Cruel promises of survival : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Politics and IR at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis is a love letter to the challenges we face in academia – in searching for meaning in a world we see as cruel. Cruel Promises of Survival is an exploratory work that through political events aims to reflect on what it means to be human. Survival, loss and grief are some of the foundational pillars that make up this work, they are used to uncover the humanness within wider crisis events. This thesis uses storytelling to challenge what is considered ‘political enough to survive in academia’. This thesis aims to challenge some of the boundaries laid out in the discipline and the role of the university in research that lives and breaths alongside the reader and writer.