Category: Activist In Residence

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CARE White Paper – Issue #10 Vol 2: Connecting across cultures: A framework for anti-racist strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand rooted in Te Tiriti

by Marise Lant and Mohan J. Dutta, Center for Culture – Centered Approach to Research & Evaluation, Massey University

In this white paper [1], we outline the vitality of connecting across cultures, anchored in Māori leadership in shaping and guiding anti-racist interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand, connected to anti-colonial struggles by Māori. Noting that the entrenched settler colonialism in New Zealand is based on a history of Whiteness[2], we argue that witnessing this Whiteness in the colonial configuration of New Zealand is the first step to dismantling it[3]. Māori have historically experienced, negotiated and resisted the racist structures of Whiteness that form the architectures of settler colonialism in New Zealand through their everyday organizing across whanau and hapū. We center Whiteness to the colonial structures of racism in New Zealand because of the centering of White norms as the basis for perpetuating oppression, expulsion, genocide, rape, and murder of indigenous communities (Māori in New Zealand) and the simultaneous marginalisation of communities of colour, many of whom have experienced similar histories of expulsion, genocide, and violence.

In this paper, we argue that recognizing and centering the leadership of Māori as people of the land lies at the heart of the process of cultural centering we discuss here, anchoring interventions seeking transformations in racist structures in the everyday lived experiences of the indigenous people of the land. The leadership of Māori is vital to anti racist struggles not only as a way for building strategies that work but more fundamentally as the basis for turning to Te Tiriti. At the same time, connecting with the struggles of communities of colour, migrants and refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand creates a framework of solidarity that sees the Whiteness percolating through racist structures, witnesses the connections between them, and seeks to decolonize them. We argue here that seeing the connections between and across indigenous, ethnic, migrant and refugee struggles is central to culture-centered strategies of anti-racism that seek to dismantle Whiteness in colonial organisations, institutions, and society.

[1] We note in the naming of the white papers as authorial sources of knowledge the logics of Whiteness that constructs it.

[2] Whiteness refers to the hegemonic values of the colonising white culture, established as universal. See Moreton-Robinson, A. (2015). The white possessive: Property, power, and indigenous sovereignty. U of Minnesota Press

[3] Here we note the ongoing efforts at silencing conversations on Whiteness in Aotearoa by both white liberals and white supremacists. While white liberals suggest that the concept of Whiteness does not apply to Aotearoa, white supremacists deploy the age-old strategy of using communicative inversion by labelling anti-racist critiques of Whiteness as racist toward white communities.

CARE White Paper Issue#9 Vol 2-24 September 2020Download

Link to the CARE White Paper Launch with Marise Lant and Professor Mohan J Dutta.

FRI 28 AUG – 11AM – CARE WHITE PAPER LAUNCH
Venue: SSLB3 |Social Science Lecture Block | Manawatū campus, Massey University & YouTube

Read More about Marise Lant’s Activist In Residence Events on Challenging Racism In Aotearoa New Zealand below:

Event Dates: 24th – 28th August 2020.
Location: Manawatū campus, Massey University

Events:

TUE 25 AUG – 6PM – A CONVERSATION WITH MARISE LANT
Venue: Online – via Facebook: @CAREMassey/videos & YouTube

WED 26 AUG – 12PM – CARE PUBLIC TALK
Venue: SSLB3 |Social Science Lecture Block | Manawatū campus, Massey University & YouTube

THU 27 AUG – 11AM – CARE WORKSHOP
Venue: CARE Lab | BSC1.06 | Manawatū campus, Massey University

Speaker Bio:

Marise Lant is a Māori leader; Lobbyist,an Indigenous rights protector; Founder of 250 Years of Colonisation – The Aftermath leading the protest and burning of the Union Jack in opposition and response to the arrival of the year replica of Endeavour to Gisborne on 8 October 2019;Previous chairperson of the Tairāwhiti District Māori Womens Welfare League; Current representative on the Tairāwhiti District Māori Council;Supporter of the Tairāwhiti Multicultural Council.

FOR MORE DETAILS FOLLOW US on: @CAREMassey or visit www.massey.ac.nz/care and YouTube: @CAREMassey

CARE Activist In Residence – Challenging Racism In Aotearoa New Zealand with Marise Lant – 24-28 August 2020

#CAREMassey #ActivistInResidence #ChallengingRacismInAotearoa  #NewZealand #MasseyCJM #MasseyUni

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CARE Activist In Residence – Challenging Racism In Aotearoa New Zealand with Marise Lant – 24-28 August 2020

CARE Activist In Residence – Challenging Racism In Aotearoa New Zealand with Marise Lant

Event Dates: 24th – 28th August 2020.
Location: Manawatū campus, Massey UniversityEvents:

TUE 25 AUG – 6PM – A CONVERSATION WITH MARISE LANT
Venue: Online – via Facebook: @CAREMassey/videos

WED 26 AUG – 12PM – CARE PUBLIC TALK
Venue: SSLB3 |Social Science Lecture Block | Manawatū campus, Massey University

THU 27 AUG – 11AM – CARE WORKSHOP
Venue: CARE Lab | BSC1.06 | Manawatū campus, Massey University

FRI 28 AUG – 11AM – CARE WHITE PAPER LAUNCH
Venue: SSLB3 |Social Science Lecture Block | Manawatū campus, Massey University

CARE White Paper Issue#9 Vol 2-24 September 2020Download

Link to the CARE White Paper Launch with Marise Lant and Professor Mohan J Dutta.

Speaker Bio:

Marise Lant is a Māori leader; Lobbyist,an Indigenous rights protector; Founder of 250 Years of Colonisation – The Aftermath leading the protest and burning of the Union Jack in opposition and response to the arrival of the year replica of Endeavour to Gisborne on 8 October 2019;Previous chairperson of the Tairāwhiti District Māori Womens Welfare League; Current representative on the Tairāwhiti District Māori Council;Supporter of the Tairāwhiti Multicultural Council.

FOR MORE DETAILS FOLLOW US on: @CAREMassey or visit www.massey.ac.nz/care and YouTube: @CAREMassey

#CAREMassey #WhitePaper #ActivistInResidence #CrossCultures #Colonization #AntiRacistStrategies #TeTiriti #ChallengingRacismInAotearoa #NewZealand #MasseyCJM #MasseyUni

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CARE Expresses Its Solidarity with our Activist-In-Residence Jolovan Wham

CARE’s Activist-in-Residence Jolovan Wham has surrendered himself to serve a 1 week jail sentence today, March 31 2020, for criticising Singapore’s judiciary.

In his statement posted on Facebook, Jolovan voiced:

“I’m doing this in lieu of a 5k fine because I do not recognise the legitimacy of the judgment and the law, both of which are unjust.

It should never be an offence to speak your truth. Decades of oppression and persecution have resulted in the normalisation of fear. It is so normalised that we have become indifferent to injustice, especially political injustice and threats to our civil rights. We have shrugged it off so much that over time, we’ve become numb to it, instead of feeling outraged.

If we can’t speak up, assemble freely, and campaign without looking over our shoulders, the reforms we want can only be done on the terms of those in power. We will have to wait for when they are ready. All this could take years, decades, or never at all. Or we can only pick issues which are considered ‘low hanging fruit.

All the levers of change are controlled and those who don’t follow the script are persecuted. We are so muted, we can only plead, but never make our demands as equals.

Acts of non-violent resistance and disobedience has to be one of the tools we use to open up our already shrinking civil and political space and to empower ourselves. It often starts with one person, or a small group of people, but over time, with persistence and repetition of action, the space will enlarge and we will progress, one step at a time.

We need to speak our truths, and to do so, we should refuse to fear. I refuse to be complicit in the diminishment of my spirit: resistance is no longer a choice in a system determined to de-humanise you.

There should be a role for those who not only negotiate the boundaries but transgress them. Not everyone can take this position and I understand those who can’t because the costs may be high; my privilege, on the other hand, allows me to take greater risks, and for that I am grateful.”

Sharing below an interview conducted by Professor Mohan Dutta with Jolovan on the topic of authoritarian repression and strategies for social change. Also sharing Jolovan’s public talk as activist-in-residence at CARE. CARE stands with you in solidarity, because as you say so eloquently, “Those of us who can risk it, should. Those who can’t, should show their support, because solidarity is the first step to change.”

A Conversation with Jolovan Wham, CARE Activist-in-Residence

Professor Mohan J Dutta sits down with CARE Activist-in-Residence Jolovan Wham about his work in Singapore

Posted by CARE: Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation on Monday, 25 November 2019
Public Talk with Jolovan Wham

First World Authoritarianism: Lessons from SingaporeTune in for this exciting public talk with CARE Activist-in-Residence Jolovan Wham!

Posted by CARE: Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation on Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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CARE Activist-In-Residence: Jolovan Wham from Community Action Network, Singapore

Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) is proud to share and invite our next Activist in Residence – Mr. Jolovan Wham.

Jolovan Wham is a Singaporean of ethnic Chinese descent. He has been involved in human rights activism, working primarily on issues relating to migrants, the death penalty, and freedom of expression.

He was executive director of Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), an NGO which provides shelter, education opportunities and legal aid for low waged migrant workers.

He is a member of the Community Action Network, a coalition of activists which promotes civil and political rights. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in social work from the National University of Singapore. His activism has resulted in him being banned by the education minister from speaking at education institutions and campuses.

He will be presenting a Public Talk, Workshop & will be collaborating with Prof. Mohan Dutta,Director,- CARE at Massey University on the topic “Communicative strategies for resisting authoritarianism”.

The event details are as below.

Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) presents our next Activist In Residence Public Talk by  Mr. Jolovan Wham

Title: First world authoritarianism: Lessons from Singapore
Date & Time: Wednesday, 27th November @ 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Venue: Palmerston North City Library, Events Centre, Ground Floor, Palmerston North.

Public Talk Abstract:

Authoritarianism is said to be on the rise and democracy in retreat in many parts of the world. Commentators often point out this trend in long standing liberal democracies like the United States but also to the consolidation of power in regimes like China and Russia. What can we learn from Singapore’s experience to combat the rise of authoritarianism? In this talk, Mr Wham will talk about one party rule in Singapore, how it is perpetuated and the State’s and Singapore society’s response to activism and advocacy.

Other events:

CARE Workshop – Dissent and resistance: Negotiating boundaries in Singaporean activism by Mr. Jolovan Wham –

Workshop Title:
CARE Workshop – Dissent and resistance: Negotiating boundaries in Singaporean activism by Mr. Jolovan Wham
Date & Time: Thursday, 28th November @ 12:00-1:00 pm
Venue: GLB3.02 Manawatu, Massey University
Topic: A free workshop on Dissent and resistance: Negotiating boundaries in Singaporean activism by Mr. Jolovan Wham.

Workshop Abstract:

Activists in one party states or dictatorships are often detained and imprisoned for years. In some cases, they are murdered and disappeared. The Singapore state eschews such extreme tactics and yet retains almost absolute control over the population. What are the opportunities for dissent and resistance in such a controlled environment? What tactics and strategies have activists used to achieve their goals?

Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) Activist In Residence White Paper Launch- Communicative strategies for resisting authoritarianism by Jolovan Wham & Mohan Dutta 

White Paper Title : Communicative strategies for resisting authoritarianism
Date: Friday 29th November 2019 @ 12 pm – 1 pm
Venue: Business Studies Central BSC 1.08, Manawatu campus Massey University
Livestream on FB: @CAREMassey

Come and hear our speakers launch the CARE White Paper & hear them talk abouttheir white paper on

“Communicative strategies for resisting authoritarianism”

Speaker’s Bio:
Jolovan Wham: is a Singaporean of ethnic Chinese descent. He has been involved in human rights activism, working primarily on issues relating to migrants, the death penalty, and freedom of expression. He was executive director of Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), an NGO which provides shelter, education opportunities and legal aid for low waged migrant workers. He is a member of the Community Action Network, a coalition of activists which promotes civil and political rights. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in social work from the National University of Singapore. His activism has resulted in him being banned by the education minister from speaking at education institutions and campuses.

Mohan J Dutta: is Dean’s Chair Professor of Communication. He is the Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE), developing culturally-centered, community-based projects of social change, advocacy, and activism that articulate health as a human right. Mohan Dutta’s research examines the role of advocacy and activism in challenging marginalizing structures, the relationship between poverty and health, political economy of global health policies, the mobilization of cultural tropes for the justification of neo-colonial health development projects, and the ways in which participatory culture-centered processes and strategies of radical democracy serve as axes of global social change.

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CARE Activist-In-Residence: Teanau Tuiono- The Solidarity Project

Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) proudly invites Teanau Tuiono as our next Activist-In-Residence from 5th – 9th August and we would like to share some insights about Teanau’s project for his residency – The Solidarity Project.

The Solidarity Project is all about exploring conversations of solidarity and whānaungatanga across cultures and communities. Teanau has over 20 years’ experience as an activist, advocate and organiser at local, national and international levels on social justice and environmental issues. In Pasifika communities he is known for his work in the education sector and climate change advocacy. In Māori communities he is known for his indigenous rights activism. He has an interest at working at the intersection of indigenous rights and environmental issues where he has worked with remote indigenous communities on the frontlines of climate  change and biodiversity loss.

Have a look at the his talks and conversations below for some insights about the project, more to follow in the coming days.

 

 

Come and join us at the CARE Events:

PUBLIC TALK
WEDNESDAY, 07 AUGUST 2019 12:00PM,
PALMERSTON NORTH CITY LIBRARY EVENTS CENTRAL ( GROUND FLOOR)
LIVESTREAM ON CARE FB PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CAREMassey/videos/341724333429636/ 

WHITE PAPER LAUNCH
FRIDAY, 09 AUGUST 2019, 10:00AM
CoMMS LAB, B.109 MASSEY UNIVERSITY, MANAWATU CAMPUS
LIVESTREAM ON CARE FB PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/CAREMassey/videos/372259300150168/

RSVP  on Facebook: Activist-In-Residence- Teanau-Tuiono

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CARE: Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation invites all to our upcoming event: Activist-In-Residence- Teanau Tuiono

CARE: Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation

Invites all to our upcoming event: Activist-In-Residence-Teanau Tuiono.

Abstract:

With the rise of white nationalism and white supremacy, how can Tangata Whenua, Pasifika, Migrant and Refugees of Colour build solidarity between their communities? Teanau’s Activist-in-Residence will explore the activist experiences of solidarity and whanaungatanga across cultures and communities.

Teanau has over 20 years’ experience as an activist, advocate, and organiser at local, national, and international levels on social justice and environmental issues. In Pasifika communities he is known for his work in the education sector and climate change advocacy. In Maori communities he is known for his indigenous rights activism.

He has an interest at working at the intersection of indigenous rights and environmental issues where he has worked with remote indigenous communities on the frontlines of climate and biodiversity loss.

Events:

PUBLIC TALK
WEDNESDAY, 07 AUGUST 2019 12:00PM,
PALMERSTON NORTH CITY LIBRARY EVENTS CENTRAL ( GROUND FLOOR)
LIVESTREAM ON CARE FB PAGE

WHITE PAPER LAUNCH
FRIDAY, 09 AUGUST 2019, 10:00AM
CoMMS LAB, B.109 MASSEY UNIVERSITY, MANAWATU CAMPUS
LIVESTREAM ON CARE FB PAGE

RSVP on Facebook: @CAREMassey

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CARE Activist-in-Residence for May … Dr Ihirangi Heke

CARE is excited to have our latest Activist-in-Residence Dr Ihirangi Heke join us from 28 May – 31 May 2019 at Massey University, Manawatū Campus. Please share this great news with friends and whānau and come along to the events as listed on the poster!
 
A little about Dr Heke …
 

Ihirangi Heke, of Tainui-Waikato descent, was raised in the South Island mountain adventure environment, before it was popularly known as such. A graduate of Otago University, he has lectured there and built a career based on helping athletes, both ordinary and elite, achieve goals beyond their expectations. Over the past 10 years he has been active in helping Māori and other indigenous groups abroad, build their own health and wellness activities based on their own traditional environmental knowledge. On any one day of the week you might find Ihi mountain biking with Te Arawa people in Rotorua, playing traditional games with students in Kaikohe, at a trekking meeting in the snow in Japan, or in a virtual meeting with colleagues from Auckland University, Brookings Institute Washington, and a marae in Uawa. This is all part of him joining the dots to enable Māori and other indigenous peoples to define and determine their own health pathways and solutions as defined by their local environments.

CARE Activist-in-Residence

Click on the url link for more news related articles on Ihirangi Heke

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CARE Op-Ed: The role of communication in addressing Māori health disparities: An appeal for voice by Prof. Mohan Dutta & Dr.Steve Elers

The role of communication in addressing Māori health disparities: An appeal for voice

 

The Māori Affairs Select Committee on Māori health inequalities point to the entrenched disparities in health outcomes for Māori compared to Pākehā, highlighting the importance of examining and understanding the sources of these inequalities.

The sources of inequalities in outcomes in health and wellbeing is also the subject of the hearings of the Waitangi Tribunal, drawing on presentations that point to systemic structural racism that impact the experiences of Māori in the health system.

These inequalities in experiences of and with health and care are communicative, tied to the nature of interactions in health settings and in the various ways in which racism shapes these interactions.

In our research with the culture-centred approach to health and communication, we attend to the question of voice in the realm of unequal health outcomes. We suggest that the erasure of Māori voices in health interactions and in how the health system is constructed is integral to the perpetuation of inequalities.

Our approach therefore invites voices of those at the margins of society, voices that have been historically erased, as anchors for addressing the entrenched health inequalities.

We are honoured to be hosting Tāme Iti of Ngāi Tūhoe as our next activist-in-residence, and we will work with him in understanding this question of voice. His intervention from the Māori proverb “kanohi ki te kanohi” [dealing with it face-to-face] is a powerful solution to the marginalisation of Māori in health systems. Making the spaces for Māori voices to be heard in health systems and in spaces where knowledge is produced is a critical starting point for addressing inequalities in health and wellbeing outcomes.

When such voices from the margins of New Zealand society speak, they are meant to disrupt the unequal structures. The very act of speaking is meant to disrupt because it is only through disruption of powerful structures that erase voice can opportunities for solving inequalities be created.

Because for those in entrenched positions of power, voice is threatening, an invitation to voice is a direct challenge to the organising categories of power.

That within Universities and within mainstream structures of society a certain cross-section feels threatened with the voice of Tāme Iti speaking is a reflection of the communicative inequalities that constitute colonial structures. Under the guise of civility and appropriate conduct, voices that challenge the status quo and its inherently racist logics are strategically and systematically silenced. So for many of the free speech advocates within colonial structures, the right of an indigenous voice to speak can be sacrificed under the pretext of appropriate speech.

It is however in this very space of voice that interventions need to be made if inequalities in outcomes of health and wellbeing are to be addressed.

Professor Mohan Dutta

Director of Centre for Culture-Centred Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)

and

Dean’s Chair of Communication, School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing

Massey University

 

Dr Steve Elers

Senior Lecturer

School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing

Massey University

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CARE Activist-In-Residence in News: Stuff -‘Activist Tāme Iti to take up residence at Massey’

Activist Tāme Iti to take up residence at Massey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well-known Māori activist Tāme Iti will be Massey University’s next activist in residence.

He will be on the Palmerston North campus from March 18 to 22 as the activist in residence, a programme where an activist shares ideas with academic staff.

The purpose of the programme is to generate knowledge and an activist brings in different experiences.

The theme of Iti’s residency is “decolonising ourselves – indigenising the university”.  He will hold a public talk, workshop, and release a paper. All events are open to the public.

Iti will be hosted by the Centre for Culture-Centred Approach to Research and Evaluation, which is a research centre within the school of communication, journalism and marketing, and the Massey business school.

Professor Mohan Dutta, director of the centre and dean’s chair of communication, said Iti’s residency would empower the voices of the marginalised.

“Tāme’s knowledge and expertise provide key theoretical anchors for us to critically engage and interrogate colonisation and racism, and the structural conditions that reproduce inequality,” Dutta said.

He said this semester the centre was exploring inequality in health and wellbeing.

“Tāme’s name came up because of his work in communication opportunities and opportunities of voicing particular claims and how those will translate into inequality in outcomes, and in health and well being.”

As part of the theme, Tāme Iti said it was important to “know your enemy – hongi hongia te whewheia”.

“The enemy out there, and the enemy internally – in ourselves,” he said.

The centre hosts a different activist in residence each month.

Activist and former Green Party MP Sue Bradford was the first activist in residence in October.

Bradford worked with Dutta on a paper about the partnership between academics and activists in struggles of the oppressed.

Dutta brought the centre with him to Massey from the National University of Singapore. He is a leading scholar for health communication and is a researcher of indigenous rights and activism.

READ MORE: Sue Bradford takes up residence as Massey University’s activist

Source:  Stuff Limited

Article & Image Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/111056676/activist-tme-iti-to-take-up-residence-at-massey