Global, Urban and Social Studies

Kareiva and Fuller (2016) consider the future prospects for biodiversity conservation in the face of the profound disruptions of the Anthropocene. They argue that more flexible and entrepreneurial approaches to conservation are needed. While some of the approaches they promote may work in particular situations, we believe their proposal risks unintended and detrimental social and ecological consequences by presenting them as global solutions to complex political, economic, social and ethical problems that are context-dependent. Here we argue that the authors inadequately considers the following core issues of biodiversity conservation, namely: (1) the structural causes of biodiversity depletion and the responsibilities of key actors; (2) the questions around what should be conserved, the processes by which biodiversity is valued, and who has the legitimate authority to value it; (3) the fact that new tools, technologies and innovative approaches are unsuitable as guiding principles ...

Kareiva and Fuller (2016) consider the future prospects for biodiversity conservation in the face of the profound disruptions of the Anthropocene. They argue that more flexible and entrepreneurial approaches to conservation are needed. While some of the approaches they promote may work in particular situations, we believe their proposal risks unintended and detrimental social and ecological consequences by presenting them as global solutions to complex political, economic, social and ethical problems that are context-dependent. Here we argue that the authors inadequately considers the following core issues of biodiversity conservation, namely: (1) the structural causes of biodiversity depletion and the responsibilities of key actors; (2) the questions around what should be conserved, the processes by which biodiversity is valued, and who has the legitimate authority to value it; (3) the fact that new tools, technologies and innovative approaches are unsuitable as guiding principles to solve complex, context-dependent social-ecological problems; (4) the challenges of choosing relevant interventions, given experts' limited ability to 'manage for change and evolution'; and (5) the risks associated with promoting a utilitarian approach and a neoliberal governance model for conservation at the global scale.

Traditional discussions of security are state-centric and ignore individual experience. Presenting a counter-perspective, this article extends existing literature about violence and insecurity by representing the perspectives of those for whom security is a daily concern: young educated Papua New Guinean women living in Papua New Guinea’s towns and cities. Drawing on thirty interviews conducted between 2007 and 2013, I explore how young women in Port Moresby and Goroka talk about violence and insecurity. The article highlights the frustration they experience because of their limited mobility and the ways they are forced to manage their sense of security in these contexts.

ABSTRACT
Existing explanations for why women do not get elected to parliament in Melanesia
emphasize structural barriers to participation, including prohibitive costs and
patriarchal norms. They are largely silent, however, on why those women who do
conform to the profile of the “archetypal candidate,” and thus have the best chance
of overcoming these barriers, choose not to run. Drawing on an extensive
qualitative dataset, including forty in-depth interviews with emerging women
leaders from three Melanesian countries, we find that many women are pessimistic
about the way electoral politics are conducted. Echoing longstanding critiques of
political practice, this cohort conceptualizes their political activity as being
conducted in a parallel public sphere, in contexts in which they consider themselves
more able to pursue programmatic reform. Rather than focusing on structural
barriers, we explore their decision to eschew parliamentary elections as an act of
resistance against politics as usual in Melanesia. This new material adds to the
literature on why women chose to run “from” rather than “for” parliament and
therefore has implications for scholars and practitioners interested in improving
women’s parliamentary representation across the globe.

What makes a successful women’s coalition? This report examines and compares two women’s coalitions in PNG and Malaysia in order to understand why and how these coalitions have endured and had notable successes. We have three goals. First, we deepen Fletcher et al’s (2016) work on coalitions in the Pacific, by adding a further case study, specifically, one from Papua New Guinea. This relates to our second aim, which is to explore the mechanisms by which coalitions ‘play a leading role in creating change in gender norms’ (Fletcher et al 2016). Finally, we extend the DLP program’s exploration of the importance of context to the shape and work of coalitions (Fletcher et al, 2016; Tadros, 2011; Hodes et al 2011; Denney and Maclaren 2016). Nuancing the claim that coalitions play a leading role in creating change in gender norms, we argue that prevailing socio-political conditions have a significant bearing on the ways in which gender coalitions approach advocacy and action in any given context.

Port Moresby is consistently represented as a place that is dangerous for women. While recent transformations in the city have expanded the gap between rich and poor, some of the developments in the city are allowing for the creation of new 'spatial texts' in a place notorious for constraining women. In this article, I explore feminist geographer Linda McDowell's idea that the city is a place in which the active, independent woman comes into her own. Drawing on focus groups, emails and photos sent to me by educated, 'middle class' Papua New Guinean women living in Port Moresby, I demonstrate that the city's new places are paradoxical, even liberating places. The article reveals both the extent of women's subordination in the city but also the emerging possibilities for middle class women to experience a degree of autonomy.

In March 2016, FiamēNaomi Mata‘afawas the firstwomanappointed to the position of deputy
primeminister of Sa¯moa. Following in the tradition of Pacific Islands Portraits, we provide a short
life history of Fiamē, including her lineage, education and political career.Drawing on a mixture
of oral history interviews and newspapers, we explore key themes central to Pacific politics,
including gender, but also, title, political parties, the role of the international community,
and modernization. Our contribution is significant because while the region has a rich
tradition of life history writing, the main subjects of this literature are Melanesian men. In
writing about a Polynesian woman leader, we address both geographic and gender imbalances.