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Subject: search.filters.subject.440107 Social and cultural anthropology

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    Sacred star songs of consciousness : cultural contexts of consciousness as symbolic transmission : thesis for the award of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, School of People, Environment and Planning, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024) Eggers, Vivienne Tobassa
    Consciousness is a holistic existential phenomenon. It infuses human culture across personal, social, environmental, and universal domains. Recent interdisciplinary attempts to define consciousness reveal disciplinary divergence and challenge consensual understanding. Anthropological studies attempt to provide deeper cultural insights, but experience issues as contemporary science often dismisses socio-cultural theories as subjective and non-empirical. In neuroscience, the focus on mind, body and brain as internal, biological processes disregards Jungian and other theories on consciousness as external, non-local phenomena, that engage with metaphysics. This research explores consciousness within cultural contexts, investigating its topography, expression and transmission. I observe its phenomenal influence on human experiences and challenge neuroscience's viewpoint of exclusive internal derivation. I propose a phenomenology of cross cultural symbolic communication, that is archetypal and metaphoric in nature. I realign Jung’s concept of the Great Mother Archetype, self and Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’ to demonstrate a cosmic fundamental source with forces that arise in humanity in processes of alternative consciousness. From review of theoretical literature and visual ethnographies, I apply symbolic anthropology and examine aspects of consciousness, human perceptions and their integral relationships with meaning-making. My research involves cultural astronomy and identifies the role of neurodiversity in the transmission of consciousness from archaic hominins into contemporary society. I find consistency in the monomyth when applied within a panpsychist model of astronomically bound and interconnected forms. The celestial framework denotes a fundamental essence of forces and operating aspects, responsible for the symbolic messages that interact and constitutively influence humanity. This concept is a deviation from Plato’s idea of mathematical forms and Jung’s idea of collective consciousness and unconscious as an immaterial and mental repository of symbols. From research findings, I propose that the intentional and unconscious transmission of primordial symbolism invokes human internal processes, external actions and behaviours. The operations of these cosmic forces and our responsive, human interaction drive the desire for cultural meaning making and explanations of existence in the formation of ritualistic relationships with ‘the other’. I conclude with the reflection of transformation from researching the anthropology of consciousness and describe a forming hypothesis and a conceptual framework for future studies.
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    Silicon Welly : the rise of platform capitalism and the paradoxes of precarity in Wellington City : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024-09-20) Halley, Jessica
    This thesis addresses a central question: why do digital workers in Wellington’s tech sector persist despite the inherent precarity of platform capitalism? Examining the career histories of members of the Enspiral Network, a community focused on social entrepreneurship, reveals the paradoxical nature of subjectivity in digital labour. The research employs ethnographic methods, including life histories and narrative analysis, to explore the intersection of software materiality, neoliberal political economy, and Silicon Valley-inspired discourses. It investigates how digital workers navigate the precariousness of platform capitalism through emotional investment in programming and strategic career adaptations. Findings highlight the distinctive influence of Wellington’s cultural, political, and economic landscape on digital labour. The city’s counter-cultural ethos and state-driven entrepreneurial initiatives foster unique collaborative practices and open-source contributions within the tech sector. These elements collectively shape a hybrid form of platform capitalism that challenges traditional capitalist models. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to the understanding of contemporary labour by emphasizing the role of place, subjectivity, and paradox in the production end of platform capitalism. It underscores the active agency of digital workers in constructing their careers and identities amidst precarious conditions, offering insights into the broader implications of digital labour in the twenty-first century.
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    Just a job : stuckness and security in the lives of women in the freezing works in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Davis, Storme
    Women employed at freezing works in Aotearoa New Zealand are often understood to be “stuck” in a shit job. As no qualifications are required to work at freezing works, it is considered to be “just a job”, lacking the social and economic mobility of a career. This is because, under neoliberalism, a good job is one that is self-fulfilling and that allows you to “go places” or “get ahead”. However, the flip side of mobility is economic precarity and insecurity. Based on interviews with nine female freezing workers, as well as autoethnography, this thesis demonstrates women’s own understanding of what it means to be stuck in the freezing works. These women do not understand stuckness to be unambiguously negative. Stuckness is also economic security. Freezing works jobs not only provide necessities and some luxuries, but they are also just jobs, that do not demand the full involvement of the self. Contemporary concepts of work cannot fully account for these women’s experiences of work. This thesis, therefore, develops the women’s own concept of “stuckness” as a framework for understanding their work lives. It explores how the freezing works becomes a sticky job, through analysing how women come to work in the freezing works and end up staying there, how they experience everyday work on the production line, and how this stuckness is embodied. This case study demonstrates that in a world of precarity, what looks like getting stuck in a shit job is actually an increasingly rare instance of achieving security.
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    Hard Rock indigeneity : ritual and personhood in Las Vegas : a dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Welch, David C
    The past decade has seen a boom in research dedicated to experiential design in the casino industry, focused on how that design both lures and secures the patronage of customers. However, it is my contention that there has been insufficient attention paid to the reciprocal relationship between casino and patron. Using the Mohegan Sun in Las Vegas as a case study, I discuss how that casino - which is defined by partnerships between the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, Virgin Hotels and JC Hospitality, as well as a legacy relationship with the Hard Rock franchise, owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida - possesses a unique identity that informs its experiential design; an identity and design approach that is, in turn, informed by patrons. The casino space is shaped by a multitude of forces outside the purview of experiential designers, including patron's prior relationship with the space and the casino's position in the wider 'field' of Las Vegas. Using sensory ethnography, walking ethnography and autoethnographic approaches, I explore the sensory elements of both the Mohegan Sun and the wider Las Vegas landscape. It is my argument that the Mohegan Sun Las Vegas possesses its own form of personhood, borne from the capitalist forces that shape it, as well as habitus and Indigenous notions of animist personhood.
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    Morality, materiality and mystery : second-hand clothing consumption and practice in a small town in Aotearoa / New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
    (Massey University, 2022) Stansfield, Rachel
    Over the last ten years, the popularity of second-hand clothes (SHC) in Aotearoa (New Zealand) has grown rapidly, evidenced by the increase in SHC shops in the country. Ethnographic research was undertaken at a traditional church-affiliated second-hand shop to explore second-hand clothing consumption and practice in a small town in Aotearoa using anthropological methods and approaches. The research was also designed to consider social, economic, and political changes that might account for the increase in SHC popularity and the potential consequences of this increasing popularity. Anthropological theories of consumption and materiality were drawn on to analyse the findings. In Aotearoa, SHC consumption is conceived as a ‘good’ consumption practice associated with charity, not-for-profit fundraising, and increasingly, environmental sustainability. This is reinforced and perpetuated by media accounts that valorise SHC shopping but fail to tell the whole story of the growth in SHC imports and clothing waste. Consequently, SHC have become infused with notions of morality and ethical stance-making practices which do not reflect the realities of trade in Aotearoa. Although SHC consumption is a conscious, intimate, and sentient practice there is a lack of transparency in Aotearoa’s unregulated participation in the global trade of SHC and the problems associated with SHC disposal and waste management. The research identifies a gap in current New Zealand research, policy, and legislation regarding the trade and management of organic and synthetic SHC and the need for greater transparency and public awareness in SHC trade in Aotearoa.
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    Kiwiburn : the glocalisation of burning man in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Watt, Jacqueline Yvonne
    This thesis consists of tales, narratives, and anecdotes of Kiwiburners, interpreted through anthropological and philosophical theory. Kiwiburn is a regional Burning Man event hosted in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is the longest-running regional community and event to exist outside of America. In a world that influences and impacts our personal experiences, many often encounter a lack of a sense of belonging. This lacking can, at times, be exacerbated by the fragmentation of cultures worldwide (due to the process of globalisation, pluralisation, and mobility). Kiwiburn’s counterculture is an example of social development in response to such processes or fragmentation. Through doing so, Kiwiburn offers a space in which Burners can embody something meaningful about identity, community, locality, and belonging. Kiwiburners are postmodern neotribal thinkers, fiercely embracing the postmodern elements of such a position, conscious of the transience of all things in the unfixed nature of realities. This position leads to normative frameworks, such as those focused on social norms and reality, being re-evaluated, rejected, restructured, reinterpreted, or repositioned within postmodernist Burner perspectives. Kiwiburners create a reality constructed around communitas, personal agency, and even rebellion. Kiwiburn provides a space where the limitations of broader society can be abandoned and habitus can be embraced. New Zealand has influenced and been influenced by Kiwiburn; at times, this has been achieved through subversion. Kiwiburners often achieve this challenge against the limitations of broader society through humour and a pattern of play. In some cases, this humour is identified through performance and art; sometimes, it is communicated as a form of protest. Ultimately, such practices are collectively shared and understood at Kiwiburn, leading to a sense of belonging being experienced and identified within Burner spaces as well as an example of an expression of New Zealand culture.
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    "How is distance grandparenting for you?" A study of long haul, New Zealand distance grandparents and inter-generational transnational familying : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Ellis, Helen P.
    This thesis is the first academic study of New Zealand distance grandparents by a New Zealander. It is based on eight, in-depth qualitative, ethnographic interviews with distant grandparents whose global families live 20 – 30 hours flight travel away. I ask the question: “How is distance grandparenting for you?” My findings complement, to a large degree, the existing handful of similar global studies of this prolific but little researched contemporary kinship phenomenon. The participants’ responses and my analysis contribute to this literature by focusing on communication, the ambiguity of relationships, emotions, ‘being there’ and the practical realities, now and into the future. I bring to this discussion three factors which combined promise a unique contribution. First, I have known my participants for an average of 14 years. This infuses, on occasions, a deeper discerning to the participants’ responses that goes beyond our 1½ hour formal interviews and assists to paint a more longitudinal picture of each family ‘package’. Second, I am a 20+ year veteran of transnational familying with most, not just some, of my family living permanently far overseas. This affords me the opportunity, via autoethnographic methods, to weave an additional insider richness by way of personal reflections, encounters and storytelling. Finally, during the lead up and delivery of this project I lived through some of the most challenging times of my own transnational kinship journey. Rather than keep these family trials and tribulations private, I have shared them, exposing my vulnerability and a rawness of emotion that takes the reader to a place and understanding of transnational, intergenerational familying they may not have otherwise got to (Ruth Behar 1996:14). My argument is straightforward: how distance grandparenting is for my participants is the product of several interacting factors: their personal situation, their distance family and in-country family relationships, geographical boundaries and time zone restrictions along with cultural, religious and language issues. Furthermore, for my distance grandparents ‘Place’ is multi-sited: physically and psychologically. Distance grandparenting is ever changing, evolving and on occasions can be a lonely place. In general, my New Zealand distance grandparents ‘make the most’ of their situations accepting the good with the bad, the ‘pros and the cons’, and maintain an upbeat stance.
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    Crafting death : grief, stories, and materiality in Katikati Coffin Club : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Russell, Bronwyn
    Coffin Clubs are a social phenomenon in Aotearoa New Zealand, where people gather for two main purposes: to talk about death and dying, and to build their own coffins. This latter, practical aspect is what sets Coffin Clubs apart from other death-related support groups. This research explores why people attend Katikati Coffin Club. My field work involved attending Katikati Coffin Club on a weekly basis for more than a year. While I was there, I helped build and decorate many coffins, including my own. Using participant-observation and ethnographic accounts from club members, my findings reveal the nuanced reasons people choose to attend Coffin Club, and why many continue to attend long after they have finished building their coffin. This research explores the practical element of Katikati Coffin Club through the lens of the anthropology of craftwork. I consider how the act of building a coffin facilitates conversations about death, dying and grief. I argue that building a coffin can be seen as a form of storytelling, and an acknowledgement of mortality. Finally, I suggest that Coffin Club provides an alternative to the coffins sold by the funeral industry, and is a way to take control of/personalise ‘death work’ (actively preparing for death, both practically and in more abstract, emotional ways). My findings assert that Coffin Club helps people talk about death and grief. It creates a space for people to share different practices relating to death work, and provides an opportunity to craft narratives. As club members tell their stories through crafting a coffin, they are also able to narrate their loss and grief. As they craft their coffin, they also craft the relationships and the social space around them. In performing a practical aspect of death work, Coffin Club members are working on grief and loss. Woodwork, death work and the work of grief, occurring simultaneously.
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    Managing presence and absence : experiences of partners of New Zealand soldiers deployed to Iraq : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Guesgen, Maike
    Deploying overseas for New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel is seen as a career-defining opportunity, one that puts into action the training and skills acquired by the soldier. However, it is also important to understand who is left at home during a deployment, and what their experiences are of life without their family member. This thesis focuses on the experiences of seven women who had a partner deploy to Iraq as part of the Building Partner Capacity mission. What I found was that my participants talked about managing a presence-absence dynamic brought out as a result of the deployment. By this I mean the state of either occupying, or being absent from, a space in a particular form. During the three phases of deployment, soldiers were present and absent in different forms: physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The way in which partners managed this presence-absence dynamic was through resilience building. These women needed to become resilient to this presence-absence change, during the three phases of deployment: pre-deployment, during deployment, and post-deployment. This thesis explores how resilience was built through the concept of social capital, the social connections and networks between people. Social capital allowed my participants to maintain positive mental health, and support themselves and their families during the deployment. Social capital, coupled with the NZDF welfare support services helped with resilience building. Becoming resilient, and developing resilience in different forms, through the NZDF and through their own strategies, allowed my participants to not only manage their soldier’s deployment, but to thrive.
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    Paradigm shifts in ancient kingship traditions in Tonga : a historical and anthropological examination of political practices and changes throughout the bipartite and tripartite systems of government 1550-1875 AD : the case of Hau : a thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University (Albany Campus – Auckland) New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Ilaiu, Siaosi Leini
    This study of traditional Tongan kingship system focuses on the emergence of the hau authority and redesigned of the political history of this ancient society. The main purpose is to take a close look at key elements such as governorship, secular ruler, absolute sovereign, victor, champion or military skills etc, which propounded by competing views that have contributed or responsible for clouding the role and responsibilities of the hau in relation to the rise of the second and third divine dynasties of the Tu’i Ha’atakalaua and the Tu’i Kanokupolu. It is central to this work to rethink the information transmitted by oral tradition by assessing what is said about the origin and designation of the hau office. The purpose therefore is primarily to interpret in light of new evidence the positions of both oral tradition and academic revisionists, and to unveil some material that seems to be missing from the dialogue thus far on the hau. This work aims at restoring some sense of historicity to the understanding of traditional kingship in pre-European Tonga. The study examines the creation of the secular office of the hau, why there was the need to implement such a political development, and the recent debate amongst historians and anthropologists on the issue of ‘what is hau’. The debate started from a challenge on the orthodox version that stated the hau was a secular office created by the TT to take over the executive responsibility in about 1350 AD. A leading Pacific historian Niel Gunson argues that there was a system existed way before this date in which the TT title was open for challenge as a rule by a member of his peers. This idea was disputed in 1982 by another Pacific historian Ian Campbell who argues that there was no set rule for such challenge, it was instead a matter of having the means and opportunity. The study responds to the debate by arguing that there were paradigm shifts in the political history of Tonga that historians and anthropologists have been overlooking and as a consequence have misinterpreted, prolonging the dialogue needlessly. In the light of some new findings, I identify three-paradigm shifts that took place between 1350 AD and 1875 AD. It is the dynamism within this 500-year period that this thesis strives to resuscitate.