaches and attitudes that have brought that crisis into being. These are approaches and attitudes that seek to control and master the world. The ‘body’— that is, our own bodies and the body of that world— is where this drama is seen to play out. Art and contemplative practices are understood as offering counter modes to control and exploitation. These counter modes of practice and understanding are examined and critiqued. An attempt is made to perform this problem by offering points of clarity and orientation, while, at the same time avoiding too much clarity and control. Which is to say that this exegesis is also a literary text, in part and whole. Finally, in keeping with this performance of clarity and control, and possible counter modes, the concluding section —‘Where to Next’— offers two suggestive, rather than explicitly directive ways forward.Item Interiority and objectivity with Starseeds on the pale blue dot : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Volentras, TanyaThis thesis examines a new religious movement of people who call themselves Starseeds. I examine Starseed beliefs in light of the postmillennium and our current digitised world, as well as demonstrate a correlation between the Starseed worldview and current societal norms, ideas and the social imaginary. The formulation of the Starseed worldview seems to be highly responsive to exterior social factors, be it political, environmental, or economic, whilst also maintaining a historicity and religionism that can be traced through to the traditions and beliefs of older, more established religious groups. Additionally, my research into Starseeds recognises that the spiritual quest for theosis and enchantment is still ever-present in today’s secularised age. Underlying the themes of this thesis is the age-old philosophical debate around object versus subject, and I present some current arguments that exemplify the progression of quantum understandings into previously determinist, materialist disciplines such as physics and maths. Furthermore, I propose that the Starseeds’ beliefs in shifting realities, multi-dimensions, and noumenal subjectivity correspond with premises of quantum mechanics, and posit that this is a trend not limited to Starseeds, but rather an indication of a shift in the way the sciences and social sciences are currently reconfiguring their frameworks and understandings. Starseed beliefs in aliens and being star-born souls necessitated a discussion about the anthropological and theoretical decentering of the human in two main spheres: the Anthropocene; based around the premise that we are earthbound Beings, subject and vulnerable to the simple requirements of the body, including clean water and air; and amazing discoveries in astroscience including the salty brine on one of Jupiter’s moons which may be an indicator of life as well as possibly habitable exo-planets. These developments have garnered a growing realisation that our anthropogenic and geocentric worldview as humans on Earth may, in future, face challenges to long-held assumptions.Item Knowing the honey bee : a multispecies ethnography : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Luttrell, JordanMultispecies scholarship argues that the non-human has been relegated to the background of discussions about who and what inhabits and shapes the world. This thesis engages with this discussion as an experimental multispecies ethnography with honey bees in Manawatu, New Zealand. I aim to centre the honey bee in ethnography through engagement in the practice of fieldwork as well as the representation of the findings of this engagement. The honey bee is commonly known as an introduced, domesticated species, kept by humans in beehives in apiculture. This conceals the agency of the honey bee, rendering it passive, productive and compliant to the desires of humans, or in need of human intervention for survival. To view the agency of the bee I undertook embodied, performative ethnography, interviewing beekeepers and becoming one myself. My methodology, which was shaped by the bee, traced the networks that honey bees were enrolled in. Encounters were awkward, one-sided, and sometimes dangerous. The representation of honey bees demands an approach which attends to multiple, distinct accounts of honey bee worlds, because the bee is a lively agent, contributing to, experiencing, and communicating about the multiple networks in which it is engaged. As such, the findings of this thesis are presented in three accounts of encounters with honey bees. These accounts are distinct, capturing the honey bee in different networks, but are also distinct in their narrative styles, progressing from a description of honey networks in the spirit of Actor-Networks, to writing with honey bee narrator in poetry. Ethnographic representation is inevitably partial and an act of imagination. However, becoming sensitive to the ‘bee-ness’ of the bee; the waggle, hum and sting, and employing narrative inspired by the multisensory apiary, in other words, shaping representation with honey bees in mind, is an act of privileging honey bees in writing, and exploring what more can be said of, and with, the bee.Item Eye and camera, voice and text : the interaction of photographic images and literary texts in ethnographic and social documentary studies and the work of Glenn Busch : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts, Department of Social Anthropology, Massey University(Massey University, 1998) McDonald, LawrenceEye and Camera: Voice and Text is a general enquiry into ethnography, photography and the composite or hybrid forms of ethnographic photography and social documentary photography. It consists of three theoretical discussion chapters and one extended case study of a major practitioner's work. Chapter one discusses ethnography as a literary genre. Chapter two, the more important attempts at providing a theory of what kind of medium photography is and how it produces meaning. Chapter three begins by considering what a specifically ethnographic and social documentary photography is and does before concluding with a survey of several major projects which have made considerable use of photography for the purpose of ethnographic and social documentary understanding. The concerns of the first three chapters are then brought to bear in a fourth and final chapter devoted to the New Zealand social documentary photographer Glenn Busch. Busch's work (and that of two of his former pupils) has been chosen because of its clear social focus and because he uses combined visual and verbal means of presentation.Item Camera antipode : Ans Westra : photography as a form of ethnographic & historical writing : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Social Anthropology Programme, School of People, Environment & Planning, Massey University, Manawatu(Massey University, 2012) McDonald, LawrenceCamera Antipode: Ans Westra: Photography as a Form of Historical and Ethnographic Writing is a study of the career of the New Zealand social documentary photographer Ans Westra. It covers the period from her arrival in New Zealand from the Netherlands in 1957 right up until her most recent projects. The emphasis throughout is on Westra as a cross-cultural photographer whose work is best understood within various historical contexts and as a form of ethnographic and historical representation in its own right. The dissertation has two parts. Part One, Isagogics, consists of three chapters that deal with a range of general issues that have shaped Westra’s work and contribute to an understanding of its character. All three serve to situate Westra within multifarious conceptual frameworks and institutional contexts and establish the historical, cultural and intellectual field from which her creative project has emerged. The seven chapters of Part Two, Exegesis, provide detailed readings of Westra’s photographic books, taking in both her large-scale projects aimed at a general readership and her Bulletins and photographic essays for use in schools. Part Two proceeds chronologically and is divided into the decades of the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s and on up to the present. A set of appendices follows Part Two. The first is a transcript of an interview with Ans Westra, the second a biographical chronology of her life and career, the third a list of her one-person and group exhibitions, and the fourth a set of photographs that are discussed in the text. Following the consolidated notes and references section is a bibliography in two parts: the first part is a complete list of Westra’s published works, which constitutes the primary sources of the dissertation, followed by a fraction of the secondary sources – books, articles, and reviews of Westra’s publications and exhibitions; the second part of the bibliography contains all non-Westra references cited.Item Langoron: Music and Dance Performance Realities Among the Lak People of Southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea : a thesis submitted for the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy(New Zealand School of Music, 2007) Wolffram, PaulThis thesis seeks to describe the indigenous realities, meanings, and perspectives that are central to the music and dance practices of the Lak (Siar) people in Southern New Ireland, Papua Now Guinea. The insights recorded here are those gained through the experience of twenty-three months living in Rei and Siar villages as a participant in many aspects of Lak social life. The music and dance practices of the region are examined in the context of the wider social and cultural setting. Lak performance realities, are indivisible from kinship structures, ritual proceedings and spirituality. By contextualising Lak music and dance within the frame of the extensive and socially defining mortuary, rites my intention is to show how music and dance not only reflect but also create Lak realities. By examining the ethnographic materials relating to music, dance and performance in the context of mortuary sequence broader elements of Lak society are brought into focus. In these pages I argue that Lak society is reproduced literally and symbolically in these performances.