Description of two new micropterous species of Monasavuhygia Brailovsky, 1996 from the Fiji and Solomon Islands and a key to species (Heteroptera: Coreidae: Colpurini)

The genus Monasavuhygia Brailovsky, 1996 is revised. Two new species collected in the Fiji Islands and Solomon Islands, respectively, are described in the Tribe Colpurini (Heteroptera: Coreidae). A key to the known species is included, with photographs of the dorsal habitus and female genital plates provided.

Integrating voice and phenotype in a revision of the brush cuckoo Cacomantis variolosus (Aves: Cuculidae) complex

Brush cuckoos of the Cacomantis variolosus complex, which range from Southeast Asia to Australia and the Solomon Islands, have undergone much taxonomic upheaval. Here we examine 389 vocal recordings, 832 skins, and records of brood parasitism and habitat partitioning to shed light on their species and subspecies taxonomy. Bioacoustic analysis revealed seven distinct vocal groups. Among morphological markers, shape and proportions of the tail were found to be supporting indicators, in addition to plumage tone and pattern. Integration of the resulting data set distinguished six species-level taxa within the complex: sepulcralis in the Philippines and Sundaland east to central Nusa Tenggara, virescens in Sulawesi and the Sula Archipelago, aeruginosus in the Moluccas, variolosus in east Nusa Tenggara, the Moluccas, north and east Australia, New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago, blandus in the Admiralty Islands, and addendus in the Solomon Islands. Our review of infra-specific differentiation among species leads us to distinguish 13 subspecies. All taxa identified are listed in a summary classification of the complex. Taxon diversity is greatest in the Moluccas, where two habitat-partitioned species and five allopatric subspecies occur, of which one species and three subspecies are endemic to this region.

A new genus of the tribe Rhinocartini (Coleoptera, Rhynchitidae) from the Solomon Islands

A new genus, Solomonocartus Legalov, gen. nov., with a new species Solomonocartus bukejsi Legalov, sp. nov. belongs to the tribe Rhinocartini from Guadalcanal Island (Solomon Islands) is described and illustrated. This new genus differs from the genus Rhinocartus Voss, 1922 from Western Africa in the long antennae inserted in the basal third of the rostrum and almost reaching the middle of the elytra, almost straight sides of the pronotum, long ventrite 2, and larger body sizes. It is the first record of the tribe Rhinocartini from the South Pacific and the second find of Rhynchitidae from the Solomon Islands.

Enterprising or Enterprise? Sustainable rural training centre models in the Solomon Islands

<p>This thesis assesses the educational relevance, impact and operational sustainability, of community rural training centres (RTCs) and external ‘development’ practice across the Solomon Islands over the last five years. It further legitimises RTCs as effective hubs of ‘development’ for informal livelihoods and rural community interests. The thesis adopts a post-development lens in its assessment of insights obtained from qualitative interviews with 87 participants, spanning four RTC locations and in consultation with other stakeholders. Particular attention is given to Escobar’s local models of practice (Escobar, 1995) in understanding processes of ‘development’ at the community level. It assessed the nature and purpose of RTCs for community conceptions of ‘development’ and ‘modernity’, identifying their impact in this regard. Alongside this, the thesis assessed the impact of external ‘development’ programming on the RTC model of practice, including considerations of output relevance and sustainability. Overall, a social enterprise model (Ridley-Duff & Bull, 2018) was found to be insufficient to understanding the RTC model of practice. Such a model failed to account for the varied conceptions of ‘modernity’ at the local level, and instead a more holistic model of RTC operation was proposed. This helps to expand discourses of localised practice in the context of ‘development’. Evidence from participants showed clear positive impacts of the model in supporting different stakeholders’ goals for ‘development’ at the community level. Mainstream discourses of ‘knowledge’ transfer were challenged by showing the agency and, at times, power, community actors possessed in localising new learnings into current understandings as they saw fit. While external programming played a key part in these processes, its role was as a facilitator of RTC models of practice rather than as the main driver of community ‘development’. Rather than simply replacing one set of ‘knowledge’ with another, this expands discourses of localised ‘knowledge’ to show community understandings as separate and adaptable domains of knowledge that should be supported rather than replaced. Finally, this thesis assessed the position of RTCs in wider discourses of Solomon Islands’ ‘sustainable development’, including wider outcomes and implications of this position on their ‘sustainability’, and for community education. National and global processes of ‘development’ we found to have great influence on the successes and challenges of RTCs, showing ongoing and evolving challenges to ‘informal’ livelihoods and practice. External expectations were shown to create a sustainability paradox for rural training centres (Devine, 2003), between conforming to external perceptions to support their ‘development’ or maintaining their relevance in informal settings with few options for growth. A case is therefore made to expand discourses of ‘sustainable development’ to conceive of sustainable outcomes in a more holistic way, acknowledging history and community-level intent over external economic ‘development’ pressures.</p>

Enterprising or Enterprise? Sustainable rural training centre models in the Solomon Islands

<p>This thesis assesses the educational relevance, impact and operational sustainability, of community rural training centres (RTCs) and external ‘development’ practice across the Solomon Islands over the last five years. It further legitimises RTCs as effective hubs of ‘development’ for informal livelihoods and rural community interests. The thesis adopts a post-development lens in its assessment of insights obtained from qualitative interviews with 87 participants, spanning four RTC locations and in consultation with other stakeholders. Particular attention is given to Escobar’s local models of practice (Escobar, 1995) in understanding processes of ‘development’ at the community level. It assessed the nature and purpose of RTCs for community conceptions of ‘development’ and ‘modernity’, identifying their impact in this regard. Alongside this, the thesis assessed the impact of external ‘development’ programming on the RTC model of practice, including considerations of output relevance and sustainability. Overall, a social enterprise model (Ridley-Duff & Bull, 2018) was found to be insufficient to understanding the RTC model of practice. Such a model failed to account for the varied conceptions of ‘modernity’ at the local level, and instead a more holistic model of RTC operation was proposed. This helps to expand discourses of localised practice in the context of ‘development’. Evidence from participants showed clear positive impacts of the model in supporting different stakeholders’ goals for ‘development’ at the community level. Mainstream discourses of ‘knowledge’ transfer were challenged by showing the agency and, at times, power, community actors possessed in localising new learnings into current understandings as they saw fit. While external programming played a key part in these processes, its role was as a facilitator of RTC models of practice rather than as the main driver of community ‘development’. Rather than simply replacing one set of ‘knowledge’ with another, this expands discourses of localised ‘knowledge’ to show community understandings as separate and adaptable domains of knowledge that should be supported rather than replaced. Finally, this thesis assessed the position of RTCs in wider discourses of Solomon Islands’ ‘sustainable development’, including wider outcomes and implications of this position on their ‘sustainability’, and for community education. National and global processes of ‘development’ we found to have great influence on the successes and challenges of RTCs, showing ongoing and evolving challenges to ‘informal’ livelihoods and practice. External expectations were shown to create a sustainability paradox for rural training centres (Devine, 2003), between conforming to external perceptions to support their ‘development’ or maintaining their relevance in informal settings with few options for growth. A case is therefore made to expand discourses of ‘sustainable development’ to conceive of sustainable outcomes in a more holistic way, acknowledging history and community-level intent over external economic ‘development’ pressures.</p>

"[They] danced, and, then, … it was our turn to dance": Performative cultural diplomacy between Tuvalu and Taiwan

<p>Taiwan (the Republic of China, ROC) contains vibrant communities of Pacific diplomats and students from Taiwan’s allies—as of August 2019, this included Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Palau—and sometimes non-allies like Papua New Guinea. These communities are overlooked in both Pacific Studies and International Relations (IR) research. While working as an interpreter for the Tuvalu Embassy in Taiwan, I interacted with Pacific and Taiwanese diplomatic communities and witnessed how the Tuvalu and Taiwan governments attempted to communicate culture through performative/dance projects (i.e., performative cultural diplomacy). These performative engagements challenge IR analysis of Asia in the Pacific, which sees Pacific-Taiwan diplomacy as primarily determined by competition between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Instead, these engagements demonstrate how participants in Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy, the majority of whom are not diplomats, carry with them multiple ideas and identities; consider their actions based on diverse contexts; and assign varying levels of importance to diplomacy, Tuvalu, and Taiwan. Consequently, in this thesis, I adopt a Pacific Studies research framework that emphasizes indigenous epistemologies, comparativity, interdisciplinarity, and a critical empowerment rationale to examine three topics: (1) Tuvaluan, Pacific, and Taiwanese conceptions of diplomacy; (2) the Tuvalu-Taiwan diplomatic relationship and its underlying assumptions; and (3) how Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy both reflects and complicates diplomatic conceptions and assumptions. After introducing my research questions and structure in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2, I outline conceptions of diplomacy explicated by Pacific diplomats in Taiwan; Tuvaluan diplomats, officials, and traditional leaders in Tuvalu and Taiwan; and Taiwanese diplomats/officials in the same locations. I demonstrate how Tuvaluan/Pacific ideas of diplomacy often diverge from those held by Taiwanese diplomats/officials while also highlighting disparities among Tuvaluan and other Pacific views. In Chapter 3, I sketch discursive histories of Tuvalu-Taiwan diplomacy. I map how Tuvalu and Taiwan have characterized each other since establishing relations and trace the complex routes that structure how they currently imagine their diplomatic partner. Chapter 3 also shows how discursive histories both dovetail with and challenge diplomatic conceptions outlined in Chapter 2. Subsequently, in Chapters 4 to 6, I bring three Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy projects into conversation with conceptual and discursive trends from Chapters 2 and 3. Here, I emphasize the voices of diplomats, officials, planners, performers, and audience members who engage with projects and underscore tensions that arise among participants and between participants and diplomats, officials, and audience members from their diplomatic partner. I also consider diplomatic conceptions, discourses, and assumptions discussed earlier in the thesis from the perspectives of project participants and observers to show how performative cultural diplomacy influences and illuminates diplomatic relationships. In the Conclusion, I explore the theoretical and practical applications of this research. For theoretical applications, I discuss how a Pacific Studies research framework and Performance/Dance Studies create new possibilities for IR research. I also show how this thesis provides an interface for rethinking Taiwan’s positionality, especially Taiwan’s connections to and distance from the Pacific. For practical applications, I make recommendations for the future implementation of diplomacy and performative cultural diplomacy.</p>

"[They] danced, and, then, … it was our turn to dance": Performative cultural diplomacy between Tuvalu and Taiwan

<p>Taiwan (the Republic of China, ROC) contains vibrant communities of Pacific diplomats and students from Taiwan’s allies—as of August 2019, this included Tuvalu, Nauru, Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Palau—and sometimes non-allies like Papua New Guinea. These communities are overlooked in both Pacific Studies and International Relations (IR) research. While working as an interpreter for the Tuvalu Embassy in Taiwan, I interacted with Pacific and Taiwanese diplomatic communities and witnessed how the Tuvalu and Taiwan governments attempted to communicate culture through performative/dance projects (i.e., performative cultural diplomacy). These performative engagements challenge IR analysis of Asia in the Pacific, which sees Pacific-Taiwan diplomacy as primarily determined by competition between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Instead, these engagements demonstrate how participants in Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy, the majority of whom are not diplomats, carry with them multiple ideas and identities; consider their actions based on diverse contexts; and assign varying levels of importance to diplomacy, Tuvalu, and Taiwan. Consequently, in this thesis, I adopt a Pacific Studies research framework that emphasizes indigenous epistemologies, comparativity, interdisciplinarity, and a critical empowerment rationale to examine three topics: (1) Tuvaluan, Pacific, and Taiwanese conceptions of diplomacy; (2) the Tuvalu-Taiwan diplomatic relationship and its underlying assumptions; and (3) how Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy both reflects and complicates diplomatic conceptions and assumptions. After introducing my research questions and structure in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2, I outline conceptions of diplomacy explicated by Pacific diplomats in Taiwan; Tuvaluan diplomats, officials, and traditional leaders in Tuvalu and Taiwan; and Taiwanese diplomats/officials in the same locations. I demonstrate how Tuvaluan/Pacific ideas of diplomacy often diverge from those held by Taiwanese diplomats/officials while also highlighting disparities among Tuvaluan and other Pacific views. In Chapter 3, I sketch discursive histories of Tuvalu-Taiwan diplomacy. I map how Tuvalu and Taiwan have characterized each other since establishing relations and trace the complex routes that structure how they currently imagine their diplomatic partner. Chapter 3 also shows how discursive histories both dovetail with and challenge diplomatic conceptions outlined in Chapter 2. Subsequently, in Chapters 4 to 6, I bring three Tuvalu-Taiwan performative cultural diplomacy projects into conversation with conceptual and discursive trends from Chapters 2 and 3. Here, I emphasize the voices of diplomats, officials, planners, performers, and audience members who engage with projects and underscore tensions that arise among participants and between participants and diplomats, officials, and audience members from their diplomatic partner. I also consider diplomatic conceptions, discourses, and assumptions discussed earlier in the thesis from the perspectives of project participants and observers to show how performative cultural diplomacy influences and illuminates diplomatic relationships. In the Conclusion, I explore the theoretical and practical applications of this research. For theoretical applications, I discuss how a Pacific Studies research framework and Performance/Dance Studies create new possibilities for IR research. I also show how this thesis provides an interface for rethinking Taiwan’s positionality, especially Taiwan’s connections to and distance from the Pacific. For practical applications, I make recommendations for the future implementation of diplomacy and performative cultural diplomacy.</p>