[ANU Pacific.Institute] SSGM - State of the Pacific newsletter

[Nicholas Mortimer]

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2014 State of the Pacific Conference
18-19 June, 2014
The Australian National University




ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The 2014 State of the Pacific Conference will showcase research on the Pacific region and bring together academics, policy makers, business leaders, civil society representatives and the media to discuss the important nexus between research and policy. Through the themes of Political Development and Innovation and Experimentation in Development, the conference will explore some of the most pressing contemporary challenges facing the region.

Conference registration will open in early May. To subscribe to the 2014 State of the Pacific newsletter, click http://anu.us3.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=d3d832c176.

Please read on for information on confirmed sessions.





Land, resources and state formation
Convenor: Matthew Allen<http://anu.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=1758b4ad16&e=ddee3394cf>

Struggles over the control of, and access to, land and natural resources loom large in the political economices of contemporary Melanesia. This session will examine the role of these struggles related to resource extraction in reshaping political space and institutions, and in the on-going processes of state formation in region.



Experiments in development: markets and services
Convenor: Timothy Sharp<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=9b5a7647ff&e=ddee3394cf>

Access to services and a way to earn money are central to local perceptions of development, and are critical to addressing poverty in the Pacific. In many parts of the region the delivery of, and access to, services is poor and people face significant challenges in entering markets and securing viable livelihoods. With this context this session draws attention to how diverse actors, operating at different scales, are experimenting with how ‘development’ might be done differently.



Mobile phones and the Internet in Melanesia: Potential and Pitfalls
Convenor: Sarah Logan<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=d36f4574a8&e=ddee3394cf>

Mobile phone and internet penetration rates in Pacific Island countries have soared over the past five years. As populations and donors begin to grapple with the impact of these technologies on everyday life and their realised and unrealised potential to improve development and political outcomes, this session asks: how are mobile phones and the internet being used by Melanesians and development actors? What works, what doesn’t and what is likely to occur?



Political Settlements – evaluating a new concept in development thinking
Convenor: Sinclair Dinnen<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=adb03a06cb&e=ddee3394cf>

As a concept, ‘political settlements’ provides a potentially valuable instrument for enhancing understanding of the organisation and exercise of power in particular local contexts and for enabling the crafting of more appropriate and  effective development interventions. In this session, we will examine the concept in the specific contexts of Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands with a view to considering its broader value to development theory and practice.



Emerging donors, emerging investors and Australia’s changing role in the Pacific
Convenor:<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=0b68becfd2&e=ddee3394cf>Graeme Smith<http://anu.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=44c4949dca&e=ddee3394cf>

A considerable volume of literature in the international relations and security studies field raises concerns about the “influence” of emerging investors and emerging donors in the Pacific, and what this portends for Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States. This panel will bring together a range of experts from different disciplines to examine these issues through the lens of in-country analysis. The panel will explore the perspectives and motivations of Pacific Island actors and those of the emerging donors and investors.



Elections in Fiji and Solomon Islands
Convenor: Stewart Firth<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=7dedcb3e2a&e=ddee3394cf>

This session will examine the upcoming elections in Fiji and the Solomon Islands. In 2014 Fiji will hold its first elections after eight years of military rule. The elections will be under the Fiji government’s new constitution, for a parliament elected without regard to race and under a system of open list proportional representation. In the Solomon Islands, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) began a gradual withdrawal in 2011 and 2012. The Solomon Islands election this year will be the first for more than a decade to take place without a strong RAMSI presence, and will test the country’s political resources at a time when the economic future is clouded.



Emergent shifts in gender roles
Convenor: Ceridwen Spark<http://anu.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=90e4cdefc1&e=ddee3394cf>

In this session, we continue the effort to explain and understand gender inequities in the Pacific through the reference to the concept of societies in transition. The speakers will discuss emerging masculinities and femininities in the Pacific in order to chart the development of these in their contexts. To do this, it is necessary to consider how contemporary Pacific identities are shaped not only by local contexts or tradition but are being remade in interaction with flows of global ideas, images and practices, including new forms of Christianity and structural economic transformations.



For more information on 2014 State of the Pacific:

Web: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/cap-events/2014-06-18/state-pacific-2014#.UyZbFbSPukE<http://anu.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=5c3e8299402715ff001eee187&id=cdd0aa5723&e=ddee3394cf>

Email: ssgm at anu.edu.au<mailto:ssgm at anu.edu.au>

The 2014 State of the Pacific Conference is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).




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