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Item “Broken” pathways : understanding the licensing experiences of overseas-trained medical doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) Thomas-Maude, JohannaMore than 40% of registered medical doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand received their primary medical qualifications overseas. Within this landscape, the pathways that international medical graduates (IMGs) must follow to achieve professional licensing depend on their background. This research explores IMG experiences of these processes using a capabilities approach to mobility justice, finding that although pathways to registration exist on paper, many are broken, unpredictable, and often unattainable in practice. General registration is available to doctors who completed their primary qualifications, or have worked for a minimum time period, in 24 high-income, Global North countries known as Comparable Health Systems (CHS). Other IMGs must apply for registration by taking a medical knowledge examination from the United Kingdom (U.K.), Australia, Canada, or the United States of America (U.S.A.), demonstrating English language competency, and taking the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX), which evaluates context-specific clinical skills. While completing these steps is time-consuming and costly, IMGs on the NZREX pathway are also required to complete two years of supervised work in local hospitals. First year positions, known as Postgraduate Year One (PGY1), are limited and prioritised for New Zealand medical graduates (NZMGs). As a result, a bottleneck has delayed or prevented many of these IMGs, typically originating from Global South countries, from finding PGY1 employment. This research addresses a knowledge gap by exploring the relationship between IMG experiences, professional outcomes, and their designated pathway to registration. An exploratory sequential mixed methods research design was employed, consisting of semi-structured interviews of IMGs (n = 24) and local experts (n = 9), an online questionnaire of IMGs (N = 80), and a document analysis of historical policies, grey literature, and media reports (N = 370), across three phases. The project was framed by a capabilities approach to mobility justice that evolved alongside the research design, data collection, and analysis. This theoretical approach considers what IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand are able to “be” and “do” as migrant professionals, through four key components known as the 4Ps. The 4Ps comprise professional mobilities and capabilities, (inter)personal mobilities and capabilities, mobilities and capabilities in practice, and mobilities and capabilities power regimes. Combining empirical data with this theoretical lens highlights how medical registration pathways and policies contribute to uneven mobilities and capabilities among IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand. Injustices are produced through misrecognition and the arbitrary exclusion of individuals who did not train in CHS countries. Such arbitrary exclusions, in turn, produce brain waste, whereby some IMGs already residing in Aotearoa New Zealand were unable to work as doctors, or experienced significant delays in registration, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation is detrimental not only to these IMGs, but also to the chronically under-resourced local medical workforce and, consequently, the broader population in need of healthcare. Furthermore, colonial vestiges can be seen to have contributed to a recurring cycle of policy changes, which have culminated in contemporary licensing policies strongly resembling those from 1905. To create more just pathways for registration for IMGs in Aotearoa New Zealand, this (post)colonial cycle needs to be examined, evaluated, and broken, paving the way for more equitable medical regulation.Item Living with the unassimilable : a creative arts thesis, supported by a written component, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Arts, Whiti o Rehua School of Art, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington(Massey University, 2021) Cui, LiangLiving with the Unassimilable is a creative practice PhD research project initiated in response to a haptic experience – a violent encounter with the surface of a framed canvas – which triggered a repressed trauma within me. I interpreted the trauma as a consequence of my mother’s transmission to me of her experience of the Chinese government’s gender policies in her youth during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this research was to realise a new art language to express and release the repressed trauma in order to achieve catharsis. Despite the challenging cultural and psychological distancing of being voluntarily ‘displaced’ in New Zealand from China (the land of my birth and upbringing), a sense of freedom gradually developed without the previous constraints experienced in my homeland. A series of explorations engaging with diverse materials and modes of display was conducted to arrive at an appropriate and original art expression to reflect upon the significance of past memories, relevant historical and cultural backgrounds, and to communicate the traumatic and cathartic experiences. The creative investigation was undertaken in parallel to pertinent theoretical analysis. From Sigmund Freud theories, I interpreted the experience with my mother as a trauma and Julia Kristeva’s concept of abjection contributed to deciphering the sensations experienced in the traumatic event and haptic experience, and confirmed my related artistic articulation. Representing something far wider than a personal experience, a reflection on China’s patriarchal system led to Michel Foucault’s theory of power in order to unpack the government’s regulation of people’s sexuality, and to Judith Butler in relation to the performance of gender and identity. ‘Touch’ and ‘surface’ were rendered significant by the haptic encounter and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s body schema and Erin Manning’s politics of touch offered theoretical perspectives that advanced my creative practice. Jill Bennett’s notion that trauma-related art directly engages with viewers by embodied sensations to register the repressed memory, coincided with establishing the appropriate means of artistic expression for this research: a hybrid sculpture/video installation. Through the orchestration of elements, in particular, the combination of static sculpture and moving imagery, and diverse material qualities and media, the final installation ‘transformed’ an inner, individual, and psychological experience into a visual and material art language. In the embodied sensations, it uttered the otherwise unspeakable trauma, thus becoming an expression of living with the unassimilable. The hybrid practice is not the only contribution the research makes to the field of trauma/catharsis-related installation art and to contemporary Chinese art. Situated in a globalised world and positioned in relation to relevant contemporary Chinese and Western art and theory, this creative practice assimilates my heritage – including Chinese language and philosophy in relation to gender power politics – thus presenting hitherto unexplored perspectives.Item At loggerheads : an examination of afforestation as a climate change prevention tool and environmental policy : a 60-credit Journalism project presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Journalism at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Schwanecke, GianinaThis project examines the impacts of afforestation as a policy tool for mitigating climate change. Additionally, it examines the New Zealand media coverage of the One Billion Trees programme, and how this is influenced by access to sources and the use of framing. It will explore the programme’s tensions between farming and forestry, and native versus exotic tree planting and its implications as a policy to address climate change.Item Fostering a new approach : how alternative care models in Greece are meeting unaccompanied minors' rights : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Finlay, LiselleUnaccompanied minors seeking refuge in Greece are met with woefully inadequate care structures for meeting their needs. Despite the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC] stipulating children’s entitlement to appropriate care arrangements, there is a gap between this rhetoric and the reality of alternative care provision for minor refugees. Significantly, institutions are prioritised over familybased solutions. There is also a lack of research addressing the processes of power and exclusion in refugee hosting countries, and how these structural conditions influence unaccompanied minors’ situations and their wellbeing. To address these issues, this study adopts a socio-political construction of children’s rights to understand both how different care models are meeting unaccompanied minors rights, and why these models were selected. In conceiving rights as a socio-political process, this thesis addresses issues of power and agency in the navigation of rights. Tensions between restrictive migration policy and commitment to the CRC will be shown to compromise care provision for unaccompanied minors through conscription to control over care. Despite the overarching structural limitations, young people in this study find avenues for exercising their agency, albeit often risky ones. What emerges is a need to understand both young people’s vulnerabilities and strength, and how they are both these things in different parts of their lives. This thesis presents results of fieldwork largely undertaken in Athens over a six-week period in 2018. A cross-section of care providers engaged in the welfare of unaccompanied minors participated in the study. Also interviewed were the foremost experts in Greece’s child protection system: young people who themselves have experienced these care models. Findings reveal the impact migration policy has had in undermining care provision for unaccompanied minors, and the corresponding tensions that emerge for NGOs looking to address urgent needs and find sustainable solutions. This study recorded that rights violations and risks are occurring. It also explored the barriers and opportunities to expand the spectrum of care options and strengthen optimal care, which were identified as family and community-based alternative care initiatives.Item The contradictions of freedom : freedom camping tensions, tourism governance and changing social relationships in the Christchurch and Selwyn districts of New Zealand : a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Aston, ShannonIn 2011, the National led government of New Zealand hastily enacted the Freedom Camping Act (2011) in order to accommodate the bourgeoning number of foreign tourists expected to arrive for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This was despite opposition concerns that existing public infrastructure, and particularly sanitation facilities, would not be able to meet the growth in demand. In the years since the introduction of FCA (2011), the popularity of freedom camping primarily among budget conscious Europeans has increased and there has been an ever growing number of freedom campers arriving on New Zealand’s shores. Freedom camping is defined in the Act as camping in self-contained and non-self-contained vehicles on public land managed by local governments or the Department of Conservation. Promoted by the national government and tourism industry for its potential to contribute to national tourism revenue, public and political concerns have surfaced around the social, economic, cultural and environmental costs and benefits of freedom camping. Significant points of tension and conflict have come to characterise freedom camping which illuminate multiple contradictions both in its conceptualisation and the way it is experienced by various groups. Freedom camping is embedded in neoliberal governance and discourse and is a policy directive enacted in national legislation. However, its management is devolved to local governments and its effects are highly localised. In this thesis I examine the different management approaches to freedom camping and the effects of these approaches in two neighbouring areas of New Zealand’s South Island: the Christchurch and Selwyn districts. Christchurch is a major urban area and tourism hub and since 2015 has had a freedom camping bylaw in place which restricts freedom camping in its environs. In contrast, Selwyn is a rural district with a rapidly growing urban centre. It has no freedom camping bylaw and manages two large freedom camping areas in its district. Drawing on extensive document analysis and three weeks of qualitative field research involving interviews, observation and site visits in the two districts in late 2018, this thesis speaks to two specific research questions: • How do people in the Christchurch and Selwyn regional districts feel about freedom camping, the Freedom Camping Act 2011 and its management? • How is freedom camping and the Freedom Camping Act 2011 reshaping social relations within and between the Christchurch and Selwyn regional districts? This thesis locates the FCA (2011) and freedom camping within current discourse on tourism governance in neoliberal government structures and in answering the research questions, explores three key areas. First, I examine the governance of freedom camping, the state of the legislation and how different regional approaches to freedom camping create inconsistency and community stress. Second, I consider freedom camping as a contradictory process of capitalism and interpret economic power over nature through the framework of political ecology. The third area is an analysis of tourist-hosts relations which sets a broader framework to examine tensions over freedom camping’s visibility seen through the cultural lens of the “New Zealand camper identity”. The thesis concludes that freedom camping through the FCA (2011) makes multiple interpretations of freedom compete in, and for, contested public spaces. Four freedoms are identified that emerge from the tensions. Freedom from cost relates to seeking free sites and overusing public space. Freedom of mobility is the legislation encouraging freedom campers to locate themselves in contested public places. Freedom as birthright is New Zealander’s interpretation of freedom in nature as a birthright which is utilized by the national tourism industry. The freedom of regulated responsibility involves the language of freedom being removed from freedom camping by the central government after eight years of significant social and environmental stress due to freedom camping. These freedoms are both interconnected and internally contradictory leaving the future meaning and practice of freedom camping uncertain.Item The application of complexity theory to contracting out public health interventions : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy, School of Health at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Oakden, Judith PenelopeThe New Zealand government has used a policy approach called New Public Management since the 1980s to contract out public health services. Under this approach contracting out works well for public health services that are predictable, stable and controllable. However, the approach does not always work so well for hard to specify, complex to deliver services, where it is challenging to measure whether the right people benefit. Complexity theorists suggest that public services are complex adaptive systems and therefore do not respond in linear, predictable ways. Complexity theorists also suggest New Public Management framing of contracting out is too simplistic and overlooks the needs of some important population groups, in its quest for efficiency. The overall objective of the research was to explore contracting out of public health services using a general complexity framing to see what insights it might add. The research considered: which ideas from within complexity theory might provide a possible frame to examine contracting out practices; how complexity theory might inform contracting out practice for public health services; and how public sector managers might understand the processes and dynamics of contracting out if informed by complexity theory. A review of complexity and public management literature identified four complexity concepts used to frame interview questions and analyse results for this research: path dependence, emergence, self-organisation and feedback. A small-scale qualitative study used a theory-based approach to test the complexity concepts with public sector managers experienced in contracting out for public health and social services. This research argues that a framing informed by complexity theory resonated with public sector managers in understanding and working in the messy ‘realities’ of contracting out. This research observes that contracting out is often not tidy, linear and controllable as suggested by New Public Management practices. Public sector managers seeking to try new contracting out approaches, can find the underlying New Public Management ethos found in many administrative arms of government hampers them. This research provides insights about why change is hard to achieve, as well as offering public sector managers some alternative ways to think about how they contract out public health services.Item Increases in consumption and harms among young people in the context of alcohol policy liberalisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand(Massey University, 2011) Huckle, TaisiaObjective: To assess drinking patterns and alcohol-related harms among young people in the context of substantial liberalising alcohol policy change in New Zealand. Five studies were developed to address this objective which assessed: (i) trends in drinking patterns, alcohol-related problems and harms during the time of the liberalising policy change and (ii) specific policy changes relevant to young people in New Zealand: the lowering of the minimum purchase age, the introduction of ready to drinks and alcohol outlet density (alcohol outlets had proliferated due to the relaxation of the liquor licensing system). Methods: General population alcohol surveys and routinely collected harms datasets were utilised. Survey measures were: typical occasion quantity, drinking frequency, heavier drinking, self-reported drunkenness, alcohol-related problems and individual demographic measures. Harms measures included: prosecutions for disorder offending, prosecutions for driving with excess breath alcohol, alcohol-involved crashes (all and fatal) and individual demographic measures. Analysis techniques utilised in Studies One through Five were as follows: quantile regression, general linear models, broken stick Poisson regression, logistic regression (and analysis of variance) and multi-level modelling. When possible the wider New Zealand population was considered in relation to young people. Young people were defined as those up to 24 years of age (inclusive). Results: In the context of alcohol policy liberalisation young people, and in particular teenagers, were observed to experience the greatest increases in typical occasion quantities, alcohol-related problems and harms relative to other groups in the New Zealand population. Specific liberalising policy contexts relevant to young people, including the lowering of the minimum purchase age, ready to drinks and alcohol outlet density were also associated with increased quantities consumed or increased harms among teenagers. Conclusion: The public health problem of increased alcohol consumption and related harms among young people in New Zealand can be reduced. It will, however, take effective restrictive alcohol policy controls to achieve this.Item The role of small business in employment generation : a Manawatu study : a research paper presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University(Massey University, 1993) Sincharoenkul, ChindaratUnemployment rates in NZ have increased steadily throughout the recessionary period dating back to the early 1970s. This study, using both quantitative and qualitative anysis, examines what role small businesses can play in both regional and national economic revival. In the literature review it is demonstrated both internationally and regionally, that small businesses contribute significantly to employment opportunities during recessionary periods - far more than large firms. This was supported in a Manawatu study of 56 small businesses. Quantatively small firms in the region are, albeit slowly, expanding their workforces despite the economic climate. The chances of setting up a small firm are still not too difficult. Qualitatively these small businesses are found to be positive and dynamic environments. Nearly all respondents had little difficulty in retaining workers and all stated that the working environment was based on 'friendship and trust'.Thus small firms not only contribute to the quantitative expansion of employment but also significantly improve the qualitative nature of the workplace. Finally, while government assistance in the form of direct financial assistance, has not been significant in these findings, it is argued that the role of government policy is critical in the role and success of small enterprises in the economy.Item Neonatal nursing in Fiji : exploring workforce strategies to help Fiji achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3, Target 3.2 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Manuel, IreenIn Fiji 124 neonates lost their lives in 2017. While rates have improved in the Pacific, Fiji’s neonatal mortality rate has remained stagnant. The neonatal workforce struggles to meet the demands of this vulnerable population. Neonatal mortality is a global health challenge which is reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 3, target 3.2. This target aims to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030. My research set out to explore and provide some understanding of the development needs of neonatal care globally and review the workforce challenges for nurses in this speciality area in Fiji. Improving the continuum of care for neonates will be critical if Fiji is to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3, target 3.2. To answer these research questions, I adopted a qualitative methodology. I conducted four semi-structured interviews in Fiji and interpreted qualitative primary and secondary data. In doing so, I came across challenges that were present within programmes, service designs and national policies. Some of these challenges were easily fixed and did not need policy interventions, but rather individual willingness to change. Others required state interventions and long-term commitment and willingness. When applying the rights-based approach to health framework, my findings showed that the hardworking workforce in Fiji is still trying to change an organisational culture to a point where the workforce can feel fully inclusive and able to make evidence-based decisions as a team. The profound effects of not being able to do this is detrimental to the positive outcome for the neonates in their care. It was evident that health has many determinants and the problem relating to neonatal mortality is complex. My research showed that the neonatal nursing workforce were committed to reform and an effective health care service with adequate capacity and consumables is needed to run a well-functioning neonatal service. The key conclusions of my research are that there needs to be better collaboration between all sectors, evidence-based research practice and empowerment of the neonatal nursing workforce in Fiji. This is necessary if the government of Fiji is to achieve a neonatal workforce that can support it to achieve the critical Sustainable Development Goals target of reducing neonatal mortality.Item Agri-food system transformation : a case study of the effects on Cambodian pig value chain actors : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of AgriCommerce, School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Thai, RithyAgri-food system transformation has rapidly spread from developed countries to developing countries in Asia including Cambodia. It is often argued that the transformation presents both economic opportunities and challenges for smallholder enterprises of agri-food value chains. Pig production is a very important livestock sub-sector in Cambodia via both the provision of protein for the general population and critical employment and income stream not only for rural households but also all actors along the value chains. The main aim of this research is to examine the effects of agri-food transformation on pig value chain actors in Cambodia. The findings of this study are useful for all Cambodian pig value chain stakeholders include concerned government authorities, development partners (NGOs), research institutes, private investment sector, as well as the value chain actors. A qualitative approach was employed in this study. Data was collected through secondary source and primary source via face-to-face interviews with respondents from the government, industry as well as pig value chain actors from the study province, Kampong Speu. The findings of the study identified the restructuring patterns and a number of key opportunities and challenges faced by the various actors along the chain. Provided the effects of the transformation, it is projected that in short to long term, those smallholder chain actors along the pig value chains in Cambodia will increasingly be replaced due to the competition with larger players, and their inability to comply with the changing market requirements. Due to their constraints and important role in the development of rural agricultural community, this study pointed out that Cambodian smallholder pig producers are the most affected chain actors and need immediate supporting interventions from the relevant stakeholders. The study concluded that better governmental regulative, technical and financial policies and pig producers’ vertical (market arrangements with buyers) and horizontal (collective action) coordination are essential in tackling the challenges facing Cambodian smallholder pig producers under this transformational market environment. Keywords: Agri-food system transformation, Cambodian pig value chains, smallholders, vertical coordination, horizontal coordination