scholarly journals Persona Non Grata

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Philip Armstrong ◽  
Annie Potts
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Creative Nonfiction ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
Marsupial Mammal

This essay tells the story of the authors’ relationship with a rescued marsupial raised from a baby in Aotearoa New Zealand, in sections interspersed with an account of this species’ history in our country. This animal belongs to a species designated a noxious pest here, a population subject to an especially sustained, thorough, and popularly-supported campaign of vilification and destruction, even by the standards that apply in New Zealand, where the dominant environmental ideology is very intensely focussed on eradication of introduced species. So in deciding to take responsibility for this creature, the authors committed to keeping her both hidden and captive. This raises some intractable questions: is it in this animal’s best interests to be enclosed, or should she be allowed to take her chances on the roads and amongst the traps and poison? how can her captors offer her the best life? what relationship should they have with her? The essay also describes the intimate relationship the two authors have developed with this animal, through nightly interaction, and touches on some of the phenomenological questions she presents: what might it be like to be an arboreal, nocturnal, marsupial mammal instead of a terrestrial, diurnal, placental one? What might it be like to have four legs (or perhaps five, if we count the extraordinary prehensile tail) that are simultaneously arms, rather than two arms and two legs? In New Zealand the overwhelming hostility to this species makes it nearly impossible to recognize or consider its members as living sentient beings. Our primary aim in this essay, therefore, is to convey as directly as possible the emotional and physical experience of being in relationship with this particular animal, while succinctly situating that experience within a relevant environmental context. We didn’t want to use this animal’s story merely as a pretext for exploring larger histories or topics in human-animal studies. For this reason we have chosen the genre of creative nonfiction, and refrained from engaging with discussions by human-animal studies scholars that would be required in a research article.

scholarly journals Animals and social work: An emerging field of practice for Aotearoa New Zealand

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 24-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Walker ◽  
Jenny Aimers ◽  
Claire Perry
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Human Animal Bond ◽  
Human Animal

Social work is traditionally human-centered in practice, even though for many the bond between humans and animals is the most fundamental of daily-lived experiences. The intent of this paper is to reflect on the predominant humanistic basis of social work and to consider the growing evidence for developing a wider perspective to incorporate the human-animal connection into social work practice. Joanne Emmens (2007:9) observes that the human-animal bond is considered by some as ‘…too mainstream (in the sense of being lightweight, cliché or sentimental), or as not mainstream enough…as substantial material worthy of study.’ In this article we argue that the human-animal bond is neither sentimental nor fringe and that our attitudes toward this relationship is based on a construction of western thought. To support this we offer a review of literature that provides evidence of good practice that can move social work beyond a purely humanistic approach to a more holistic view resulting in a more comprehensive toolkit for practice. We explore the literature and practice surrounding the place of animals in social work, both in New Zealand and internationally. In addition, we identify some of the ways the human-animal bond is currently utilised in rehabilitation, therapy, as animal assistants and as an indicator of domestic violence within New Zealand. We argue that this area of research and practice is highly relevant for social work as evidence-based practice. The paper con- cludes by offering some suggestions for discussion within the social work profession, and considerations for social work educators, researchers and theorists. 

scholarly journals Turning The Tide on Private Profit-Focused Provision In Early Childhood Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Linda Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Private Profit ◽  
Democratic System

The article analyses a market-based approach to early childhood education (ECE) provision and the growth of for-profit ECE provision, evidence about ‘quality’ and accessibility, and problems occurring when a need for private profit conflicts with the best interests of families and children. The issue of for-profit provision is set within the context of international developments and solutions in Europe, UK, US and Canada. Immediate steps that might be taken for a democratic system of community-based and public early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand are pinpointed. Overall, the article offers possibilities for asserting democratic values as a way towards alternatives in Aotearoa New Zealand’s early childhood education provision.

scholarly journals Conceptualizing Indigenous Human–Animal Relationships in Aotearoa New Zealand: An Ethical Perspective

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2899
Author(s):  
Jordan Woodhouse ◽  
Anna Carr ◽  
Nicola Liebergreen ◽  
Lynley Anderson ◽  
Ngaio J. Beausoleil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Animal Interaction

This article considers the complexity and diversity of ethical concepts and beliefs held by Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand (hereafter New Zealand), relating to animals. A combination of interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with individuals who identify as Māori and were working with wildlife, primarily in an eco-tourism and conservation context. Two main themes emerged from the data: ethical concepts relating to the environment, and concepts relating to the spiritual relationships between people, animals and the environment. These findings highlight that the connections between humans and animals through a Māori lens are nuanced in ways not typically accounted for in Western philosophy. This is of particular importance because of the extent to which standard Western thought is embodied in law and policy related to human treatment of animals and the environment. In New Zealand, relationships and partnerships are informed by Te Tiriti ō Waitangi, one of New Zealand’s founding documents. Where these partnerships include activities and environments involving human–animal interaction, policy and legislation should account for Māori knowledge, and diverse of thought among different hapū (tribal groups). We conclude by exploring ways of including Māori ethical concepts around animals in general, and wild animals in particular, in law and policy, providing a case study relevant to other bicultural or multicultural societies.

scholarly journals ‘Warm Eyes’, ‘Warm Breath’, ‘Heart Warmth’: Using Aroha (Love) and Warmth to Reconceptualise and Work towards Best Interests in Child Protection

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Susan Young ◽  
Margaret McKenzie ◽  
Cecilie Omre ◽  
Liv Schjelderup ◽  
Shayne Walker
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Current Events ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Practice Framework

The attributes ‘warm eyes’, ‘breathe warm air’, ‘heart warmth’ and aroha (love) guide our work in child protection. These quotes are from a young person from the Change Factory 2020, a MFAMILY student in 2020 and Jan Erik Henricksen Key Note at the 4th International Indigenous Voices in Social Work Conference, Alta, Norway 2017 respectively, to describe the way young people and families want workers to be. We reflect on the child rights and family inclusion provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRoC), and the Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ) legislation Children, Young Persons and their Families Act (1989), in contributing to the best interests of the child. We examine current events in our locations, Aotearoa New Zealand, Norway and Western Australia, as demonstrating that these joint principles are far from universally used in child protection practice. The sole use of Article 3 of the UNCRoC, in particular, often results in excluding families as legitimate stakeholders. In seeking to achieve the best interests of the child, we apply a practice framework to example vignettes. Here, we have added micro-practices to address the identified gaps in relationship building, engagement and enabling practices in working towards the practice of best interests.

Between “Wild” and “Tame”: Placing Encounters with Sirocco the Kakapo Parrot in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte N. L. Chambers ◽  
Michelle E. Main
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Conservation Practice ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Relational Theories ◽  
Human Animal

Abstract This article explores different dynamics and spatialities of nonhuman animal encounters to illuminate important intersections between place and human-animal relations. The article focuses on Sirocco the Kakapo, an endangered New Zealand parrot, who due to illness as a chick was hand-reared in isolation from other Kakapo. Informed by qualitative research, data was gathered through interviewing those involved in the Kakapo Recovery Programme and from Internet websites and publications featuring Sirocco. Based on this research, it can be demonstrated how Sirocco, unlike his fellow Kakapo, is a bird who can traverse the seemingly clear-cut and spatially inscribed boundaries between “wild” and “tame,” between “human” and “animal,” and between “wild” and “domestic” places. Drawing upon relational theories of space and place in human geography, the case of Sirocco is used to interrogate and inform theorizations concerning the place of nonhuman animals in both spatial and conceptual terms. Sirocco’s story illuminates the complex and heterogeneous relations of encounter that stretch between New Zealand’s wild and domestic places, which in turn rely upon particular notions of wild and tame and prescribed relations between humans and “wild animals” that inhere in conservation practice more broadly.

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